Hello to all!
Several years ago I tried to learn Japanese. I scoped out all the resources, spent full days making plans, and then gave up. Why? It was hard for me. Not in a mental “I don’t think I could handle it sense”, but in different ways. My family has always made fun of me for being into Japanese. It didn’t matter if it was anime, JRPGS, visual novels, manga, researching the history or culture, etc. I knew that they were mostly joking, but I felt like I had to hide my learning because it would just create difficult situations and that I’d mostly encounter discouragement. That is something that can be hard to deal with when you’re still in highschool and already being made fun of in school for even mentioning Japan. I felt like my peers didn’t understand, because most of the time they just made fun of Japan for being “perverted” or “backwards”. It made me angry, and it made it hard to make Japanese a part of my life when I could only enjoy what it had to offer behind closed doors.
Besides that, I only had access to free resources, things like Tae Kim or checking out textbooks from a library. Needless to say, it was hard to find and rely on ONLY free resources. I gave up. I took up playing guitar instead, and it has been something that I fell in love with as well. However, I still love Japan and everything it has to offer, and have continued all this time to keep up with it. Everything but learning the language.
I have given it a lot of thought for a long time, and I feel like I am now in the optimal position to continue and fulfill this dream. I have a supportive girlfriend, new job at Starbucks (coffee shop chain for those who may not have it in their area), and a lot of free time now that I’m not in school every day. I ordered Genki I, Subscribed to TextFugu and Wanikani this week. I’ve played a lot of games in Japanese (mostly import friendly ones) but am going to switch over to ones with more challenge. I’ve got JP PSN accounts set up on my PS4 and Vita and use them everyday. I’ve even got a copy of Yotsubato coming in the mail. I’ll have to ween myself off of some habits (like only watching anime with English subs) and other things, but that won’t come for a long while.
I have no illusions that it will be easy. I know it will take several years, and then some to reach a point where I could even consider myself to be fluent. But that’s not what it’s about for me. I really have had fun learning. In the past, and even now. It is such an exciting thing to embark on a long journey. And it’s most exciting knowing that it never has to end. Thanks for the read, sorry it was so long. I just wanted to introduce myself here and put out all my thoughts. I’ll need some help along the way I’m sure :P
I also would hope that some could relate to my initial fears and social pressure regarding learning Japanese. I’m sure a lot of people have experienced it. I’m just happy that I’ve overcome that and hope you do too!