You Can’t Learn Basic Japanese In A Classroom

My entire life has been spent in pursuit of a trip to Japan. As a child, I befriended Asian kids at school, and insisted on bowing my head to people when I met them. I learned origami and the martial arts, adored anime, and virtually anything that was even remotely Asian. But, my real love was Japan. I knew that one day I would visit Japan.

When I entered high school, the only language classes were Spanish and German - neither of which appealed to me. I begged the administration to let me learn basic Japanese on my own, but they forced me into Spanish class. My knowledge of Spanish consists of asking how someone is doing and saying, "Bueno."

In college, I finally got the opportunity to learn basic Japanese. One might think that after all the years of studying the culture, I would realize that the language was difficult to learn. I had always just assumed that I would be a "natural". After flunking out of that first semester of Japanese, I realized that I wasn't as smart as I thought I was.

After several attempts at organized schooling in the language, a lot of reading, some audio books, and even friendships with Japanese people who refused to converse in English with me, it took a software program to actually get me to the point where I could speak and understand basic Japanese.

I know there are several programs out there, but Rocket Language's Japanese program was the one that worked for me. So, after years of dreaming and scheming, I finally made it over to Japan last summer. It was everything I had dreamed of and more, and being able to speak the language made me capable of being more than just a tourist, but an active part of Japanese culture.

By: Al Harding

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Al Harding is a language learning expert and director of popular blog StartLearningJapaneseOnline.Com. He provides honest information and advice on things like how to learn Japanese online and much more. Check out his blog for more info!