Fond Greetings

This summer I have taken one of the untold opportunities presented by one's summer break (between semesters of formal study) to indulge in a bit of personal inquisition into the Japanese language. I cannot recall my first exposure to the language, though it was likely through various war films (and the requisite Godzilla collection) owned by my father. However, as an individual with a lifelong interest in video games, an encounter with the Japanese language seems inevitable. Now, finally, my fledgling interest has grown to be irresistible. I have studied several languages in the past, but this will be the first that I pick up completely of my own volition, and I am hoping to stick with it for a while (though I readily admit to being merely in a test-run sort of phase, at the moment).

Though my primary exposure to the language is through video games, I find it lamentable that anyone on the internet who expresses even the slightest interest in anything Japanese is instantly labeled an otaku, weeaboo, Japanophile, etc. and possibly shunned or ridiculed. In my past languages studies (and those of their respective cultures), I never met with as much criticism as one does when seeking information about Japanese. It is my sincere hope that this forum will aid me in a peaceful manner as I seek the information I desire, and perhaps discover things I would never have thought research on my own.

To those who may be reading this, thank you kindly for creating and participating in the discussions of such a place. I look forward to learning from you.

Hello Milady, welcome to the forums! Don't worry, you won't be ridiculed here for having an interest in Japan. That would totally contradict what this forum is about! I hope you have fun here and good luck with your studies.

Thank you for your kind words. I don't know how much I'll be able to contribute to discussion, but at the very least I'm having fun crawling about all of the pages that were created before I joined.

welcome to jref friend!

Thank you, kindly.

It's pleasant to see that there are members here who have been a part of the forums for quite some time! I've been a regular member of another forum for about a year now, and though such a length of time is quite short compared to the stays of others, it's fun to be a part of the "regular" sort of experience that a forum has to offer. "Older" members and the history of the forums are always interesting, when they manage to come up as a topic of discussion.