Studying Japanese

I have been studying Japanese for some four years or so now. In the past year or so i have taken it to a much more serious level by enrolling at the Japanese Program at SFSU (San Francisco State University) and i am currently on a Language Exchange Program at KUFS (Kyoto University of Foreign Studies) in Kyoto, Japan.

I don't really quite recall exactly where my original interest came from but i believe it had something to do with when Joe first introduced anime to me (circa 1989) and i was shown either Akira and/or Tani no Kaze no Naushika. At that time subtitled versions were quite rare so most of the anime that we rented we could not understand.

Despite that vexation, i didn't actually began to study the language for real until i came back from Japan the first time determined that i was going to visit at least once a year (a goal which i have achieved), and that i would speak at least enough Japanese to get around. I would like to think that i can now at least do that as well.

I am often asked what is the best way to start learning Japanese and to that there really is no good answer. Someone once told me that as a native English speaker the two most difficult languages to learn are Russian and Japanese. You basically have to give up close to a year learning the basics that allow you to progress and have fun.

If you have the time and the money, and are quite serious about learning the language, i think the best thing to do is simply take the time to learn it in it's native environment: Go to Japan. You can get a 90day-tourist visa when you get stamped at immigration, which gives you three months of study and should also prove to be a great cultural and learning experience. Three months of study at a private language school should run you around $1500USD, and you should figure quite a bit for your living expenses as things have a tendency to be quite pricey in Japan.

Ganbate kudasai!

Some Samples of My Japanese Writings

butakimunotsukurikata
cheyukbokumnotsukurikata
nihonnoshizenttedoko?

Links

Tokyo Poloroid Exhibition
Train Station Sounds
The complete works of Radiohead... translated!
Kanji Bushi
Breaking into Japanese Literature
Japanese Literature Resource
WWWJDIC: Japanese-English Dictionary Server
Japanese Wikipedia
GOO: Another useful dictionary