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Roller Coasters and 日本語

Have you ever been to a theme park and waited in line for a roller coaster? Not just any coaster, but the big, badass coasters; the ones that draw everyone to the park in the first place? I've done it plenty of times to know that there are four distinct stages to riding a coaster. The first and undoubtedly longest stage is waiting in line. It seems everyone and their mom is waiting in line just for that coaster. What did you expect; it's the most badass coaster in the park. So you wait in line, listening to people talk about how many times they've ridden it before, where the best moments are, how much fun it is to go on it again and that it never gets old, etc. Then there's the new people who are wide-eyed like deer in the headlights, scared poopless of what's about to come. They nervously watch the line move ever closer, anticipating every moment, watching the people ahead of them ride the coaster and let their imaginations run wild with how the ride will turn out. No matter which person you are, you have a lot of time to reflect on the decision you just made. Sure, you can turn back now but who wants to walk through that entire line of people, a veritable walk of shame? So you stand there thinking, "Yeah, this is gonna be awesome!"

Then there's the second stage. Alright, you're finally there! All those long hours of waiting have finally paid off. You strap into the seat like a NASCAR driver and take a quick look at your buddy next to you, sharing a quick smile of simultaneous glee and anxiety. The seat checkers (Yes, I call them seat checkers) come around and make sure you're strapped in so mommy's little boy comes back home in one piece. There is DEFINITELY no going back now and you're just in it for the ride at this point. So off you go to the wild blue yonder. The cliché click-click-click of the coaster rattles off as you make your way up the first hill. Then it hits you like a sack of bricks covered in titanium. You look down and realize that is where you are going. You begin to sweat and think to yourself "Why the $*%& did I get on this damn ride?!" Luckily, this doesn't last long thanks to mother nature and you quickly accept the inevitable, thinking to yourself "Dammit if this is gonna happen I'm at least gonna enjoy it!" So you throw your arms up, embracing insanity.

Then comes stage three, the stage that never seems to last long enough. It's absolute euphoria and terror winding through all those turns and going up and down at high speeds. You think to yourself "This is amazing but I think I just crapped myself!" as you jolt back and forth inside your little NASCAR chair. You can see the end coming but you just don't want it to. Stay away stage four!

But alas, it must come. The coaster comes to a halt. Your fix your windblown hair, look at your friend and laugh. You get out of the coaster, both of you gawking at how AWESOME that was, unable to stop talking about it. You suddenly turn into a rollercoaster connoisseur, analyzing every part of the coaster that gave you maximum joy. You don't care you just spent hours of waiting for 5 minutes of joy, because man was it worth it. You're even tempted to wait another few hours for the same ride since it was so exciting.

This is a giant one page analogy for the application process I am going through right now to study abroad in Japan next year. I'm still stuck in the first stage, though. I hear people around me saying lots of things about the ride to come, anticipating every moment of it. I even have those moments of doubt. How will I get around? Can I learn the language enough to communicate comfortably? How will I do things like get a haircut, go shopping, eat out, make friends or have fun on weekends? But, like the person waiting in line, it is too late to back out now. No matter what happens, I just have to push on and convince myself that "Dammit if this is gonna happen I'm at least gonna enjoy it!"
This is already a long enough post but while I'm at it, and since I think my blogs have been lacking lately, I think I'll keep going on an issue I want to talk about. After reading several people's thoughts around the internet and their experience with learning a foreign language, specifically Japanese, I have come to several conclusions. The first is the idea that classes are necessary to learning a language.
While for me, taking an introductory Japanese class has certainly helped get me started, I can hardly see myself being competent, much less conversational, in Japanese through classes alone. If you think about it, a baby never took classes, yet they still learned their language. They didn't have any language to compare their target language to and translate "this is a book" to. The reason babies learned their language is because they were immersed in it 24/7. While taking a class has certainly forced me to learn some useful things, I doubt I can ever get around constantly using polite speech.

Secondly, I have to resist the urge to filter what I learn through English. This goes along with the baby. If I may, let me ask you a question. When I say "ball" what do you think of? Most people think of a round object, maybe a beach ball or basketball. But do you think of the word "ball," much less the word "ball" in a different language? What about something more abstract like love, fear, synergy or nuances in language like "I would eat the cake but," versus "I should eat the cake but"? A baby has no base language to compare the word ball, love, fear or synergy to or that mommy would eat the cake but she shouldn't because she is putting on weight; it just abstracts and internalizes what it is being told, although good luck getting a baby to understand synergy.

In that same way, I have to become a 日本語 baby, forgetting everything I know about language because the Japanese language, as far as I know, is vastly different from English. I can't try and break down every little grammar point I come across in a sentence since I doubt I could even do the same in my own language. Things sound natural not necessarily because it is logical that they do but because they just do. Let me ask you this; when you hear the catch phrase "I'm lovin' it" (from McDonalds) does a little red flag go up in your head? It should, because that sentence makes no sense. What is the difference between, "I'm loving you" versus "I love you"? A grammar point, that's what. When you say you love someone, you imply you are in a constant state of affection. That's why "I'm loving you" makes no sense because it is implying a constant state of a constant state of affection. Yet most people wouldn't catch this nuance simply because if you say something often enough it seems natural. In fact, I can almost guarantee that a person who is learning English as a second language would catch this error in grammar whereas a native speaker would not. Is it because they are *shock* better at English than us? Well, no, (although I don't know what "better at English" means) they just studied about the language, not necessarily how it is used.

I have to begin to not learn something because "Grammar rule 10, section 8 subpoint 2.1" but because that is just the way it is. I have to internalize all those little nuances, all those quirky grammar constructs that don't make any sense in English and adopt a baby-like mindset. I have to take everything for granted and believe everything I hear in the language. Who cares that "一時から二時まで勉強します," in English literally means "1o'clock from 2o'clock until study do." I have to internalize what it actually means, the concept or message behind it and understand it as well as I know what "I study from 1o'clock to 2o'clock," in English means. It's no shock that, in my opinion, the best speakers of a second language are those who lived in that language and experienced it first hand. They were exposed to it everyday and were forced to live in that language, because that is what language is. It is a living, breathing entity that changes all the time.
That's all I got for now (notice how "got" here is kind of informal, as opposed to "have"?), but I'm a little curious about anyone's thoughts on this. If you have learned or are learning another language, what has worked and has not worked for you? Is there any truth to what I have said? I'm looking forward to any thoughts you guys have! Just a little side note: I'm going to make it a goal of mine to be able to eventually write everything I have written here in Japanese someday. It will probably take, I don't know, 5-10 years, and that's assuming I stick with the language, but it's something to keep in my sights, eh? Anyway, have a happy holiday! (I seriously had to resist the urge to type, "Have a happy holidays" here; just another strange quirk.)

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Half-n-Half
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