A Challenge

It's still quite hard.

I just updated my Japanese blog. I still find it hard to blog and think in Japanese. I know quite a lot of grammar, my vocab has gotten better but still...

I suppose there really is no other way to learn a language besides constant repetition and practice.

Learning a language, this is something that most of us never really think about and probably take for granted, having learnt all the languages we know from childhood through the natural ways.

When you're an adult, it's quite different. This I now know.

Months ago, I stated on my FB wall that my attitudes towards people with poor English have softened. It really has. If you don't learn it from childhood and in school it really can be a major challenge, especially if you have no environment to immerse yourself into.

Immersion. I wish there were more Japanese people around here for me to talk to. Without this, it will take sheer brute force to improve.

I took up Japanese to challenge myself and to figure out if Ole Rusty here in my head is still functioning. It still works, that much I know at the moment.

But I admit, I never realized the magnitude of the actual challenge. To be fair I set the bar pretty high but still, a bigger challenge than I could imagine.

And I haven't even talked about studying kanji yet! I do want to though, really I do. I know some already and it has opened up a whole new world, mentally speaking.

It's a major challenge. But I've also come to really relish the experience. It's fun and it's been helpful in so many ways.

I hope I get better at it and not disappoint my teacher. And maybe, I can help her improve her English along the way.

It's the least I can do for her, she's been great. They all have been, really.

Time for bed!