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My Study Abroad Immersion Experience | ||
Tags: Japanese | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Language Learning Log |  | |
| Lucky Charms Diglot Senior Member Japan lapacifica.net Joined 6941 days ago 752 posts - 1711 votes  Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: German, Spanish | Message 1 of 4 05 April 2008 at 11:05am | IP Logged |
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I studied abroad in Tsuru, Yamanashi prefecture, Japan for about 5 months in Fall 2007.
Before that, my Japanese was almost entirely book-learning. I only studied what I needed to to pass my tests at university. I was great at grammar, but had zero confidence about putting the spoken language into practice. As a result of my self-imposed lack of conversation experience, my listening comprehension and speaking skills were terrible. At first, even though I was abroad, my study habits weren't all that great. I was making progress, but relied on English a lot as a crutch (the students at my school and my host mother all understood English). I didn't study much because I guess I thought that I would improve just by virtue of being there - and to a certain extent, this was true. For one thing, I got used to kanji being everywhere, and was no longer intimidated by it (whereas before, if I saw a page full of kanji I would get discouraged right away without even trying to tackle it). For another thing, I was getting over my fear of making mistakes and looking stupid little by little. The desire to communicate was taking precedence. Also, I learned some everyday words/phrases/usages from friends that I hadn't been exposed to in a classroom setting. And finally, I became familiar with Japanese culture - from small things like discovering what "melon pan" is, to more practical things like how the train system works, right on down to what I consider the most important discoveries: the huge fundamental differences in ways of thinking. For example, the Japanese have a very different concept of "honesty" than what I was used to, which created many clashes until we foreign students compared experiences and were able to get a feel for what was going on. Yet, even with all these advantages to being in Japan, I probably would not have considered my experience very fulfilling if I had just walked away at that. After all, the point in going was to reawaken my passion for a language where I felt I had hit a brick wall. This program was sort of a last-ditch effort, because my Japanese learning was really in a crisis back at home. It was not until about halfway through the program when the reality hit me - I was just having fun here, my learning hasn't been skyrocketing like so many people promised it would, and it would be time to go home soon. I looked on with envy as one of the most inexperienced Japanese learners of our 10-man group quickly became the most proficient. We had all been cracking jokes about him, about the way he always spent time with Japanese friends and not us, about how he always had his flash cards and dictionary in tow, and about his famous lines, "nihongo de nantte iu?" and (as he pulled out a dictionary) "xxtte dou iu imi?" ("how do you say that in Japanese?" and "what does xx mean?"). I had a rude awakening and realized that he is the one we should be idolizing, not making fun of! From that point on, I (who had scored highest on the placement test in the beginning of the program, and was eventually outpaced by about half of the 9 other students) vowed to use my remaining 2 months the same way this student was, and get the very most out of my immersion experience. This decision is the reason why I consider this program the biggest milestone in my Japanese language learning - actually, in my life as a language learner! I began speaking only Japanese with my friends, asking/recording the meaning of every word I didn't know, and in cases where I had to resort to English to communcate a word or phrase, asking how that would best be expressed in Japanese. The flash cards were stacking up quickly, and I spent an hour or two of each day writing and studying them. I moved in with my boyfriend (who I had met during the program) and changed the official language of our relationship to Japanese. :) (Luckily, as a self-taught trilingual he is not only sympathetic and encouraging with respect to to my goals, but gives me great language learning tips!) Since returning home I've tried to maintain that atmosphere of immersion by having Japanese podcasts and music constantly playing on my MP3 player and talking to my friends/boyfriend over Skype every day. And of course, I still continue my study of written materials, kanji and vocab flash cards with the same fervor I did in Japan. Since that point when I resolved to take my journey to fluency into my own hands, my language learning really has skyrocketed! It took me two years of university Japanese to get to that pitiful state I was in before the program; now, I'm confident that with only one more year of self-study, I will be able to call myself a fluent speaker. If only I had known how to study efficiently from the beginning - I want to cry when I think of how much progress I could have made with those two wasted years!! The best part about this new sense of inspiration is that I know it's not a temporary thing that will eventually run out of fuel - my entire perspective on language learning has been changed. I feel every moment I'm not studying and overcoming a gap in my Japanese learning to be a waste. Even as I write this, I'm itching to study my flash cards. :) I can't wait until I'm comfortable enough with my Japanese fluency to apply all I've learned to another language. It would certainly only take a few months to get my dusty old German up to par. The knowledge that I can finally call myself trilingual within two years from now is a huge motivation to me - that goal finally seems to be within reach. And after that, I'll have a fresh new start with an entirely new language! With my new perspective on language learning, I look forward to seeing how long it will take me to see a new language through to fluency. I have never been able to forget Francois's story about learning Spanish in 6 months, and whereas I used to think, "wow, that's amazing, I wish I could do that", lately I've been thinking it would be a fun challenge to try and match that myself. :) In short, I feel like my new perspective on language learning opened a world of possibilities for me. I hope everyone who is looking for some inspiration - the way I was in Tsuru - is able to find their own motivation to dedicate themselves wholeheartedly to their goals. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| polikaru Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6140 days ago 206 posts - 215 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Italian, Dutch | Message 2 of 4 05 April 2008 at 1:46pm | IP Logged |
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Thank you for sharing and congratulations.
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| Makrasiroutioun Quadrilingual Heptaglot Senior Member Canada infowars.com Joined 6098 days ago 210 posts - 236 votes Speaks: French*, English*, Armenian*, Romanian*, Latin, German, Italian Studies: Dutch, Swedish, Turkish, Japanese, Russian, Arabic (Written) | Message 3 of 4 05 April 2008 at 3:49pm | IP Logged |
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Very touching story! I wish you the best in German and another language too!
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| Marj Senior Member United States Joined 6558 days ago 257 posts - 283 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, French | Message 4 of 4 05 April 2008 at 5:49pm | IP Logged |
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Your story was very interesting, and your success is great!! Good luck with your further language studies.
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