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Studying Japanese takes a lot of effort.  Don’t every let anyone fool you about that.  It takes effort.  It isn’t impossible.  Don’t let anyone fool you about that, either.  It is definitely doable.  It just takes that consistent effort.

The goal is actually pretty nebulous – to speak Japanese.  Dare I use the F word?  To be fluent in Japanese, whatever that means.  What I really want is to speak Japanese well enough that I can freely converse, watch movies and read novels.  Don’t ask me how long that’ll take because I don’t know, and I’m not particularly worried about it.

A long time, I guess.

But, because that goal is so nebulous, it is important to celebrate accomplishments along the way.

Make very short term goals, easily attainable, and move from one goal to the next.

But, sometimes, there will be real milestones, and you should definitely celebrate those.

Today is a real milestone for me.

Why?

Because I have finished Minna No Nihongo book 1.  25 chapters of pure Japanese goodness!  Woo-hoo!

This is by no means an ending, just a stepping stone, but it sure does seem like a good place to stop and smell the cherry blossoms.  (Actually, I don’t know if cherry blossoms have a smell, but you get my point, right?)

The celebration is because I have learned a significant amount of Japanese and because I have stuck with it for this long.  Nice.

Always remember:  it isn’t the learning Japanese that’s hard, it’s the daily grind, sticking with it.  If you work at it consistently, you’ll learn.  You can do that.

Next week, I think I will review all the grammar pages from book 1.  The week after that, I will move on to book 2.  25 chapters down, 25 chapters to go.

Celebrate your accomplishments.

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