I dunno why I study Japanese. I just started one day and thought it was fun. People I meet who ask my "why" I study Japanese, I can never give a good answer. I mean, what do people normally say? "Like the culture" or "loved one is Japanese" or something like that. Those aren't why, mostly anymore it's just to prove that I'm right.

I personally get really really annoyed by English guys in London who talk to their oriental girlfriends in their own language, rather than English like the rest of us, because they think they are sooo much better than everyone else. I want to be one of those really annoying guys.

I also want to be able to go to my parents house and insult the **** out of my step mother to my girlfriend in front of her face without her having a clue what I'm saying; just that alone will be worth all of the years of study.

More seriously though, now I have got into the language I think it's really beautiful and I'm studying it for its own sake.

By the way, you probably don't need to spread the good word in Japan, because they are doing it fine for themselves (alas). I took this video last week: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2DcRnmMzpZQ

Ben_Nielson wrote:

seanosaurus - dare to dream man. 

You know it.  I love that country so much, I have the simplest wishes.  I would be more than happy living there with the most mediocre job ever.  Just so long as I can pay rent, eat good, and afford camera equipment.

Last edited by seanosaurus (2009 January 04, 2:55 pm)

seanosaurus wrote:

Ben_Nielson wrote:

seanosaurus - dare to dream man. 

You know it.  I love that country so much, I have the simplest wishes.  I would be more than happy living there with the most mediocre job ever.  Just so long as I can pay rent, eat good, and afford camera equipment.

Your pictures are very cool.

woah, didn't notice the website link.  Agreed, very cool.  Interested in hearing about your camera as well..

I want to pass JLPT L1 to make it easier to work in Japan again, as well as make everyday life there easier. (I know not everything in L1 is applicable to day-to-day tasks, but the reading speed and fluency necessary to pass the test will be extremely useful)

I worked in my company's Tokyo office previously, but due to utter mismanagement of the team I was in, I was getting majorly f*cked over and ended up accepting a position in a different team back at company HQ because that seemed like a better career move. 

While the work environment is a bit better here, not a day goes by that I don't miss Japan deeply and regret having left.  It's weird but I feel completely out of place here, and it's not something that seems to be going away with time--people are fat rude slobs, car-based society sucks, food quality is terrible, everywhere is just filthy, and I really could care less about the Superbowl/American Idol/Britney Spears or whatever else is currently popular in the US.  It's not like I'm like I'm to pretend I'm Japanese like some otaku weirdo, I just felt like I fit in better there even without making any particular effort to.

Now while there are some positions in the Tokyo office where Japanese isn't strictly required, the higher level I have will give me an obvious advantage over other applicants, and having L1 will open new possibilities for positions that do require some Japanese.  So if I'm really lucky, and all my studying pays off and I pass L1 and find another job there, I intend to stay for the foreseeable future.

Well, that's my (sob) story....

Last edited by Matthew (2009 March 13, 7:53 pm)

@Harrow:  though I'm only 18, I can sympathize with that.  I find it hard to imagine a life without traveling.  It's almost painful to think about it.

Why I study Japanese...

It all started with my eldest brother. He turned 13 I think it was, and back then, there was a section at blockbuster that you had to be around that age to rent these movies. No it wasnt the porn section, it was the anime section that I guess they considered graphic and needed an age restriction, which I guess is reasonable.

Well anywho, he rented Ranma 1/2. That was my first anime and my first exposure to that culture other than learning the numbers 1-10 in first grade. Ever since i've dabbled in different areas of the culture, have a large anime collection, video game and final fantasy fan, my grandfather always showed me things from and told me about him being stationed in japan, had a japanese friend through out high school, and have just grown to love the country from all that I have seen so far. I hope to work and live there somehow eventually.

Last edited by cloudstrife543 (2009 March 13, 10:35 pm)

Matthew wrote:

While the work environment is a bit better here, not a day goes by that I don't miss Japan deeply and regret having left.  It's weird but I feel completely out of place here, and it's not something that seems to be going away with time--people are fat rude slobs, car-based society sucks, food quality is terrible, everywhere is just filthy, and I really could care less about the Superbowl/American Idol/Britney Spears or whatever else is currently popular in the US.  It's not like I'm like I'm to pretend I'm Japanese like some otaku weirdo, I just felt like I fit in better there even without making any particular effort to.

Just noticed this thread for the first time, and you took the words right out of my mouth. It is exactly these sentiments that sent me packing back to Japan as soon as I was able.

Now that I have 永住権 and a stable, long-term job in a good company, I find myself thinking about the U.S. less and less everyday. Many of my Japanese friends and relatives will ask me my opinion of the latest news from the states, including what I think of Obama. The only comment I have for them is - "Who is Obama? What? We have a new president? Sh!t, when did that happen?"

I can count the number of things I miss about America on one hand:

microbrew beer
Home Depot (I'm into woodworking, and コーナン just doesn't cut it)
skiing in the Rockies
cheap...well, everything

And that's it! Looks like I have one finger left over...

--------

In answer to the OP, I study Nihongo because:
I plan to live here a long time, if not the rest of my life, and I don't want to be one of those dorks who has been here twenty years and still can't stammer anything but the most infantile of expressions.

Erubey wrote:

I think you guys are weird for hating the US so much and its popular culture while embracing japan's.

Why? Because everyone is supposed to love the American way? And to think that other lifestyles can be more interesting and fulfilling than those most commonly found in the States is weird?

十人十色, my friend.

Why doesn't everybody study Japanese? Now, that's puzzling

J

Why? Because everyone is supposed to love the American way? And to think that other lifestyles can be more interesting and fulfilling than those most commonly found in the States is weird?

No. Because its such a rejection of popular culture based on that its stale and boring yet you just turn around and love whatever japan churns out even though its basically the same, just for a different audience. Unless whatever media or political interest you have in Japan isn't superficial, but I doubt it. 

Seriously, 'who is obama'?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not even American.

I am not really sure what American culture is.  Gluttony and spending beyond our means? I am not sure we have been in existence long enough to have a defined culture.  We are a militaristic society.  Our "defense" budget is greater than that of all other nations combined.  Maybe that is our culture.

What people love is our media.  Hollywood and the music industry have been our goodwill ambassadors to counter our foreign policies alienating everyone.  Most of it is mindless B.S. though.  I don't even have a TV or stereo.