Japan-America Society of Washington DC

If I have no other virtues in life, I can at least take pride in one: I am absolutely fearless when it comes to diving into anything and everything I want to do. When I recognized that I was lacking motivation to write, I entered a writing contest with several thousand dollars in prize money. And now, recognizing that my motivation to learn Japanese has dried up, I became a member of the Japan-America Society of Washington DC and signed up for a 10-week beginner's course in Japanese!

Classes begin the week after next. Look forward to updates as I revitalize my passions!

Kaizen, the "One-Minute Principle"

It's been a while since my last post, but I don't feel like that can be helped since I've been scrambling just to get moved in, and haven't done much Spanish or Japanese for the last month. A friend shared an article on Facebook a few days ago though that felt "blog-worthy", so I thought I'd share it.

The article makes reference to a Japanese technique called Kaizen, the one-minute principle. Essentially, by consistently devoting just one minute at the same time every day to one activity, you guarantee yourself progress. I found this an interesting concept personally because I had been devoting a minimum of 30 minutes a day to exercise and 45 minutes to Japanese, yet I've ultimately been burned out in spite of my best intentions. But even the laziest or busiest person in the world can spare a minute of a daily routine.

I don't know if I'll be using Kaizen specifically for my Japanese since it feels a lot like undershooting in comparison with my progress until now, but it is an excellent principle I'd like to apply to other aspects of my life. I certainly urge my readers to do the same. A minute a day might just lead to an unexpected passion or talent.

Duolingo Fail #1

I don't think there was really any way for the spider to win in this situation...

Achievement Unlocked!

As someone who majored in English in college, it always entertains me to see how people react when I inform them that I used to be god-awful at the subject back when I was a brat. The rules never really clicked, to be honest - I still couldn't tell you what a conditional continuous affirmative statement is supposed to sound like ("She would have been there" is an example. Google be praised.) I ultimately became above average at it from the amount of exposure I had with the language. Playing a lot of dialogue heavy games. Watching a lot of movies. Reading tons and tons of books. I literally blew through all of the Goosebumps books at my school library, half of the Hardy Boys books at the public library, and the Harry Potter series about ten times before graduating high school. I never really learned the proper rules; I just naturally know what sounds right and wrong, and my perception is almost always correct.

Because I understand that I am not very technically minded, I don't think it's the wrong course of action to go about learning other languages in a similar fashion. Of course, it is important to learn the rules initially; if nothing else, hearing them will leave an impact on you that makes absorbing information later down the road easier, but after a certain point, diving in is the best course of action, because the answers you receive from the questions you ask will be all the more meaningful when there is a slight gap in your knowledge that you want to fill, as opposed to a massive void.

I have looked hard for apps and games that make learning fun, the way that actually motivates me to learn, and though I have yet to find the perfect method, Duolingo is about as close as I've come. I've been playing it for about a year or two now, and I finally hit a milestone: I completed every chapter and every lesson of the Spanish course! Here are some of the stats on that (since I actually enjoy seeing numbers quite a bit):

• Completed: July 20, 2016 at 8:22 PM. 
• Total Experience: 11,120XP (at 10XP/lesson=1,112 lessons completed)
• Level: 17
• Goal: Insane (minimum 5 lessons a day)
• Streak: 143 days streak meeting goal

I'll continue to refine my Spanish for a bit on Duolingo before I move on to starting my Italian studies, but again, I wanted to empathize that while it is not the perfect grammar tool, it is a great way to build a solid repertoire of basic vocabulary without the headache that normally accompanies learning as a beginner. I have a few books and games that I can also use to practice Spanish, and I fell in love with many Spanish movies after a course I had in college, so there are still numerous options available. It's just satisfying to finally see visual evidence of my progress, even if it is just a virtual trophy shaped like a giant owl. 

Breaking down Japanese: Writing Systems

Even after studying Japanese for nearly a year, it is only recently that I've begun understanding exactly what a massive undertaking it is to endeavor achieving literacy in the language. In some ways, Japanese is far simpler than English or Spanish; it's a very minimalist language and omits as many words as possible whenever possible, because assertion is seen as aggressive, and hence, a bad thing. On the other hand, due to how the language and culture has evolved over centuries, the language lacks many of the straightforward rules that other language possesses. Here's the scoop for anyone that's never attempted to learn about it:

• Romaji - Latin-based script for writing Japanese. Basically created to communicate with Western cultures that use romantic languages. Not so much a part of their writing system as it is a tool for tourism and a point of intellectual nourishment for fledgling otakus. 

• Kanji - Often viewed as the primary obstacle for anyone hoping to become literate in Japanese, this system was derived from Chinese letters even before the AD period. It is highly pictographic, much in the same way Egyptian hieroglyphs are, essentially meaning that every stroke is supposed to contribute toward the appropriate mental image(s) to be associated with the word. Rather than letters though, these are used to represent words, and there are thousands of them. Usually the last thing you should attempt to learn how to read and write, since there are almost certainly too many to ever entirely learn.

Hiragana Chart

• Hiragana - Modern Hiragana usually consists of 46 letters, though these can be combined with modifiers to form an additional 58 sounds. Far simpler than Kanji, and often "...used to write native words for which there are no kanji . . . words whose kanji form is obscure, not known to the writer or readers, or too formal for the writing purpose" (Wikipedia).  Basically simplified kanji for laymen (lucky for me).

• Katakana - My favorite part of written Japanese, Katakana is used primarily to indicate transcription of a word from a foreign language to Japanese. This is hugely beneficial, particularly given that so many of these words are derived from English and would be almost immediately recognizable to anyone aware of the significance (example: Amerikajin = American, kisu = kiss, anime = animation, etc.). Like Hiragana, there are 46 letters and 58 sounds, and when used, it has a similar effect to using Italics in English to draw attention onto a word. 

Most of what I have learned about the written language has come from a few books. Japanese Hiragana and Katakana for Beginners by Timoth C. Stout and Remembering the Kanji by James W. Heisig have been the primary two that I've looked over religiously since I began striving for literacy. I also have Kanji Kanji by The East Publications, Inc. and Japanese Phrasebook by Lonely Planet on the back-burner, so I am optimistic that with enough devotion, I can eventually begin hitting my goals one by one. If anyone has any recommendations on learning Japanese (preferably books, but I will take note of apps and games as well), please leave a comment so I can check them out!

Confessions of a Xenophile #1

I often walk around with my earbuds in so I can pretend I'm listening to music, but really, I just don't want to be bothered by strangers that try to stop me in the streets. When I really want to go the extra mile for authenticity, I'll start speaking out loud in Japanese or Spanish to feign a phone conversation in the hopes that people will assume English isn't my first language and be less inclined to reach out to me. It actually works. 

Hello, Hola, Ciao, and Konnichiwa

Since everyone and their dog has been blogging lately, I figured I was long overdue to resume sharing the intimate details of my life with the world. However, as opposed to the two short blogs I've written in the past about my experiences in El Salvador and DC, this is going to be a longer, more narrowly focused account of my growing passion for languages and other cultures. Achieving conversational fluency in four languages before I'm 30 is the second highest priority item on my bucket list right now (directly following publication), and this blog is going to be a tool in holding me accountable for achieving that goal. 

I am currently learning Spanish and Japanese (and I assume Italian will be the fourth language I acquire in the pursuit of my goal). I've been learning Spanish since I was 16 (oh, god), and I just started learning Japanese about 9 months ago when I was 22. I am constantly noticing things that stand out to me in regards to both the languages and the various cultures that utilize them. This blog will ultimately be a combination of various things: the milestones in my education, cultural experiences, history on random countries, linguistic tidbits, and so on, all with my irreverent perspective. I'll try to be as specific as I can on what works for me in the hopes of streamlining the process in the future for others, but future posts aren't going to be quite as drab as this dribble, so I hope any potential readers can look forward to learning alongside me!

And now, just so this introductory post wasn't a  complete waste of your time, here's a link to the most adorable feels trip I've been on in the last month. 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96kI8Mp1uOU