I first began to study Japanese in the fall of 2004. Some Japanese international students at my university, Dallas Baptist University (I was a sophomore at the time/19 years old), decided to start a Japanese class for fun. They invited me to join. I was like, "I don't know anything about Japan or Japanese, but this could be fun, so, sure!" I continued to study with them and in my free time until the summer of 2005. I went to Japan for the first time that summer on a 2-week mission trip to east Tokyo.
That fall, I transferred to UT Arlington. Lo and behold the Japanese students there also had a class going, so I continued my studies. God also blessed me with a Christian Japanese roommate that year, and we talked in Japanese some of the time. [By the way, neither of those universities provided a Japanese as a foreign language course for credit.]
That winter I did home-stay with a Christian family in Osaka, and volunteered at their church and another they were affiliated with. The following summer I did something similar for about two months in west Tokyo. I wanted to study abroad after that, but God closed that door and opened another... Daiju and I married the following year (2007) and moved to Japan!
My first priority after moving here was to find a Japanese class. I knew being able to communicate in Japanese was essential to having an effective ministry. Of course it's true that many people speak English here, and that of those who don't many want to learn, but in order to have as much freedom as possible in building relationships with people, I wanted to be able to communicate in their language. Besides that, I need to be able to communicate with my husband's family!
I started studying at the Civic or Culture Center on Saturday nights. At the time, I worked from 1pm-9pm Tuesday-Friday and from 8:30am-6pm on Saturday. I wanted to be home in the mornings and on my days off so I could spend time with my husband, so Saturday night was the only time I could go.
The lesson started at 6pm, so I got permission to leave work at 5:30pm each week. I would buy a sandwich or something from the bakery or convenience store and eat it during the lesson. It lasted from 6-8 or 8:30. When I got there, they talked to me and asked if I could read hiragana (the first alphabet learned in kindergarten, one of three writing systems incorporated into the Japanese language). Then they placed me in the middle-level class, where I have stayed for the past four years. Recently I started to get the feeling that while I was still learning in this class, I could probably do okay in the higher level class as well. But basically all they did was discuss current events, and I wasn't interested in that, so I stayed put.
They didn't start teaching kanji or Chinese characters until last year. I've been feeling the need to increase my knowledge in that area ever since I moved here, but have found it hard to motivate myself to study on my own.
Then the big earthquake happened, and my class was canceled until further notice. I had already been absent quite a bit over the past several months. Now I mainly work in the afternoon Tue-Fri, but I still work all day Saturday. I'm often too tired to go. In the beginning I was too--often swaying sleepily or laying my head down on the desk if I finished the worksheet before everyone else. But I didn't know of any other place I could study, and didn't really think to look until I had no other option.
I found a class that meets on Tuesday nights in the city next to mine. This city is a famous port city, with many foreign residents. I should not have been surprised that the volunteers there were more seasoned than where I had been studying!
Last night was my first lesson. The class is led by a couple in their 60s or 70s, and the other volunteers are about the same age. They began by giving me a printed flyer listing the days they'd be meeting for the next several months, and asked me to fill out a form explaining how long I've lived in Japan and how I've been studying Japanese (compare this to the simple brief conversation at my Saturday class!). Then they pulled out an assessment test--I had never seen a Japanese assessment test in my life!!! But the wife walked me through it and carefully checked each of my answers, confirming my understanding of the content.
They said they had just moved into the building they're meeting in, so they didn't have all of their materials with them. But next time they'll have everything together to tailor the lessons to my needs and my level. Wow!
Before when people would suggest that I should take a Japanese language assessment test, I would refuse profusely. I have not studied textbook Japanese, and I was afraid to see what level I was "officially" at. I hate taking tests, and I was glad that part of my life was behind me when I finished college. But with these people as my teachers, I'm seriously considering taking that test this December. My confidence has improved as of late anyway, with the church asking me to translate on Wednesday nights and a family there asking me to teach them Japanese. So, I think that this could be a good thing for me to try. I'll talk to my teachers about it next week and see if they think I could do it.
I'll still pop in on my Saturday class every now and then, but I bet I'll be learning more in my Tuesday class. That class was great for the season of my life I was in at the time, but I think this one is the next step in the right direction. Praise God for directing me! Ganbarimasu! (I'll do my best!)
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