\u6bce\u65e5\u65e5\u672c\u8a9e\u3092\u52c9\u5f37\u3057\u307e\u3059! (Every day I study Japanese!)<\/p>\n
As an international student at Flinders University, the idea of studying in a foreign country is not new to me\u2014culture shock and adjustment, feelings of isolation and anxiousness, reverse culture shock\u2014been there, done that. However, Australia and Japan are two very<\/em> different countries. I\u2019m super excited and grateful that I\u2019ll have a completely new experience living in Hiroshima!<\/p>\n A major difference between going to Australia and Japan is the language barrier. I\u2019m a native English speaker, but hardly know any Japanese. Hence, learning Japanese is my main focus in the weeks before I go to Japan. I feel that language is a major communication tool that is deeply embedded in and reflects, to some extent, individual cultures. It gives you clues into things like what is considered polite or important and what the culture is tied to historically. I want to learn as much as I can about Japanese people and culture on my semester exchange. As such I think it\u2019s necessary to learn at least basic Japanese, though it isn\u2019t required.<\/p>\n Speaking of goals, this is one advantage I believe having already been an international student gives me: that I have and am aware of the benefits of having a goal(s) in heading somewhere. When I came to Adelaide I was just trying living abroad by myself without any particular goal. While this is fine, I believe having some purpose or goal makes the experience that much more fulfilling and meaningful. Besides learning about Japanese people and culture, I\u2019m also very curious about the Japanese attitude and mindset on future living, especially in terms of environmental and social sustainability. Before exploring these topics though, I first need to learn how to discuss\u00a0them in Japanese!<\/p>\n To this end, I\u2019ve been self-learning using Genki 1, using Memrise to supplement Genki and memorise vocabulary. Plus, today I\u2019ve just started using Tandem, a language-exchange partnering app. It\u2019s always fun learning new things and I\u2019m looking forward to learning lots about everything Japanese in time to come!<\/p>\n \u76f4\u3050\u306b\u65e5\u672c\u306b\u884c\u304d\u307e\u3059! Japan, here I come!<\/p>\n