Hi everyone, and of course, 明けましておめでとうございます。

I’m Ewan, I currently live and work in London. I’ve been interested in Japan for quite some time, at first through watching anime since about age 10. I don’t actually do much of that anymore (though there are a few manga titles I still read) and my interest in Japan has broadened out somewhat.

I’ve made attempts at learning Japanese from books etc. on and off for many years and only got so far, but now that I work for a company that has international clients and partners, it’s spurred me on to get serious about learning it properly. We have a lot of foreign-language speakers in the office, but no Japanese speakers, so learning would be a real advantage. My main goal would be to be able to proof-read text, and potentially to speak to and email work contacts, though I’d also love to be able to talk more socially to Japanese people and visit there one day.

When I first started, the internet wasn’t as great as it is now and book resources were limited and expensive, but now we have all these excellent things like Podcasts and websites like this one which make it so much easier to actually get started (always the hardest part). I’ve recently got myself a much better phone as well so I can use various apps to learn on the go. Learnt loads already!