For those of you wondering about the title, I've decided to link this to a bunch of posts I did a long time ago about the different languages I've studied and their, all too often, grizzly fate. Therefore, if you want to read about my experiences studying Japanese before I came here, read this post.

For those of you studying Japanese or planning to study, what that post doesn't mention is the book I used: Japanese For Busy People I. I didn't exaclty "choose" the book, it was simply required for the course. However, despite the sometimes annoyingly obvious orientation towards business people, I found it a very good book to study by. Having now studied with Book II of the series, I can say there is a lot less vocabulary directed specifically towards business people, although that may also be due to my Book II being a newer edition than my Book I.

Book I I studied completely in Finland, and it laid a good base for getting to grips with the language. Book I introduced no kanji whatsoever, only hiragana and katakana. What I really liked about it in comparison to other methods I have seen is that the language is immediately useful, rather than the "A cat exists." kind of sentences all to common with beginning Japanese. It also does a good job of familiarising you with the somewhat unusual word order for sentences. Book II then I feel, really opens up the language, going into a variety of useful grammar and acquainting you very well with the -te -ta and other plain forms as well as the ways in which they can be used. It also includes practice for 160 kanji.

One reason the series receive my seal of approval is because I have been able to compare it to the teaching method issued to exchange students by YFU, my exchange program. This system, the "Kumon" involves the student ploughing through piles and piles of repetitive work sheets, which are then sent to a teacher by post for checking, and who then sends you a new set of worksheets. I gave the system a good try, but the repetitiveness is exceedingly de-motivating, and the system lacked a coherent way of teaching grammar, instead providing some tantalising tidbits in the corner of the page regarding some new little thing you were just presented. It's also quite annoying having the occasional exercise in tracing hiragana when you're at my level. The series also had a habit of having exactly the same text for about 20 worksheets in a row on which the exercises were based. Most of my fellow exchange students didn't bring any study material, but the fact that they have gone to buy new textbooks from Japanese bookstores is a testament to the failure of Kumon. So, now you know one way you shouldn't study.

As you probably expect, my Japanese has improved ridiculously during the time I've been here, something I would put down to about three reasons. First is that I've stuck to the same studying method for most of the time, which has allowed me to make steady progress into more complex grammar rather than floundering in the basics. I think this is actually a very important point, because if you change your method of study it is likely that the other method teaches things in a slightly different order. This means you will either not be able to full understand everything you study with your new method, or you will find that it teaches you things you already know.

The second reason is that I am not expected to participate properly during lessons at school, because obviously I have no hope of studying chemistry in Japanese. This means that I can have as many as four or five hours a day to simply study Japanese. Personally I am always happy to study on my own, because it allows me to take time doing things I find difficult and not linger on things I find easy. It also means I can study in a way which I know works for me, rather than in a way the teacher insists will work for me. The grim truth is also that you cannot really hope to "absorb" grammar from conversation and listening to people around you, not very quickly anyway. Rather I have noticed that studying grammar for a few hours and then putting it into use as soon as possible is by far the quicker way. I for example barely noticed the difference between the words 'shaberu' and 'shaberareru' before I read from my book that the other means "speak" an the other "can speak".

At school I also have so called "private lessons" with idle teachers. These are exceedingly useful when used as conversational practice, especially as the teacher can point out any mistakes I make and, should they speak English, I can ask them on vocabulary. And despite living here my chances for a solid hour of conversation are not particularly high. Occasionally though, especially at the beginning, the teacher might insist on grammar, in which case I would waste my time writing something simple like interrogative sentences, something I would have thought they knew I was able to do on account of having asked them questions in Japanese.

The third reason for my drastic improvement is the most obvious: I live in Japan, go to a Japanese school and stay at a family which speaks only Japanese. When I came to Japan I could not wait to practice the little Japanese I already knew, and while my initial efforts often floundered miserably, I was not at all shy about trying my best. But once again you cannot really hope to magically absorb speaking skills either, you simply have to pluck up the courage and use what you know to talk to people. I know this is much more difficult to some than it is the others, but I cannot imagine another better way. Although I said grammar is difficult to learn merely through listening to others, speaking with people, especially ones who are patient and interested is a great way to pick up vocabulary and learn to understand and to speak more colloquial language. Not to mention that being able to substitute the textbook's speaking exercises with real world conversation and being able to put newly learnt grammar straight to use also makes advancing through the textbook that much faster.

It might seem from what I have said that the only way to learn Japanese is to come here, which may be true should you wish fluency. However, I can also say that I was thankful for every single hour of studying I did in Finland, and that I would not have wished to begin my studies in Japan. In the same way I can tell everyone studying Japanese that the more effort you put into it the easier it will when or if you ever have the chance to visit Japan and practice your language. I also cannot imagine any better motivation for Japanese studying than the rewarding feeling of being able to put that studying to use.

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In other news, I am leaving tomorrow for a four day trip to Kamakura to check out some temples, so look forward to a nice big update and plenty of pictures. If you have questions about my post on Japanese feel free to ask, and don't hesitate to tell me if there is something I should have written more about.