The Reason I Study Japanese

こんにちは、アィスシエです。

The biggest reason why I chose to start studying Japanese this semester is that learning new languages has always been a source of happiness and relaxation for me. There is a saying that to have another language is to possess a second soul. I really take this saying to heart. Learning new languages is one of the few ways I can de-stress from the big worries of my life and step into another consciousness. In fact, I don't think there has ever been or will be a moment in my life where I am not learning another language. As an American-born-Chinese, I automatically grew up attending Chinese school, so I am fluent in Chinese, but I have also learned a tiny bit of French, and know Korean as well. Japanese will now be my fourth.

To be very honest, the reason why I chose Japanese in particular was a combination of different factors. One, I wanted to continue studying Korean at Princeton, but the next level did not fit into my schedule. Two, a close friend of mine, ししみとさん, started learning and I couldn't stop asking her what new words she was learning -- my subconscious was obviously telling me to take this class. Three, learning Japanese has always been on my bucket list. Four, I enjoy watching アニメ and Studio Ghibli and thought it would be fun to explore the language and culture behind these forms of entertainment, just as I started learning Korean because of Korean dramas and K-pop.

There are many times where I have tried to start learning Japanese on my own, but have failed to motivate myself to begin. Thus, I am very excited that I will be able to finally understand and speak it for myself. I am especially excited to learn Kanji, since that means I will be able to see connections between Chinese and Japanese. After the very first day of class, I realized that speaking Japanese is a lot more than just sounding out the words. It also involves intonation and pitch that I was (oddly) completely unaware of beforehand. I think this will be the hardest part about learning Japanese, and will take a lot of practice if I want to sound natural.

Thank you for reading my story. ありがとうございます。

- アィス