I’ve been a serial lurker for a few months now… but what with Koichi’s hard work up-dating the site and my recent developments, I thought now would be a good time to introduce myself.

My name’s Emma and I’m from Liverpool, UK. I’ve been trying to learn Japanese on-and-off for a few years but never been great at sticking with it (spending a lot of time re-learning stuff I’d already studied before but forgotten) The idea of spending any time in Japan and making any use of my new language skills seemed a fuzzy and vague ambition, with no real substance. I signed up for the ‘for life’ mambership here in the New Year (arrrgh, are we nearly in June?!!!) and got through Season One and then got side tracked with work and training for a marathon (as well as The Wire, Boardwalk Empire, House and drinking with my mates!)

But I am back with a vengence… I decided the other day that I am going to get a Working Holiday Visa and go and work in Okinawa for a year. Sooooo… I finally have a set goal to work towards. Thinking of being out there the start of next year, so still gives me plenty of time to study.

Well, that’s me for now. Sorry for the long post but I feel that my months of silence have just been made up for, by rambling on for so long! :-P

Hello to all the regulars and newbies alike, see you around here soon xXx

Welcome to TextFugu, Emma.

Good luck learning Japanese.

Yeah, I think I need I little bit of luck (and a lot of effort) to get to grips with the Japanese language :-P

Where about’s in the UK are you?

Have you run your marathon yet? I can’t even imagine training for that long of distances. I like running, but I’m more comfortable with 5Ks. ;)

Good luck with your studies! Having a concrete work plan for Okinawa should help with motivation when you get frustrated.

Again, welcome and good luck!
Cassandra

Thank you for your warm greeting. Well, I’d agree with you that Japanese IS such a beautiful language. As a kid I watched English dubbed versions of Studio Ghibli films and was obsessed with Kimba the white lion! When I found out that they were originally Japanese (when I was much older) it kinda progressed from there. I now really like Asian Cinema, especially Miike Takashi’s films. The culture fascinates me too… so many different customs that it seems strangely alien…

But why Japanese over other languages?… I’ve lived in other countries and have managed to pick up some very rudimentary language skills, although prior knowledge would have been beneficial, it wasn’t really necessary (sorry if that makes me look a terrible tourist, I’m nice, honest!!!) However, I think because Japan is such alien territory for us ‘gaijin’ I think a decent working knowledge would really enhance my time there (cos I always knew I wanted to go, just not when) I want to be able to ask questions and find out about stuff and not rely on other people speaking English.

How about you? How long have you been studying and what was your motivation?

I haven’t run the marathon yet, it’s not until October but I wanted to start training early cos I think it’s going to be a once-in-a-lifetime thing, so I’m going to do it properly. I’ve got a 10k race next week for part of my training and that distance is the longest I’ve raced…. so far!

Hope your studies are going productively too,
Emma

I remember going to Knowsley Safari Park a few years ago, have you been there?

What other countries have you visited/lived in? I love traveling and experiencing different cultures but I’ve only been out of the US once and that was to Mexico. I really need to apply for a passport!

Good luck with your marathon training! Good luck with your 10k as well! I’m doing a 5k on June 12th and am really excited about that.

I started studying in Jan/Feb 2010. I should be farther in my studies but self-study is hard because there’s not much structure. I have a bad habit of floundering when I’m not working on something specific. :) I study almost every day and pretty consistently but have to really push myself to study beyond my comfort level.

My husband actually got me started on Japanese. When we got married, he watched a lot of anime and I didn’t see what the fuss was about. I watched a few shows and enjoyed some of them. Then we started watching j-doramas and I enjoyed that more. Hubby talks about visiting Japan and possibly working there for a couple years. Well, if we’re going to Japan, I want to be able to communicate with people. So that got me started and then I fell in love with the language and culture for myself! Now I study more than my husband does. ;)

Hope you’re having an awesome day!
Cassandra

@Cassandra ~ I’ve lived/worked in a few places now… was a year on a little island called Koh Tao off Thailand. I work as a Scuba Instructor and the island’s a great place for backpackers to learn. Unfortunately, there was so many Europeans, Ozzies, Canadians, Americans, etc that the ‘default’ language was English so didn’t get to learn much Thai (and most of that I’ve forgotten now!)

Then went over to Central America 2009/10. Worked on Utila (off main land Honduras) and most people spoke a weird Caribbean English there. Place where I picked up the most of a language was working in Costa Rica, after that… locals are amazing friendly in the area I worked (Guanacaste) and although people would generally want to speak to me in English, to help improve their communication, once I made it clear that I wanted to speak Spanish they really helped me along (although were often a bit too polite to correct me when my grammar sucked)

Hey snap! My race is on the 12th June too. 5k is a nice distance. You’ll love the race atmosphere… the marshalls are great at encouraging runners and it’s a boost if your family are cheering you on too, such a buzz. Good luck with that. I’m hoping for a 52min 10k which will put me on track for the start of marathon training *gulp*

I agree, self-study is very hard. I’ve thought about starting structured private tuition, but wonder if it would be worth the extra money. Let’s see if I can get my act together this time! Shame your husband isn’t as good at studying as you… does he help you with your conversational skills? It would be awesome if you got the chance to work over in Japan for a while… you HAVE to get your passport sorted! :-D Travel is very addictive… and not a bad addiction at that!

Take care
Emma ^-^