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Why am I learning Japanese?
I taught computer programming, mathematics, information science and statistics at a university for many years. They are challenging subjects requiring a lot of mental activity. Now that I’m retired I would like to keep my mind sharp but have no desire to write code or solve calculus problems any more so I wanted to tackle something new that would be challenging. Since I was never that talented in foreign languages I decided that would be a pretty good challenge. I choose Japanese because I have always been fascinated with Japanese culture and hope to visit there some day.
We once had some Japanese HS students visit our campus and I was fortunate to be chosen as one of the faculty that got to interact with them. It was a wonderful experience.
After doing a bit on my own (Michel Thomas Series) I realized learning the language would certainly be a challenge.
I travel a lot so I don’t always have the time or access to a WiFi so there will be breaks in my online activity.Hi Lee – Great reason to learn Japanese! I’ve heard languages are a great way to keep the mind sharp. I’d rather learn a language than calculus. ;)
Good luck with your studies!
~CassandraHi Lee, great to have you here on the site! Good luck learning Japanese!
Thanks for the encouragement. I’ve learned the kana to some degree having gone through the workbooks “Let’s Learn Hiragana” and “Let’s Learn Katakana” but unfortunately many language texts overuse romaji so my kana reading skills are not as sharp as they should be. I’m glad we’re sticking to kana in future lessons. When watching anime I always pause it when any kana is on the screen and try to read it.
I have a shirt pocket sized book I carry with me (“Kana Pict-o-Graphix” by Michael Rowley) that I always use for review. You’d be surprised how many times you’re in a situation where it’s good to have some little thing to fall back on to entertain the mind…like a party I have to go to this Sunday with my wife. O_oHi Lee, and welcome!
I’m a computer science major, and have spent the majority of my adult years immersed in computers and mathematics, similar to you, so I know the feeling of trying something totally new. I’ve been studying Japanese for only five months, but it’s been extremely refreshing to try out something not directly related to work! I hope you’re feeling the same way. Best of luck!
Thanks Dennis,
I’ve taught many compSci majors over the years and it certainly takes a dedicated person to slog through lines of code debugging. My dropout rate from the first to second class was over 50%. Many that stuck it out have great jobs now.
Hope to see you here often! ^_^
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