12.04.2024

A random stream of consciousness on learning Japanese.

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• it is a great joy
• to learn such a logical and beautiful language
  • with very few exceptions
  • or rules you have to learn by heart

• it feels like playing Lego
• for example: 食べる(“taberu”) (to eat)
  • replace ending “ru” with “tai”: 食べたい (“tabetai”) (want to eat)
    • replace “i” with “kunai”: 食べたくない(“tabetakunai”) (do not want to eat)
      • replace “i” with “katta”: 食べたかった (“tabetakunakutta”) (did not want to eat)
• words are ‘conjugated’ by attaching helper words
  • in a sense, it’s similar to functional programming

• however, every now and then learning Japanese feels impossible
• like a mountain that’s too high to climb
• spending the few hours I have left each day after work and chores
• in an artificial Japanese environment consisting of
  • recursively reviewing Anki flashcards
  • writing out Kanji
  • and watching Japanese videos
• just to
  • progress forward a bit
  • and not forget what I’ve learned so far
• knowing full well it’s no natural way to acquire the language
• but having no other choice since I’m
  • stuck on the other side of the world
  • limited by time
  • and not at the point yet where I can fully “immerse” myself yet

• I sometimes wish I could just go Japan
  • not just for a two week vacation
    • but for a few years
  • not just as a foreign tourist
    • but as a someone who ‘lives there’
• but I’m also fully aware of my inability
  • to speak the language fluently
  • find a job there or
  • live a ‘normal’ live in Japan
• so I stop thinking about it
  • and enter my artificial environment again
  • since it’s the best tool I have right now
  • to make this wish a reality