Week 4

Nihongo Kon Kon!

Wow … this past week was really filled with a lot! I think this was the first time, since starting Berlitz, that I have felt a bit stressed out. I finally hit this point where I just couldn’t continue without getting maximum clarification on sentence structure. There comes a point where I hit a wall and until I have whatever it is straight in my mind, I can’t continue to study or move forward without confusion piling on. My sensei is awesome, don’t get me wrong. She is responsive to questions and even, despite Berlitz rules on minimal English language usage, she talks in English to make sure we’re really getting things. (It would be kind of a waste for $1300 if the students couldn’t progress past lesson 1 because you refused to speak English, right?) Some people just don’t learn as well in a solely immerse environment and our sensei agrees. She works really hard with both Monika and I to make sure we really feel comfortable moving onto new lessons.

While my classmate doesn’t have much time to study between going to school and working, I have TONS of time to study but I was finding it impossible to practice making sentences at home because I kept hitting this block. I want to form complex sentences; complex in terms of using as many of the words, particles, and things we’ve learned to date, but both Monika and I were having the same problem. Japanese is very flexible but I felt like I was doing things wrong. Yes, I could read the textbook (which is entirely in Romaji) and I could understand what I was reading, but when I went to talk to my tribemates or try and create my own sentences I was getting stuck. Nikki-sensei understood and we really spent a good chunk of time on it this past week.

I’m not going to put much here for this week because we didn’t really go forward in the book since we spent two days really nailing down sentence structure. We also learned SO many new verbs and nouns! Whooo! I had to make a list for myself so I could study them! I now have a long list that I can refer to during my self study time. I will say that now that I really understand things better, I wish I could afford to continue further with Berlitz all the way to level 10.

Learning on my own took me only so far, especially without anyone to be able to ask questions about things. Though, making the choice to learn hiragana right off the bat was THE BEST DECISION I EVER MADE. Being able to read and 80% write hiragana has put me ahead of the learning curve. Memorizing and practicing my writing was easily done on my own, it’s everything else that I couldn’t really do as well. But now, having an actual teacher who can explain things, having set lessons to go by that build gradually, and just knowing that I have a reliable resource for answers, has made so much of a difference.

I have tons of questions. ALWAYS. I ask tons of questions about everything because the more I learn, the more I understand, and the more I can meld that understanding into WORKING knowledge of something. People who don’t ask questions will be eternal idiots for that reason. Knowledge does not come from answers. Knowledge comes from questions. When I can find no source to provide answers to my questions – no reliable source – then I cannot gain knowledge and move forward. I love the Internet, but you get so much conflicting information. I want so badly to learn Japanese and it’s never about lack of desire, lack of time, or lack of motivation … it’s always about lack of money to afford a class or no classes being available.

Grassroots self teaching only got me so far. I’ve learned more in Berlitz in 4 weeks than I ever did on my own without answers. I was never confident in what I was saying when I learned on my own, now I am. Now I have knowledge. I was so excited when I found out there was a language center near me and I nearly died when I realized I was gonna go broke. *laugh* It is my hope that these 8 weeks will give me enough of a foundation to be able to continue my self study long enough to afford another course.