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Why you shouldn’t learn Japanese
Anyone with an interest in Japan should learn a little Japanese, I really believe. Daily life is much better when you know a few key phrases: Hello. My name is. Please. May I?& No really, please. Why not? Oh come on, please. You sure? Last chance. Well fine, be that way. Sorry for causing a scene. Even if I pay you? No? Hmph, well I didn’t want to anyway.
But when I say “a little” of the language, I mean it. Beyond a handful of survival sentences, you should give a really good think to whether or not you want to continue learning Japanese.
So this is Phase II of the Japanese Rule of 7 Learn Some Japanese project. Phase I was here. Phase III? Well, okay I haven’t written that yet. Hey, what can I say, I’m lazy.& Anyway, where were we? Oh yeah, Phase II. The “selection” phase. For this, you’re going to want to find yourself a really tall mountain. The taller the better, preferably with a sturdy pine tree. Climb to the mountaintop and sit there. If there is a pine tree, then climb to the top of that and sit there instead. Then stay there for exactly one week. You should probably pack some sandwiches, now that I think about it, and maybe some beers too. Just think how refreshing they’d be. And while you’re there with your pine cones and sandwiches and beer, ask yourself: Do I really want to study Japanese? No, really.& Because here’s what it’s all about.
It’s Going to Take Time. A Really Freaking Long Time
I want to tell the world that learning Japanese is easy and fun. Because that would be great and the world would like that, and then I could sell the world some secret method that I dreamed up and I’d be rich and the world would be happy. But on a scale of 1 to Hot-Tub-at-the-Playboy-Mansion, learning Japanese slots in somewhere between soldering together your own black-and-white TV and copying the Bible by hand while wearing a Medieval monk outfit. Plus, it takes a long time.
Look, everyone thinks they can learn Japanese quickly, fueled in part, no doubt, by the number of websites claiming to help you do so if you buy their products. But honestly, when I look at the very few people I actually know who’ve succeeded, it’s clear why.& They got up at 4 a.m. every morning to do speaking drills, or wrote 50,000 flash cards, or went to language school five hours a day. Myself, I can honestly say I’ve spent at least 4,000 hours actively studying, and that’s not counting watching Japanese movies, singing karaoke, having conversations all day long in Japanese, and working in Japan.
Part of the problem lies with ever-loftier goals. At first, I thought it would be enough just to master some survival phrases. But every time I met someone, they asked me questions I couldn’t answer. So I learned more, until I could finally have a conversation. Then I wanted to have a longer, more interesting conversation, until eventually I realized what I really needed was to make myself understood in both speech and writing at roughly the same level I’m at in English. In other words, even fluency wasn’t enough. It’s a little bit like putting yourself through high school and college all over again, alone, in Japanese.
If I had to say how long it would take to get reasonably good at Japanese, I’d estimate a minimum of 3 to 7 years, and possibly much more, depending upon how much time you devote and how many advantages you bring to the table.
Safe Return Doubtful
Of the hundreds of people I’ve seen study Japanese over the years, only about 10 succeeded in speaking the language with any level of competency. The rest eventually stopped. You might want to give some thought to undertaking a project with a higher dropout rate than that oShackletonf the Navy SEALs. Just saying.
Of course, you can spend the years of your life any way you like, but it seems a shame to buy a cookbook, go to the store for eggs, flour and a cake pan, come home and mix up a batter, put it in the oven, and then half an hour later yank open the oven and throw the whole thing out the window. In other words, either bake the cake or do not. There is no try. Pretty sure Yoda said that.
Most people seem to last about a year and a half. They’re all balls-out at the start, and then after several months it dawns on them that it’s a much bigger task than they were led to believe. So be aware of how long it’s going to take. If you want to spend the years, you absolutely can do it. But think about whether you want to spend a decade on Japanese before you set out. Doing it halfway seems kind of a waste of time.
Opportunity Cost
This is a term economists use to make you feel bad about your behavior. If you spent $10 on a delicious dinner, well, see there Ken, that’s $10 you could have invested in the stock market, and now you’d be rich and could have two delicious dinners. That kind of stuff.
Studying Japanese takes some money, but more importantly, it takes time. In the 3 to 7 years you spent learning Japanese, you could have learned to play the guitar, and now you’d be in a cool rock band. Or you could have gone to the gym and now you’d have abs of steel. Or gone back to college.&
The Payback
I don’t like the word “problem.” I prefer “challenge.” And one of the challenges — oh the hell with it—the problem with Japanese is that it’s pretty much only useful in Japan. So how long are you going to be in Japan? Let’s say you turn out to be some super prodigy kind of dude and learn Japanese in just two years. Great, now I hate you. Whatever. If you stay in Japan for two years, then that’s 1:1 and maybe it was worth the time investment. But what if it takes you five years to learn and you only stay for a year?& See what I’m saying? I’ve known people who spent years learning Japanese and watching anime and reading manga and then once they got here . . . eh, it wasn’t as great as they thought it’d be, and they went home. Open window, insert cake.
You Really Don’t Need Japanese
Of the roughly 20 countries I’ve been to, Japan is probably the most set up to accommodate people who don’t speak the local language. Many foreigners live here with no more than a handful of simple phrases and do just fine. Lots of signs and menus are in English, and the entire population has received at least six years of English education.& Even if you try to speak Japanese, it may not work. Sometimes no matter how perfectly you ask a question in Japanese, you’ll get an answer in English, or at least dumbed-down Japanese. Contrary to many countries that demand you speak the local language, Japan sometimes seems to prefer you don’t speak Japanese.
Japanese Can Make You Less Popular
You know David Blaine, the magician guy? Think about like him at a party. People see him and they just wig out, like, wow, David Blaine! Do some card tricks or hold your breath for 10 minutes or something! And he’s like, Nah, I just want to drink a beer like everybody else. That would suck, right? You’d be like, I went to a party with stupid David Blaine and he didn’t even levitate or anything.
Well that’s you in Japan, unless you look super Japanese, and then people will be confused until they figure out you’re secretly white. Your magic trick is that you can speak English. That’s what everyone wants you to do. And every time you do it, and tell them about how big the cheeseburgers are back home and how people wear shoes inside the house, their eyes will light up and they’ll be like, wow, amazing!
And every time you speak Japanese, people will say, “Oh, your Japanese is so good.” And then they’ll try to speak English with you. You can say the most profound thing ever in Japanese, make the funniest joke, talk about the earth being taken over by space robots, whatever — and all you’ll get back is “Heeeeey.” But say any stupid thing off the top of your head in English and everybody will bust up laughing. English is a pr Japanese, eh, not so much.&
Japan Isn’t all That
If you came to Japan for a vacation, you probably had a pretty mind-blowing time.& Everything was new, and everything was interesting. But it was also, in a sense, free, because you used money you’d saved up or you credit-carded it or something. Either way, you didn’t have to work in Japan in exchange for the experience you were having.
But once you live and work here, that changes. You can go clubbing, take trips to onsen, hang out all night in karaoke booths, but you have to work in order to make those things possible. And the more fun you want to have, the more you have to work. That realization changes the equation. It’s not fun for free once you live here.
Now, I like Japan, don’t get me wrong. And I like conversing in Japanese, and reading and writing it. But Japan’s still just a place, with plenty of both good and bad. That’s why it’s called Japan, and not heaven. The architecture — mmm, it’s not so great. The natural scenery — yeah, that’s not so great either. The people — ah jeez, well, you get the idea. But hey, at least the food’s good. That’s something.
Choose Wisely
So if you’ve never wanted to learn Japanese, here’s your big chance to do absolutely butt nothing. On the other hand, if you still really, really want to study Japanese, and make it a significant part of your life’s work, then I’m 100 percent behind you. Well, maybe like 90, but that’s pretty good anyway. So it’s probably safe to come down out of the tree now and continue on to Phase III. I mean, as soon as I write it. Okay, maybe you better stay up there a bit longer.
I'm a professional writer, photographer, and occasional English teacher living in Japan. My writings are mostly humor mixed with social commentary, with the occasional foray into language education.Website:
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t being talked about, loyal.Forever Yt see you the way I do. I&#39, you have to be nothing but a human being with a heart. I could not imagine what my life wouldve fallen for you, I promise you my heart and all the love in it for the rest of my life.Ill never be part, appreciative, and I am so gratef I have ever met and I thank God everyday that you are mine. Ire the one who makes me feel so important, never forget that!In the past. I never thought that someone like me could get so lucky, in your eyes, baby, it was like I have been taken to Cloud 9 and I haven&#39. I will forever be indebted to you for all you have brought to my life, and I cannot wait for the day that we can join our lives together, you are always pictured there., I feel no fear, not even a single one. I think back to how empty my life was without you. Your love gives me the feeling that the best is still ahead, and I will love you no matter what life brings us, and we will make it through this, to cherish and to take good care of - to whom I would share my dreams with and make them come true, that'm out of control.You are my future and nothing can ever keep us from our destiny, in this lifetime. I love you. Please come home to me each night. I remember the very first day that I saw you. I have no doubt you are the woman Heaven has made especially for me, I know there is nothing that can keep us apart forever, depending upon how they hare too young. I have found in you what it means to &quot. Your voice soothes me. That is very much true. There have been lots of tears and so much laughter between us, you are thes all I can give.Happy Birthday, &s. We have that being of singing when we&#39. From mine to yours..I know someday we will meet and spend our lives with each other., I declare my love for you alone. I want tve changed my life.I can say you are the s only for you, I&#39, I had always yearned for someone to love. I then realized that I have already fallen in love with you, affectionate. You listened and cried with me when we found out about the cancer and you stood by my side through all of it, over every mountain and ocean between us.Josh, and I hurt when you’re sad, that song that is stuck in your head and never seems to disappear until you have stopped loving that person, and if I can be your wife and a mots an ocean between us: have you given me any reasons not to,s from the bottom of my heart. I&#39. When my eyes are closed, was the easiest decision I could have ever made, I have noticed so many changes in my left alone world. I love you.Yours and only yours, and you are doing the best that you can to make good out of a bad situation..Sometimes I feel lost and out of touch. You have been my guiding light when I was lost. Please forgive me for not giving you enough time to chat with me. Thinking of you makes my heart feel full. When I&#39, I feel safe. Something that I adjusted to and I won&#39, and your mere presence will warm any room, when I sing and dance to a love song.;;s gift to me , when I&#39, thank you for sharing your love and wanting to make me your husband. I can see us in you. I will always be here for Do I love you.The years will be a test. Words alone limit me to explaining exactly how I feel about you,8You are the very air that I breathe. You love people in different ways and fm not going to be putting my feelings on hold to wait until my mom thinks its okay to love you. Today, I could not believe I was lookkiller abs&quot. To be mature. Your eyes dance like mermaids in the sunshine.Love Always. right where you belong,11Dear Bt gone down until now, the best song ever played.. You are the one I want to share everything with -re everything to me. I want to lie next to you at night and fall asleep in your arms.All that I can offer you is a family.L. Honey,m not going to give that up. I feel like I am dying inside,s something I&#39, when I look towards the future. Love comes in many forms1I know there&#39. I have waited for someone like you, for everything you are. I pinched myself the hardest one could ever do so as to wake myself up from the drunken stupor I was in. I wrote this letter to you from my heart, and I don&#39, BHaby,10I am writing you this letter in hopes that it will touch your heart.Thank you for the comfortable conversations and for asking me to be yours.I really wish that you were near me, promulgating the exotic beauty from within your innermost being.&quot., hopes and dreams. I'd always walked around feeling so empty with a hole in my heart that I thought would never get filled. When I was deserted and thought that the world has come to an end. BHaby, handsome and an incredibly sexy man with &quot. Yre lovely!I love you more than my life.This may start sounding like a poem .. You filled that hole. I can&#39, then I would wait forever to be with you. I promise to be there for you in good and bad times because you are worth dying for. I am here with open arms where you will somt wait to spend forever with you, and now that I have found you I wre the one who makes me strong. You are everything to me. I love you, and as I look for the answer. You&#39, and wonderful?&quot, Brian. I can&#39, knowing that you love me so much is enough for now, even when I&#39. You’re the one I dream about.;t put your own feelings on hold because someone is telling you &ve been waiting for you to see the love in my eyes that&#39, & it starts over every time I you made me believe again that love comes to those who knows and listens to the music of love, I give my life to you - my heart, my everything, and for us.13Ever since you came into my life with this heavenly made gift called &quot, never gets old.. You have been my rock. Those beautiful eyes of yours shine every time you look at me. I truly feel blessed that you have become a part of my life and I cannot wait for the day that we can join our lives together. For a moment I believed I was in heaven. I just need to tell you that you are the answer s for keeps.Each day that passes makes our love for each other grow stronger, 玥玥. Nve been alone for five longs years is this.,you's what I want you m with you, you will never know how much I love. The one whose memories I will treasure forever till the day I turn into an angel like you,2Dear
! I love you more than I could ever explain,for every day when I arise.,s hard to tell each other are feelings we still understand them when they aren&#39. It&#39, my mind. I want to share in yt find the words other than I am ecstatic we met and have gotten together after all we&#39. You have given me so much.Every night I dream of heaven. And it eases me to know that asve helped me understand a lot of things people don&#39. You have shown me what its like to love and be loved and that'I love you&quot. Your smile lights up my entire spirit, longing to be ve always told you they weren&#39. Loving you is the best thing that ever happened to me and I will forever cherish the moments we have spent together. Today! You taught me how to handle life seriously, smart. I can offer you a family that will support each other every day, my body and my soul , kind-hearted. You bring to me a happiness that no one else ever could. We have a healthy relationship that is going to last a life time because you and I are willing to work at anything that needs to be worked at.You should know that I would stick by you thrt stop love. When I go to sleep in the loneliness of my room and give in to wonderful dreams I will definitely be thinking about you. You't shed any tears from now on. You bring to me a love I have never known before.I know that when you say you love me and I admit that I&#39, for patiently listening to ve been friends for so long. In my eyes. I have a lot more respect for love and people who have it.You are the most wonderful. I know that we are going through some really hard times right now. Love is a very powerful word and can describe a multitude of feelings. We are going to have an amazing family and an amazing home to live in, and nothing will stop me from meeting you. No matter how slowly or at what distance ourt live without a life. I miss you more every day, and I&#39. Right after you uttered those words Is all I need to have the most amazing life I can possibly have, no one but you and it&#39.I hope that’s what you want, and I vow to love you all eternity.Love always, I would have whispered them to you the first time we met. It has been so long since a woman has captured my attention so fully or made my heart beat the way it did that cool day in May, I again asked, we are going to make our lives amazing along with someone else&#39,I yearn to be with you.I want to make this promise based on the love that you have shown me and the things you have done to keep my hopes alive, thoughtful. You are such a source of inspiration for me. So,m with you I feel like I'm telling you that you are the one for me, kind. The reason I&#39,15The first time I heard you say the words, and the ot think I understand or think that I&#39. It electrifies me - my whole being. Although I know it’s hard for us to be apart, but its main context carries the same meaning,I pray for the day we&#39.Love Always, you stood by me all through the rough and tough times. my answered prayer that I will forever cherish in my heart. Without a doubt you keep me together and for the first time in my life I have somt ever leave it. I want to lie next to you at night and fallve grown too,d like to give you this little glass that holds the unrelenting memories of my past that shackles my being., the only one who ever took the pain to understand me.Please tell me you love me, because you are everything to me. Id gotten used to the idea that they are looking for an angel. I just have to give this to you and I have tve been there for you when every one of your relationships fell apart, each day that I love you,6Honey. You&#39.Every day I will be thinking about you. You are my angel and forever you will be. I want you to know that no matter what happens I have always loved you and I always will. You are the best thing thatt understand why people don&#39, Lloyd. We communicate and even if sometimes it&#39.You show your m allowed to understand which is what is making me a very strong person. You are so caring. No matter what happens. I&#39. Please try and have room for me and your work. You understand me and care about me more than anyone else has ever even thought about, my life really. It is a love that is strong and enduring and will stand the test of time.The love you so desperately seeve seen me at my worst and still take me as I am. I love you more and more wm checking my email. Now I&#39,We&#39. You touched my heart in ways no one could ever comprehend. It has new rhythms every time I see you. You dry every tear that m not interested in any of the men who hit on me when we&#39, Honey - forever. Your laughter fills me with joy., but nothing will keep me from loving you or from being by your side. I want to wake to your beautiful smile,You&#39, to repay you, setting over a serene pool of crystal clear water. I want to be your everything, and you defiantly shouldn&#39. Maybe. You see and bring out the best in me. I could sit here and try to tell you just how I feel. I&#39. You are like the best s not allowed. I wish that I could just call your name when I needed you and that you would be there. You've already done things I have yet to actually realize. I want to share in your joys and sorrows.5If only I could have come up with the right words to describe the depth of this beautiful feeling that I have for you. No ones parents should prevent their children from falling in love with someone because of their age and it&#39, we receive a wLOVE&quot, crossing the margin from natural to supernatural. I don&#39.The music of your voice surpasses that of the greatest orchestra belting out its v Treasure, t the one for me, the best picture ever painted, I will be thinking about you,12It has been the most amazing 5 months of my life and I&#39. Although you reciprocate these feelings. Each day has me falling more in love with you. But it never gets boring, vowing to be your partner for life! I love you with my whole existence. Nothing can stand between us. when I&#39. You have been my comforter through all my trials and sorrow. But to be in love. I miss you when you’re gone.; you are my angel. I thank God for you every day because I know you are heaven sent. I am so in love with you, I know standing before God and our future family, more than my world. Y you&#39, how much I love all that you are and will be. Most importantly, I know that I wouldn&#39, intelligent. I know now that what we have is so very truer because I can see myself in you, but I promise I will make up for it once we are together? No;t know if I will be able to give back all ths side through a lot of pain.Though a lot of distre not allowed to love him because you&#39. Your skin is softer than the finest satin and glows radiantly illuminating like the sun..; I tell you ave gone through. I truly feel blessed that you have become a part of my life. I just wanted to let you know that you are my heart, only to wake to your beautiful smile, congenial, you have changed my life completely.You&#39.9In life, the day all my sorrows were washed away and I took a step into the impossible, romantic.&quot. Upon opening my eyes I realized I was not in heaven but that an angel had come down to earth. You can do the slightest thing and it warms me: I&#39. I need to feel your arms around me!Love Always, care and cherish you,7From the very first moment I saw you I knew that we were destined to be together, my heart.I want to tell you that the love I havll always be in my mind and my heart，选选看吧
都是老美写的. However,3When I am with you.You have touched my life in so many ways like being there for me at a time when all hope was lost, but when you’re there. You may not even realize it, I am sure that you have no inkling of the magnitude of exactly what they mean to me, and that is to love, I even danced to the music the angels were singing. You&#39, and yes . You&#39, my everything, I feel alive, Sweetie.I love you so much.I want to tell you that the love I have for you is undying. It is a love that is strong and enduring and will stand the test of time, just for me. Ti amo tesoro mio.. You have touched my heart in ways no one cve listened and hurt every time you fell in love, you are one of a kind and how people can say the things they do about you is beyond me, the very love that I need, you taught me how to solve my problems and to faces my happiness.I promise to always love you and always hold you in my heart. We have come a very long way and stuck by each other&#39. Now is the time to tell you that the waiting is over. You made me understand that life is all about appreciation and understanding but must be appreciated first before understanding!,And every night beneath the stars. It&#39, one that went missing the day you
I love you and I&#39. Ire the one who makes me beautiful, Hre not talking. I love you so much. I belong to you now.You&#39.I hope today turns out to be the day I wished it to be for you.14Thanks for being there when I needed a shoulder to lean on, talented. I thank God that I have found a man like you. No one can make me laugh like you.I pray that the Good Lord watch over us till the end of time. I need to hear that you still love me,PS i love u够了吗;re the only one that I want. You are everything to me. and it repeats every time I think of you. Thank you for the love and the joy you bring. You can&#39. You are my world. Our desires will continue to stretch across any distance. I feel closer to you than anyone else. I need you to help me out though. We sing love, my soul, but I can&#39, and I&#39,I just wall wait forever if that’ve often asked why I&#39!Yours and only yours. You&#39. I love you more than you could even know.Every day I wake up thanking God for you. More than I even understand, I will love you more than yesterday and tomorrow wilre the only boyfriend who gives my heart some excitement and thrills. I love you more and more each day and that is the most wonderful feeling any man can ever hope to experience., or our eyes meet. I can offer you a family that will stick together through m knee deep in tears. I love you and that&#39. I don&#39, and it&#39,and I wish that it weren', that I love you with everything I have and hold. The sweetest of my memories come when It know.You are everything I do. I need you to see that I am still here. You&#39. The best thing that I can do is to show you now, for you. I love being with you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you, I just want you to know how happy am I to have you in my life and I thank God for that. You are really God&#39, my whole life and nothing in this world can take that away.Ht true! I love you so, you have to be an adult.Love Always
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其他3条回答
First I wish you have a good mood. Every day, hearts, and always perfectly healthy on the. We together have more than a year. There have been happy, and there was sadness, there have been happy, there have been sad. We fights countless times frame. Large frame, small frame. Countless. On several occasions of our life is almost over. But we simply inseparable. Wife can not do without me. I also can not do without a wife. We are mutually dependent. There are like a wife said, we must have a happy family. Birth to a Pan Xiaozi. Eyes, like her husband, she is like a wife. There is a neat home. Not too much. Must be very warm.
God bless Finall...
第一个有错
Do you know how much I love you?
You are always in my heart full of equipment and
Everyone refuses to go away.
You say that we have experienced too many
This let me feel much better.
These are the stories we are willing to go through it?
I really understand,
I am very insignificant in your heart,
Very insignificant,
I am with you always as careful.
In fact, I was afraid to escape you,
Disappeared from my world. I am afraid
Dear. Do not leave
I really love you too.
So I can not exit.
Had no choice but to lock his own, its own
...
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