Hello. I am Grace. I am thirteen years old, turning fourteen in the upcoming year (though a lot of people say I act mature and much older). I am actually a Chinese adoptee and when I was younger I tried and tried to learn Chinese.. through a DS Game (I crashed and failed). Last year and this year, I took/take e-school Spanish and can barely say “How are you” with any sort of confidence. Japanese culture took my interest through anime and vocaloids… through the motivational peer pressure of my friends. Something sparked my interest in culture when I watched The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya episode during the Obon Festival.. that eventually led me into the realm of Jvloggers (Rachael and Jun) ect. I don’t see myself as an otaku or anything because I don’t make it a goal to watch “All da anime”. But, when my friend with a serious face told me her goal to move to Japan with her sister.. I took it seriously and I wanted to learn the language. I have decieded if I truly want to do something, I would already be doing it. So through looking up random Japanese websites and videos on, “How I Learned Japanese” videos, I heard word of TextFugu… and loved how personal the textbook feels. And I love how it doesn’t stop there but has even more sister websites. Now that I have my own personal interest in the language, whether or not my friend goes to live there, I will still be learning and having much fun.

This was probably “tl;dr” but here are the goals I wrote down on paper.

Why I am Learning Japanese

- I want to become an exchange student and actually socialize and learn in Japanese
- I want to attend a festival and wear a yukata
- I want to sing and write in Japanese (for fun not for a job)
- I want to order food in Japanese
- And for some enjoyment, watch anime without reading or english dubs ;)