Classes are almost over!!

One thing I would recommend to any American out there with free time on their hands is to take a Japanese language course. They offer them for free on most bases, or if you're an academic learner (i.e., you do better when you are under pressure) then most of the colleges on base offer a Japanese language program with some extremely valuable scholarships available to military spouses.

I put hours and hours of time into studying for my Japanese course. I made flashcards, sought online help to supplement what I was learning in class and practiced out in town. I even gave up derby for a few weeks to focus on my classes. As a result, I passed the class with an "A"! I had to write the final exam almost entirely in Hiragana, which takes me twice as long as it takes me to write anything in English. This summer, I will be taking Japanese II, but I want to give the online format a try.

When I first saw they had language classes online, I ps-haw'ed the idea. How can you possibly learn a language online? However, halfway into my Japanese class, I remembered why I can read and write Spanish so much better than I can speak it (Spanish was my undergraduate minor, by the way)....classroom courses focus almost entirely on reading and writing. So, while I can read and write Hiragana with confidence, my speaking skills are less than confident. In the online course, you have the opportunity to record yourself speaking Japanese. So, I'm hoping the online format will help me be more confident in my speaking abilities.

On Wednesday, I take my final exam in my Japanese literature course. What a course! When I first got the books for my Japanese literature course, I thought they all sounded depressing. One was about Hiroshima, one was about a man who wants to kill his mentally retarded son, and so on and so forth with the serious themes. The Japanese writers were surprisingly delicate and delightful in their handling of these serious issues. I read each novel with enthusiasm instead of the usual burdensome duty I reserve for assigned class readings. I churned out three extremely insightful papers for this class and loved every minute. The Japanese are so subtle and weave such intricate stories about man and nature being one, instead of the man conquering nature themes we see in the West.

I'm going on vacation to the States soon and I have loaded up my Kindle (one of the best gifts my Mom and Dad ever gave me...thanks guys!) with more Japanese literature.

I can't wait for my summer semester!