Visiting Japan has been a big part of my life since 2010, but learning to speak and understand the Japanese language has not. One day a friend of mine, fluent in English and Tagalog, asked me why. I had not one good reason but many poor excuses: "I'm lazy, I'm too old, and I can't be bothered."

But her question got me to thinking. Whenever I was in Japan I was often seized by an intense desire to speak the language of the natives. But at those times , completely unbidden, high school Spanish would fill my head. A phrase like "Esta Susana en casa"" uttered in Japan was as helpful as you would guess. I continued to let my daughter do all the reading, writing, speaking, and translation of Japanese that we needed.
Then one day I tuned into a YouTube channel featuring Rachel and Jun. Rachel was discussing ways to learn Japanese, and she recommended choosing a method that suited your learning style. She added that sometimes learning Japanese could be very difficult, but you just have to push your way through it. All of this struck me as honest and realistic.

I began to research some online programs and I decided upon Memrise Pro. I spent just over a year working my way through Japanese I, Japanese II, Japanese III, Japanese Particles, and Katakana. Japanese I was a real eye-opener, and it was a huge challenge for me, but I persevered through the last lesson. I ended up ranked as #272 of all time, har. Good job, eh" But as I immer...