The Path of Least Resistance

One of the problems that I keep running into since Dustin and I have started studying Japanese is controlling the impulse to blurt out German words. After years of studying German, my brain seems hardwired to come up with the German word for something instead of the correct word in Japanese. It will probably take a while before I stop doing this, and I am sure that I will be embarrassed a few times in Japan when I randomly insert German into sentences.

Learning German is a very pleasant experience for an English speaker. The vocabulary, syntax, and phrases are similar to English but with the added benefit of being so much more  organized and predictable. As a kid I thought it was much more fun to play Nintendo games with the Game Genie. Legitimately beating Mario Bros. caused a certain level of pride, but playing it with infinite lives and infinite Fire Mario just made it so much more fun. Learning German was a very similar experience for me, like learning a foreign language with the native English speaker Game Genie.

I am finding Japanese to be much more difficult, but ultimately more rewarding language learning experience. It is not nearly as intuitive for me, but I am enjoying the challenge. Dustin has another Japanese class starting tomorrow, in addition to the one we are currently taking at the U of M, but this one is through the JET Programme. I think we are both anticipating/dreading having to rely on our feeble language base very soon.

Theo has been trying to speak Japanese to us, which usually involves repeating nonsensical lists of words he has picked up from watching Anpanman or shouting "いただきます" at the top of his lungs before each meal. It is neat to see how much his three year old brain is understanding about the impending move and encountering a foreign language.

Japanese Class

Your knowledge of the Japanese language must not factor in too heavily when applying for JET, since Dustin and I know only a small handful of words. However, we both love learning languages and are going to take this opportunity to learn as much as we can. We decided that it would be a good idea to get started off before we go and take a introductory course in Japanese. Luckily, there is one offered during summer session at the U of M. Our first class was yesterday evening and I was very curious to see who would be taking this class with us. There are only two other people, a girl who is actually hoping to apply for the JET Programme this November, and a guy who will be traveling in Japan for a few months this autumn. The instructor seems really capable and the cozy class size should allow us to move along pretty quickly. We are using Japanese for Busy People as our text, which is nice since I have it on Kindle already.

At the very least I hope that this class will make me comfortable enough with the language that I won't feel utterly overwhelmed and intimidated by the language barrier when we move. I really envy how the kids will just absorb Japanese without even trying!