on japanese

Falling in love with someone from the other side of the world is beautiful and sometimes messy. Cultural friction pops up in the most surprisingly delightful ways. That's why, in an effort to learn more about my partner's background, I decided to learn the Japanese language.

A lifetime of optimism blinded me from seeing how hard it would be. The U.S. Department of State, which cultivates diplomats, ranks it as one of the most difficult languages to learn, bestowing it the hilariously accurate 'super-hard languages' title.

I set a goal to pass the coveted (JLPT) within twelve months. In my mind, passing the JLPT was a better goal than simply 'learn Japanese' because it included a deadline, clear curriculum and binary outcome.

There was so much to learn that I didn't know where to start, so I dove in head-first.

I studied every single day: flashcards for new words, textbooks for grammar, music and anime for listening and children's books for reading. At first, nothing made sense - it was a constant stream of frustration and failure.

But I powered through and eventually the picture became clearer. I could pick out certain words from a conversation; I began to recognize characters from what I was reading; and I was able to infer meaning with just a few perceivable context clues.

After hundreds of study hours, however, I still failed the JLPT. But the feelings of disappointment and heavy dose of humility were not enough to shake me from my path.

Failing that test gave me important feedback. I actually passed the vocabulary and listening sections! I was making progress and developed a consistent study routine. Now I had a better idea of my strengths and weaknesses and could adjust my strategy.

I know more Japanese today than I ever have, and I've discovered that I'll continue to get better as long as I keep moving forward. Sure, it would have been nice to pick up this new skill with ease, but I cannot expect to be a natural at everything. Learning is a lifelong journey and failure is a requisite for growth that can only be overcome with resiliency.