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...And I thought I knew Japanese. | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| janalisa Triglot Senior Member Japan Joined 1488 days ago 173 posts - 16 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese, French Studies: Thai | Message 1 of 29 06 March 2007 at 10:07pm | IP Logged |
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I wrote this article on my blog recently about my experiences in learning Japanese, so I thought maybe I should share it here. Maybe other people have had similar experiences in learning their first foreign language. (It's a bit long, so bear with me here).
********** One day, when I was around 13 years old and fostering an adolescent obsession with Japanese anime, I thought it might be fun to learn Japanese. And so, naively unaware of the fact that I was practically selling my soul to this language, I went on the Internet and found some websites that gave free Japanese lessons. I learned how to say things like, "Hello, Kawamura-san, what is that?" "Oh hello, Sumisu-san. This is a camera." And before I knew what was happening I was drawn in deeper, enticed by the charming sounds and the flowing script of this foreign tongue, and I kept reaching out for more, devouring Japanese like one of those bags of Doritos you just can't stop eating. And I was pretty pleased with myself, because I thought I was learning quite a bit of Japanese. Then before long I found some Japanese penpals, and though I was actually able to communicate (sort of) with them in my 5 year-old-like Japanese, I found to my horror that it came back to me full of grammatical corrections and requests for clarification. Determined, I kept studying unrelentingly throughout my high school years, finding more Japanese-teaching websites and spending all of the little money I had on Japanese books and dictionaries. I watched Japanese movies and played individual lines back over and over, trying desperately to catch every syllable. And I kept writing to those penpals, asking them to correct my mistakes. And over time the corrections became fewer, and fewer. And boy, did I think I had accomplished something. I was so sure of myself that I felt confident I could test into my college's third-year Japanese class as a freshman. So, upon arrival at my new college, I marched into the Japanese professor's office and explained that I had been studying Japanese on my own and wanted to continue studying it here. He didn't seem to believe that I had actually managed to learn anything, but to humor me, I suppose, he tested me anyway. He was flabberghasted when I passed the test quite easily. "Well, it looks like you should be in our third-year class," he said with amazement. I went to the third-year class and found it quite easy-- I was the most advanced student in the class save one girl who had grown up in Japan. So then I was quite proud of myself, and I thought I knew Japanese. But my confidence was short-lived. At some point I discovered that there were such things as Japanese newspapers, and that I could not read them. And there was such a thing as Japanese news broadcasts, and I could not understand them. And so I started reading newspapers. I read them until my eyes were sore, until my brain was so full I thought it would explode, madly looking things up in dictionaries and making endless stacks of flashcards. I listened to NHK radio until my head rang with it, until I could make out every syllable and the previously unrecognizable sounds I heard actually began to have meaning. I spent a summer in Japan living with a host family, and they were all impressed that I was actually able to communicate, calling my Japanese "fluent". And after some time I found that I could actually read the newspapers, understanding all but a word or two. Well now, surely I had done it. And I thought I knew Japanese. Now when I wrote to my Japanese penpals, there were no more corrections. They said my Japanese was so good that they couldn't believe I was American-- I wrote just like a Japanese person. I went to Japanese church services and understood the sermons, proudly sitting as far away from the English interpreter as possible, so everyone could see that yes, I knew Japanese. I could have conversations with people without having to rack my brain searching for the right expression-- the words simply flowed from my lips. And then I was positive, there was no question about it-- I thought I knew Japanese. Then I became so confident that I figured I didn't really need to study Japanese anymore-- I had already mastered it. So I figured I might as well move on to another language, and I started learning Chinese. It was a piece of cake, of course-- after all, I had learned Japanese. What language was there that I couldn't learn? So I learned quite a bit of Chinese and even spent a semester in Beijing, but pretty soon I began to miss Japanese, my first love. So I tried to read some things in Japanese, only to discover to my great dismay that I had forgotten how to pronounce some words and was reading them in Chinese instead. And then I read some more, and found to my shock that there were actually a lot of words I didn't know at all. And so I set out to fix it. I was supposed to know Japanese-- how could there still be so many unknown words? This would simply not do. I read, and read, and read some more. I made more mountainous stacks of flashcards. I crammed words into my memory as quickly as they slipped out again, but I guess in this mad scramble I thought I was making progress. After some time I thought, well, surely I must know Japanese by now. Then one day, since I knew Japanese so well, I thought it might as well reap the benefits of all my hard work by reading a novel in Japanese. Oh, the sweet bliss of ignorance! Why did I have to leave it behind by picking up that darned novel? But I did-- I cracked open that book and found to my great disillusionment that I could not read it with the ease and pleasure with which I could read novels in English. In fact, it was a struggle just to get through a few pages. Unknown words assaulted me, unfamiliar characters reared their ugly heads in every paragraph. And so I had no choice-- I had to admit that maybe I actually didn't know Japanese after all. And so, for the umpteenth time, I set out on a mad craze to learn this gosh-darned language once and for all. I bought more novels and resolved to read each and every one of them, read them as many times as it took until I understood every single word. Though I'm afraid I can't yet tell you how this mission turns out because, in fact, I am still in the middle of it right now. And I thought I was smart. I thought I had something special. I thought I had a gift for languages. Other people even thought so. Hah! Why, then, after all these years (about eight of them, I estimate), have I still not managed to learn Japanese? You'd think I'd have it down by now, but I must humbly confess that I don't at all. I suppose the greater mystery is the question of why I even bother, why I remain so determined to complete this seemingly impossible task. But one thing's for sure: It's determination that's gotten me as far as I have managed to get, and regardless of how much talent I might have, without determination I couldn't have gotten anywhere at all. I don't presume that I have any special talent to speak of, but I certainly am determined. I will learn Japanese if it's the last thing I do. So I have a little secret to tell you (Shh!! Don't tell my Japanese friends!): I actually don't know Japanese at all. I might say that I know it, but you can be sure that it's all just a facade. If there's anything I'm good at, I suppose I'm just good at convincing people that I know Japanese. However I may study and read and listen, it's all nothing more than a way of polishing up this finely-crafted illusion. My next mission: To delude people into thinking that I know Chinese. Which of course I actually don't, and probably never will. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| solidsnake Diglot Senior Member China Joined 1639 days ago 467 posts - 7 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin | Message 2 of 29 06 March 2007 at 11:55pm | IP Logged |
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yeah that pretty much sums up my chinese learning experience overall, although instead of 8 years its only been less than 2 and instead of beginning at 13, I started at 25. But hey, I'm REALLY good at convincing people i know chinese..
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| delectric Diglot Pro Member China Joined 1779 days ago 506 posts - 6 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin Studies: German Personal Language Map | Message 3 of 29 07 March 2007 at 1:33am | IP Logged |
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Nice post. It just shows you have to keep studying a language and never leave it on the side. It's daunting to say the least.
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 Hencke Tetraglot Moderator Spain Joined 1492 days ago 2294 posts - 51 votes  Speaks: Swedish*, Finnish, EnglishC2, Spanish Studies: Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 4 of 29 07 March 2007 at 5:29am | IP Logged |
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Great post ! It was a pleasure to read, and I could identify with most of it myself.
Talent and other factors aside, reading your post there is no doubt that you are in possession of the single most important ingredient for success. You have exactly the right attitude to your language learning ! Humility and determination in exactly the right proportions. Edited by Hencke on 07 March 2007 at 5:30am | |
| Qbe Tetraglot Senior Member United States joewright.org/var Joined 1733 days ago 262 posts - 4 votes Speaks: English*, Latin, Ancient Greek, Hebrew Studies: German, Japanese, Mandarin | Message 5 of 29 07 March 2007 at 8:29am | IP Logged |
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Wow, that's been exactly my experience with Japanese--I'm getting frustrated that after studying for over 2 years I'm still barely a beginner. It's nice to know that I'm not alone in my frustration with this language.
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| shadad Triglot Newbie Venezuela Joined 1255 days ago 27 posts 3 sounds Studies: Swedish, Spanish*, French, English Studies: German | Message 6 of 29 07 March 2007 at 12:02pm | IP Logged |
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That's my experience with English, sort of.
I was always the best of the class, nobody around me knew anything about the language, and I thought I was very smart because I knew how to say a few words and phrases. And then there was Internet ;) Nice post | |
 magister Pro Member United States Joined 1201 days ago 297 posts - 31 votes Speaks: English* Personal Language Map | Message 7 of 29 07 March 2007 at 12:39pm | IP Logged |
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What a great way to spend my morning -- to read such a well-written and entertaining post with my coffee cup in hand.
Thank you for posting this. It was a pleasure to read. | |
| lady_skywalker Triglot Senior Member Netherlands aspiringpolyglotblog Joined 1488 days ago 909 posts - 5 votes Speaks: Spanish, English*, Mandarin Studies: Japanese, French, Dutch, Italian | Message 8 of 29 07 March 2007 at 2:39pm | IP Logged |
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Very well-written post! I can totally sympathise with you as this is exactly how I feel whenever I try to read any Chinese literature. You end up spending more time looking up unknown characters and words than you do actually *reading* the book.
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