// goals for 2006.learn_japanese

o Okay, so maybe not mastery, but at least move into the intermediate speaker realm of things. I have started lessons in beginning Japanese to pass the time en route to my job. I have always wanted to become mildly fluent in another language, and since I have all but erased from memory the four years of Spanish I learned in high school, I figure I may as well choose any language I want.

o I chose Japanese for a couple of reasons.

- I like anime. I think it would be awesome to watch a Japanese anime without having to rely on subtitles or dubbing. I realize it will take a long time to reach the point, of understanding fluent, conversational Japanese, but for now I want to start down that road.

- My friends, likewise, are huge Asian culture fans and therefore would probably find it immensely cool if I picked up the language.

- I would like to travel to Tokyo and surrounding Japan in the future. While I know the country has become so accessible for Americans (as every country has), I would rather be able to rely on my own grasp of the language to tour and interact.

o My other language possibility for this goal is Latin. I would love to learn this for the purposes of understanding more Latin references and the chance to read Latin originals of certain works of Literature. This is the English Literature major coming out in me.

o However, my principal amount of time in which to accomplish this is in the car, and since Latin is a dead language learned more for writing than speaking, it has been hard to wrangle tapes or CDs for this purpose. The goal might be set for next year, but hopefully I'll find time to brush up on what I have already learned in Latin 101 in college.

o So, by December 31, 2006, I will be skilled enough in Japanese to understand the general gist of conversations and contribute enough so native speakers can laugh at my horrid pronunciation.

01.30.06
Update: I finished the beginner lessons of Pimsleur's Japanese language program. Good progress for a little over a month, I think (I started these shortly before the new year). I haven't touched the lessons since.
See, the library, which was fully stocked with every level of Japanese language learning materials I could ever want (a small reason for picking this language over the couple of others I was considering) has since shed this supply. Since then I haven't been able to track down a reasonably affordable supply of intermediate lessons in CD form (the tape deck in my car doesn't work so much as not). So this one is on hold until I can figure out an alternate method for the learnin'.

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	o	Okay, so maybe not mastery, but at least move into the intermediate speaker realm of things. I have started lessons in beginning Japanese to pass the time en route to my job. I have always wanted to become mildly fluent in another language, and since I have all but erased from memory the four years of Spanish I learned in high school, I figure I may as well choose any language I want.
	o	I chose Japanese for a couple of reasons.

	-	I like anime. I think it would be awesome to watch a Japanese anime without having to rely on subtitles or dubbing. I realize it will take a long time to reach the point, of understanding fluent, conversational Japanese, but for now I want to start down that road.
	-	My friends, likewise, are huge Asian culture fans and therefore would probably find it immensely cool if I picked up the language.
	-	I would like to travel to Tokyo and surrounding Japan in the future. While I know the country has become so accessible for Americans (as every country has), I would rather be able to rely on my own grasp of the language to tour and interact.

	o	My other language possibility for this goal is Latin. I would love to learn this for the purposes of understanding more Latin references and the chance to read Latin originals of certain works of Literature. This is the English Literature major coming out in me.
	o	However, my principal amount of time in which to accomplish this is in the car, and since Latin is a dead language learned more for writing than speaking, it has been hard to wrangle tapes or CDs for this purpose. The goal might be set for next year, but hopefully I'll find time to brush up on what I have already learned in Latin 101 in college.
	o	So, by December 31, 2006, I will be skilled enough in Japanese to understand the general gist of conversations and contribute enough so native speakers can laugh at my horrid pronunciation.