Sooo...I guess I couldn't expect Japanese to be all fun and games forever. It looks like the easy part of this course is over for me (and just in time--a cappella auditions just ended and I now actually have time to do some homework). The past few weeks this course has been a breeze--a pleasant one, I might add. Reviewing hiragana characters and very basic greetings was all gain no pain. I knew everything well enough going in so that hiragana workbook sheets were just an opportunity for me to remember the subtle differences between certain characters I had forgotten and to practice my handwriting. Listening and comprehension exercises were equally fun; they were just an opportunity for me to solidify and practice my accent. I have been finding it rewarding to review, solidify, and perfect things I once knew but forgot. It was starting to feel like learning to actually speak Japanese would happen in my sleep. Like I could take a pill (pill being JPN101) and I'd wake up fluent. "Why hadn't I done this before?" I was starting to ask myself.
Well, as I'm starting to remember this week with the introduction of vocab words in our last listening comprehension worksheet, I have done this before. And there is a reason that I quit.
Japanese is hard! とても むずかしい！More specifically, Japanese vocab is hard. I even had to look up that word, むずかしい--even though I've been using it since childhood. I'm just not good actually never been good at remembering or memorizing any foreign vocab words. Fortunately in a language like French (which I'm nearly fluent in) the vocab words are so intuitive (so many are cognates or near cognates) that it wasn't a big problem. But I'm quickly realizing that I'm going to have to figure out a system that works for me and fast. Japanese words just don't stick in my head. I'll listen to them and repeat them over and over again, even come up with little tricks to remember the words, but five minutes after I think I learn them, they're gone. And I'm starting to remember why it was I used to get so frustrated with learning this language and why it is that I never learned earlier. It's hard and it takes hard work (and maybe some study tactics that I haven't learned yet).
Anyway I guess for now I'm a little freaked out because I have remembered the reason that I quit this language all those years ago (and the feeling behind it). I just hope that remembering the reason doesn't mean that history will repeat itself. Maybe this time I'll get the hang of memorizing those words. The good news is that with this text book, learning hiragana was easier this time around. So maybe learning vocab will be too. Hope so!
はじめまして。 メリルです。 ノートルダム だいがくの にほんごの がくせいです。 I too took French for a long time and thought, "Oh, I'm good at languages and French was easy! Japanese will be just as easy!" I, um, have been incorrect. XD I read your other blog posts, and your reason for learning the language is much deeper than mine. Did you pick up much of the language, written or spoken, when you were growing up?
ReplyDeleteこんにちわ メリルさん！
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment! I did pick up a lot of the language when I was younger...my oral comprehension is pretty good I think ..I understand things without realizing that I'm understanding them. That said, I am right there with all of my beginner peers in terms of reading, writing, and speaking myself. We're just starting to try to communicate on this blog using full japanese sentences and that was...rough. How long have you been studying japanese?