COMMENT

Studying at Japanese Language School

My name is Scott Leech. I am 34 years old and I study at Japanese Language School as well as working full time.

I chose to study another language for two reasons:
1) I have a close friend from another country and I wanted to be able to communicate with them in their own language, and
2) So when I go to another country, I am better able to absorb their culture.

I hear a lot of stories about people that go overseas to spend time in different countries and when they come back, they complain that they did not learn any of the language while they were there. When questioned, they say that they were too intimidated by the language and so only talked to people who could speak their own language.

I want to be able to go to another country and be able to communicate without the intimidation of not really knowing what they are saying. I want to be able to explore and understand the culture without having to rely on other people's translations of what is going on.

Besides all that, leaning another language is great fun and you get to meet some awesome people.