How I (Almost) Became Fluent In Japanese
Should you be able to watch a few videos and become instantly fluent in a language?
In my senior year of high school, I wanted to learn Japanese. Prior, I had consumed a variety of Japanese content such as Anime, Japanese music, movies, and youtube vlogs. It was time to break free from the subtitles and become fluent in the language. I first found a set of youtube videos from the Japan Society of New York called “Waku - Waku Japanese”. In the video lecture, the host had gone over basic skills such as counting, phrases to navigate the country, how to be polite, and more cultural notes that first-time speakers should learn. While these lessons were helpful from a cultural point of view, I was still not able to learn how to read and speak fluently.
When I went to university the following fall I had the opportunity to sign up for an introductory Japanese language class. The professor has said that by the end of the semester I should be able to write in Hiragana and Katana, read basic kanji and carry a conversation in Japanese. What I failed to realize is the time I needed to set aside for studying to achieve those results. I had hit a wall. How could I ever achieve my goals when I couldn’t even learn the basics? As I was failing the course I was told to visit my teacher assistant Moe’s office hours. Not only did Moe get me caught up, but she also introduced me to the community of TAs in the Japanese Library. After my tutoring, I would end up staying behind in the library chatting with the students and It was so dope hearing about their experiences, the international students' stories on adjusting to America, and everyone's hopes and dreams after college. I joined the Japanese club and met more people in the community, from the states and abroad who I end ended up becoming lifelong friends with. Finally, I found hope in learning the language.
Over the next few years, I had taken a few more courses, became integrated into the Japanese club, and even got to spend my first time traveling abroad in Tokyo. All throughout this time, the process of learning was not just me flipping through a textbook. I had been exposed to so much culture and learned from so many amazing people. There are things that you can't learn about in class like in-person formalities, slang that’s not only regional but based on the times, pop culture, and more.
Now what I'm trying to get at is, learning a language is not something that can happen overnight. It takes time, practice, and different levels of exposure. Even today, I am still not fluent and need to get back into the habit of studying, reading, and having conversations in Japanese.
