I am currently in my fourth week of Japanese course. Yesterday, we had our eligibility test post the 3 mandatory sessions. It went well, and I have a good feeling about it as I await the result. Clearing this test will mean that we’ll move forward in the remaining 6/7 week of Japanese lessons.
So far, we have learnt Hiragana, Katakana (learned that all foreign names must be written in Katakana) and some Kanji. I know numbers till 99 as well as the seven days of the week.
Learning a new language takes me back to my childhood days. I had long forgotten the days when it took me a few moments to read each word. I feel like I am in second standard of school again, standing in the class and reading out a passage from my English book, fumbling over the difficult words and my teacher, a kind lady in a maroon sari, helps me out. Even though I know the Japanese syllabary (for Japanese does not have alphabets, but only sounds), it takes me awhile to read out a sentence out loud. Yet, in spite of the time I take to pronounce a word, I am patient with myself. I don’t let myself feel bad that I am so slow. I savour every moment of this sweet struggle, for I know, before long, I shall read my Japanese as well as I read my English, and these days of trial and challenge would be long behind me.
Maybe I like this state because it makes me feel like a child again – where I have the freedom to make mistakes and not feel bad about them. Unlike my childhood, my mother is not there anymore pouncing on me to write my A’s and B’s correctly. I can take my own sweet time to learn to write, and when I am done, I become my own mother, own teacher and find my mistakes. I like this version of childhood so much better. That’s the beauty of learning at your own pace.
I’ll keep updating you all from time to time about my Japanese journey. Meanwhile, my ebook. Bound by Life is free for a few more hours on Amazon. If you have not downloaded it yet, do it right away! Happy Reading, folks!
Scribbles@Arpita 
Wow. This lovely post reminds me of my Foreign Language class where we learned Nihonggo (Japanese). It is indeed quite a tough language to learn. But you are determined and you’re enjoying dear! So good luck Arpita! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, Rosema! I love the language so far. The only challenge that I foresee is that Japanese is a non-spaced language. So given that my vocabulary is limited and I can only read the characters so fast, I might struggle with reading and comphrehension in future. Let’s see how things shape up!
LikeLiked by 1 person
i believe with a dedicated heart like yours, you can learn it soon. ❤ 🙂 Good luck dear!
LikeLike