Same as zeldaskitten, when I started the advice was the opposite.

I’m not sure why you made such a big deal about it. It’s not like it’s some deep, dark secret that your parents would disown you for (assuming they’re reasonable people). For me, it wasn’t a case of “Should I tell people, or should I not tell people?”, it was more like “Oh hey, so I started learning Japanese” just as it would be for any other topic of conversation. It was a talking point, not something to “confess”. I guess my parents thought it was a little bit odd considering I’d not had any interest in Japan previously, but overall their opinion was pretty much “Oh really? That’s interesting. It’s good you’re doing something productive, keeping your brain active.” (I was unemployed for most of the year between high school and university, when I started with Japanese).

Hey Cimmik, the good thing is that time irons everything out. Misinterpreting Kouichi’s advice to not tell anyone probably caused you a lot of confusion, but I don’t think it’ll hurt your ability to learn Japanese in the future.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with feeling embarrassed about Japanese. It’s something that means a lot to you, and I’m sure you’re just worried that people will think it’s silly for you to be so passionate about it. Everyone feels that way about something or another. Even though it can complicate your life sometimes, it also lets you know that you found something which really matters to you, and that’s super special! You should definitely hold on to your passion for Japanese, even if people think it’s silly c:

Also, I just want to say that all of these interactions between people, all of the awkwardness and confusion and embarrassment and miscommunication (but also all of the trust and friendship and commiseration and compassion)- that’s what makes life so rich! Could you imagine reading a story where none of these things existed? It would be so boring D:

I guess my point is that I don’t want you to feel odd for acting the way you did, and I don’t want you to feel like you’re less capable as a person than anyone else. You’re doing just fine c:

Your parents are always going to be your parents… so regardless of how they react, whether it’s good or bad.. don’t let it dishearten you. If you want to tell your dad, then by all means tell him.

You may not understand this at 18 years old but your tastes/preferences will change as you get older and there will be other things in your life that you may want to do/learn, so Japanese is only one aspect of THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. Learning Japanese means you want to be a person who knows Japanese and is interested in Japanese culture… you don’t need approval from anyone to do this. It takes a tremendous amount of energy and commitment to learn a foreign language, or do anything in life that is worth doing…anyone who laughs at this type of endeavor, makes you feel ashamed, or belittles your efforts says more about them than it could ever say about you. That’s the social support aspect of my response… The TED video is credible. Think of it as the millions of people who share their New Year’s Resolution with friends and family and them sit around and eat donuts the remaining 364 days out of the year.

Feel better. Don’t let your parents’ opinion weigh you down. Keep your progress/Japanese learning to yourself if you are around negative energy… just because learning Japanese is hard as it is and you don’t want to expend energy on things that are not going to help you.

Everyone has those feelings of others thinking that they are silly. The key is to simply be ok with that.

Nothing wrong with being silly. ^_^

All great ideas were likely laughed at by someone.