I'm so excited to be starting my Japanese II class next week. For those following along, I received a scholarship to go to a college on base to get my certificate in Japanese Language Studies. The community center on base offers plenty of free Japanese language classes, but I learn better in an environment with deadlines and grades. I personally think one of the best things any American living here can do is learn the language.
My first Japanese class was taken in a physical classroom setting. I learned a lot, but it was mostly written. I can now read Hiragana and Katakana words almost as fast as I can read English words. In a classroom setting, each student may be called on once in each class to speak, so you don't really get to practice speaking much. I still have a lot of anxiety about speaking Japanese. I mostly mumble under my breath and hope I'm saying the right thing.
Tonight I had a chance to review the syllabus for my Japanese II class. Each week the students are required to record themselves speaking Japanese and submit the recording to the teacher. I'm truly hoping that hearing myself speak Japanese will help me to overcome the anxiety I have about speaking it.
Wish me luck in my second semester of class!!
You will do well. When I started taking voice lessons my biggest fear was singing by myself in front of others. What if I sounded awful? Once you climb that mountain of fear, it is much less intimidating even though you might say the wrong thing sometimes.
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