Hey everybody. I have been a JPod101 listener for less than a month but I've been studying every day at work. I tried to study Japanese by myself in high school and after I graduated but I never got anywhere with it, it was too challenging to try and do on my own. I'm only in the mid-40s of the Beginner lessons right now but they are SO good and so useful that I have learned and retained more in the last 3 weeks than I did in my MANY previous half-assed years of attempting. JPod101 is great and I tell lots of people about it.
Now I don't personally know a lot of people that speak legit Japanese, but in my hometown where my parents live there is a small restaurant that's run by actual Japanese people. (I knew this from before because I'd heard them speaking it there .) I've been dying to test out my newly-acquired knowledge, and yesterday my eagerness took over so I drove back home under the guise of visiting my family. My real intention was to use my poor victims at "COTO" as a litmus test to see how well I'd do while speaking Japanese. I can totally remember how anxious I was about it, but I was determined to do my best. I have NEVER really tried to speak a language other than English with another person, so this was a big milestone for me.
Turns out I've picked up at least a thing or two, because when I started busting out my best Japanese the lady there was totally surprised and seemed very pleased with me! I was so nervous that I would say something wrong or stumble a lot but I tried to keep my wits about me and I managed to speak at least 75% Japanese throughout. "Mizu kudasai," and "onegai shimasu" and all those dining type phrases managed to come forth during the course of the meal. (There were a few times when I didn't know the words for what I wanted to say so I had to default to English, but I made sure to quickly revert to Japanese again when I could.) When I was done I stated that I was full and, very slowly but very enthusiastically, explained that the unagi nigiri was, "Sugoi oishii! Suki desu, DAI-suki desu!" I had to use the old "yukkuri onegai shimasu" and that sort of thing once or twice; apparently my Japanese was so convincing that she thought she could speak fast-paced native-style with me, much to my alarm. She asked me a couple of questions, some of which I could understand, some not, but that's largely because of my limited vocabulary and my low level of comprehension. No sweat, right? She asked me in English where I learned to speak Japanese, because, in her words exactly, "Your Japanese so good!!" That put a big smile on my face but I protested that my Japanese was terrible. (Looking back I should have used Japanese words to do that as well... damn!) I wish I could remember some of the things she said that I couldn't quite understand, because then I could ask you guys, but alas...
Anyways after I paid the bill and tried to fumble through some small talk, most of which was her speaking and me saying, "soo desu ne" if I couldn't respond otherwise, she told me, "Ganbatte, ne?"
I said, "Ganbarimasu!" It was a ball, I haven't been that pleased with anything for a long time. It was like an early Xmas present. Sorry to clutter up the forum with this, I'm just so excited that I had to talk about it. I'm gonna keep knockin' away at a few lessons every day and then go back and see if I can't do better next time. I am totally hypermotivated now. It gives me great hope for my future learning and future attempts to use what I learn!
Lessons
Your Next Lesson
Say Hello in Japanese No Matter What the Time of Day
Absolute Beginner Season 1
Learn how to greet someone both formally and informally
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