The Forever Student

I've always enjoy learning, and being taught.  If it were possible, I could've been a student forever.  I really love sitting in a classroom, taking notes and listening to a lecture, I guess it's no surprise that I became a teacher.  But there's quite a difference between being a student and being a teacher, and in my  7 (!) years of teaching, I've really missed studying something new (although, I suppose teachers should always be learning and growing, shouldn't we?).

So I was excited to start Japanese classes when I first arrived in Japan.  I was determined to learn Japanese, from the moment I got here.  I wanted to communicate and read - oh, you don't know how frustrating it is not to be able to read!  I had pretty much no prior experience with Japanese before I moved here, so my teacher started from the beginning - learning two of the Japanese alphabets, hiragana and katakana.  It took me what felt like forever to learn these, and then one day - poof - it just made sense.  That's how most of my Japanese language study has been.  I'll studying something for weeks and weeks, feeling like I'm just not getting it, and then all of a sudden, I've got it, and it seems so easy.  

I guess I've come quite far in my studies, even though I frequently tell myself that I'm not where I should be.  I definitely think I should study more, and now I have the perfect catalyst to do so.  I'm taking the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) in December, so if ever I needed to cram, it's now.  I need to learn about 100 kanji, and I really need to brush up on my grammar (darn those Japanese particles!), but I think I'm well on my way.  

But what's really funny, is that since I've been learning Japanese, all my French vocabulary from so long ago keeps coming to mind.  Haha, I guess learning Japanese brings out the French in me.

So everyone, wish me "Bonne Chance".....oops, I mean, "Ganbatte"!