Upon arrival in Japan, Rotary gave all of the Peace Fellows a month of intensive language training which was fantastic. After that, Japanese language classes were not mandatory and surprisingly not encouraged because of the large time commitment they require. I decided to keep going and was able to complete Japanese I - III my first year. Although I learned a lot, the experience was stressful, extremely challenging and very discouraging at times. I lost a lot of sleep over those Japanese classes.

Hora-San finally let me take her picture last week - isn't she adorable?

My goal was to continue with the Japanese sequence that ICU offers and this term I started in Japanese IV but after the first two weeks I had to drop it. The amount of kanji and vocabulary required for students to memorize outside of class had doubled since J3 and I simply couldn't keep up with it along with doing my research and MA thesis this year. It was with a very heavy heart that I withdrew from the class because it felt like giving up. That being said, I'm still studying on my own and I'm finding it more enjoyable and much less stressful, though I am not being challenged at the excruciating pace as before.  Here are a few ways that I'm studying Japanese on my own:

Community volunteer tutors - My neighborhood has an incredible amount of retired community volunteers who give their time to foreigners who want to practice Japanese. I started meeting with Hori-san, an 80 year old widow who lives near the school. We have a great time chatting in Japanese for about two hours each week. She helps me with my speaking, reading and writing and I have learned a lot about Japanese daily life and culture because of her stories. Two weeks ago she suggested that I practice more with her friend that lives down the street so now I meet with Okamoto-san (83 years) once a week as well.  I cherish the time I can spend with these amazing Japanese women.

Morning tea with Okamoto-san this morning. She knows I like chocolate and this dark sea salt was amazing!

ICU student tutors - I have two ICU undergraduate tutors that I pay to help me with the nitty gritty grammar and speech writing (for Rotary Clubs). I meet with each of them once a week and I enjoy hearing more about what it's like to be a college student in Japan.

italki - This is an online language program that allows you to schedule lessons via Skype. You can pick your tutor and type of tutoring that you want. It's been great if I want to practice with someone but want to stay at home in my pajamas.

Rosetta Stone - Sean and I have a subscription to the Japanese program and it's been good for vocabulary review and kanji practice.

Wanikani - This is a great program for learning, memorizing and practicing Japanese kanji. Highly recommend.

Japanese Pod - I've enjoyed Japanese Pod for its short language lessons in the form of podcasts. This is really convenient when I'm taking the train somewhere and want to listen to easy Japanese.


So far the transition to studying on my own is going fine though I want to improve my self-discipline to work harder. Now there's no reason for me to stay up late or get up very early because of the possibility of a pop quiz. But, on the plus side, several people have already remarked how relaxed and happy I've seemed this year compared to last year. I guess all of those mantras about balance and moderation are probably true.

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