Leggo my "Eigo"

Eigo is the Japanese word for English. I just took two weeks off from my Japanese classes because Randy was here and then I was sad he was gone, so I missed one more. It was good to “force” myself to go to both of them this week. For my once-a-week class in Kyoto at the International Community Center, I paid only 800 yen (about $7.00) total for all 16 weeks. Today we spent the whole 90 minutes learning how to say “A is bigger/taller/cheaper/better than B” and “I like A more than B, but I like C most of all.” It’s such a slow process; I am told that two semesters of Japanese is like only one of Spanish, French, Italian, or German. I didn’t really believe it before, but now I see it. I thought maybe it was because those other languages were closer to English. But it turns out that the language and all of its nuances and multiple words for the same thing is actually a bigger language with more to learn.

I also attend one class in Osaka on Tuesdays, the only days I wouldn’t otherwise have to make the 90-minute commute. I may be crazy for taking the ride in just for that, but it’s only 200 yen a month (about $1.70), and it’s the best class I’ve found so far, with a private teacher for me and my old roommate, Stuart. It’s in a room full of tables of the same thing for people from all over the world wanting to learn Japanese. Plus my middle-aged housewife volunteer teacher, Munakatta-sensei, is so sweet and patient with me and all of my endless questions like “how do you distinguish between ‘I did it alone’ (all by myself/with no help) vs. ‘I did it alone’ (all alone/nobody else was with me).” I think I test her limits sometimes, but it’s very rewarding for more than one reason. This week we spent the whole 90 minutes learning how to say “A is next to/under/on/to the left of/to the right of/in front of/behind/inside of/outside of B.” 90 minutes just for that!

I am grateful for the break I took because I had reached a point where I was “surviving” and could say all the things I needed to say to get by like please, thank you, excuse me, ordering food, asking about train tickets, “what time do you close?” and “where is the toilet?” You know…the essentials we take for granted in our own language.

Anyway, I hope my classes help push me into the next level and I feel a new commitment to going to them on a regular basis.