I’ve been teaching myself Japanese through daily self-study since February. It has become my passion. たのしいです。They say that you can acquire a language quicker if you live in the country (“immersion.”) So I’ve been trying to virtually immerse myself in the language & culture through YouTube, apps, music, anime, travel, and even grocery shopping. The only thing lacking was the opportunity to converse with native speakers.

I signed up for the UH-Mānoa Outreach Japanese class this Fall. We meet on Saturday mornings on campus at Sakamaki Hall. I found out about the class from ふみこせんせい who taught summer school at Kamehameha. She is awesome! I really enjoy the class and my classmates.

After class, we have optional conversation sessions with volunteer native speakers. We speak half-hour in 日本語, then half-hour in English. It has been amazing so far! すごいです！Everyone has been so kind. Aside from practicing the language (which is already great,) I’ve been able to make friends from Japan. In fact, one of the volunteers lives in my building! びっくりしました！We hope to meet up at Mr. Tea Café for weekly practice.

This class has been an absolute blessing. I’m truly enjoying this journey on hopefully becoming fluent in three years. がんばります。