Japanese is Just a Language

This week when I was with my tutor, there was a few moments where I stopped and thought, "Did he just speak in Japanese or English?" I couldn't tell because I just understood him. I didn't have to think about it.

I had two more experience of being able to talk to a store clerk swiftly and easily. Those experiences always make my day.

Learning Japanese has been such a different experience than when I was studying Spanish and German that I think I forgot Japanese is just a foreign language. It's just another foreign language. I've studied foreign languages before. I shouldn't make Japanese a bigger deal than it is. Most of the time I'm too scared to speak in Japanese because I know my pronunciation will be bad, but I have to remember the times I spoke Spanish and German without worrying so much about pronunciation. Pronunciation is important, but I shouldn't worry about it enough to keep myself from ever speaking.

I think Japanese language students have it tougher than other language students. It's like there's an elite club of ペラペラ learners that are always judging the beginners. There's pressure to not be ridiculed. Maybe it's just me. Or maybe it's true in some sense because Japan community on YouTube, as far as I know, is the only one of its kind. There may be a community of German or Spanish speakers and learners, but it wouldn't be anywhere as big and influential as the Japan community. I don't think I can explain it any better for the time being. I should think about it more.