| Well, first of all, are you sure you'll be here
for only one year? I know a lot of people who've stayed in Japan for
longer than they originally planned, myself included. If you do decide
to stay longer, you will wish you had started studying right from
the beginning, believe me. Anyway, just because you're only going
to be here for one year, does that mean that you don't want to enrich
your experience by being able to communicate with a much broader range
of people and by understanding Japanese culture and the Japanese view
of the world? You're right, you won't be able to become fluent and
literate in one year, but a little Japanese goes a long way when you're
dealing with someone who can't speak English!
“English is the international language, so I don't have
to learn Japanese.”
Really? Tell that to the horrified cashier who doesn't have a clue
what you just said. While the English language may be very international,
Japan isn't.
Foreign nationals make up only about 1% of the Japanese population,
and most of those are Koreans and Chinese born and raised in Japan,
who speak Japanese as a native language. I haven't conducted a scientific
study, but from my experiences I'd estimate that less than 10% of
Japanese people can engage in even simple conversation in English.
Japan is slowly changing, but in the meantime it's up to us to adapt
to Japan. Japan doesn't have to become international if it doesn't
want to.
“Japanese is spoken in only one country.”
Well, not exactly. True, it's the official language and main language
of only one country, but it is spoken in other places as well. In
the earlier part of the Twentieth century Japan colonized various
places in Asia, and tried to mold the locals into Japanese subjects
by making Japanese the language of education and administration.
Particularly in Korea and Taiwan, many members of the older generation
can speak Japanese fluently. And these days, young people all over
Asia study Japanese to gain an economic advantage. Almost everywhere
I've gone in Asia, particularly in Indonesia, Thailand, and Taiwan,
I've met locals who were much more comfortable speaking Japanese
than English, so Japanese became our lingua franca. In addition
to that, 18 million Japanese tourists travel abroad every year.
I've encountered Japanese travelers in every country I've ever visited,
most of whom had limited English skills. Of course outside of Japan
I always speak to them in English as much as possible, but I've
met many people who were happy to speak Japanese once communication
broke down. So Japanese is useful to a certain extent outside of
Japan.
“Japanese is hard!”
You're right! It's quite a difficult language to learn, at least
for English speakers. But that doesn't mean you have to avoid it
entirely. It's okay if you're not willing to put in the time and
effort to learn a monstrous 2000+ kanji, but you can become quite
conversant in Japanese without knowing many kanji. The spoken language
requires some mind-bending for English speakers, but Japanese is
systematic and there is little in the way of exceptions. Just get
used to thinking backwards!
“My girlfriend likes to speak English.”
Well, would she dump you if you spoke Japanese? If so, get rid
of her!
She's using you! Otherwise, don't worry about it. She'd probably
enjoy helping you, because you've helped her with English. Every
girl I've dated in Japan has been more than willing to speak Japanese
with me or take turns speaking English and Japanese. I've had first
dates with girls who refused to speak Japanese...but not second
dates!
And even if your girlfriend likes to practice English with you,
that doesn't mean she'll enjoy having to call the internet company
for you or come with you to the ward office to translate for you
for years to come. I've seen relationships go sour because the woman
started to resent being a babysitter.
“I'm too lazy!”
Believe me, so am I! I can't study at home, because I end up turning
on the tv, using the internet, or listening to music. So to combat
my laziness I created a routine. After work I go to a coffee shop
by myself with nothing but my textbooks, so I really have no choice
but to study. It's now become such a regular part of my life that
if I don't do it I'm really bored that evening.
And even if you're not feeling internally motivated, you can be
externally motivated by setting some kind of goal for yourself.
Perhaps the most common way of doing this is by taking the Japanese
Language Proficiency Test, held every December. I've taken this
test every year since arriving in Japan, starting with level 4 (the
lowest), and recently taking level 1 (the highest...which I failed).
Knowing that you have only once chance to nail the test, and that
if you fail you have to wait another year to retake it, has been
a great external motivator for me and helped me stick to a consistent
study schedule.
Studying Japanese does require consistent effort and it may be
hard to see the benefits if you have no long term plans in Japan.
"I'll never become fluent, so what's the point?"
is a common attitude. But learning Japanese isn't about being able
to say you're fluent, or adding a new skill to your resume.
It's about enriching your experience in Japan for however long you
may be here.
So stop making excuses, and allow yourself to experience Japan for
all it's worth. You'll be amazed how quickly you get your Big Mac!
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