Introduction

Studying any language is rewarding, yet demanding.  It's a long road to proficiency, with many struggles and "A-Ha !" moments along the way.  I started this blog as a way to document my efforts - to record my triumphs and defeats, to document my views on which approaches are good or bad, and in some cases, as notes to myself.

But first, an introduction.  I've been studying Japanese for about 7 years now, in my spare time away I get from my Management Consulting practice.  It's hard to quantify my actual level, but most "Japanese for Foreigner"-type textbooks would place me as intermediate-level, perhaps somewhere in the upper half of intermediate.  I guess this would put me somewhere around where the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) would like to identify as N3 to N2 level.  This is roughly middle-school for a native speaker - although there are many points where I am missing large pieces, or have unexpected knowledge (primarily gained from English experience).

I first started a blog in Japanese in order to improve, but that is proving to be more challenging than I had expected; my control of Japanese is frustratingly limited compared to how I would like to express myself in that language... at least for the time being.

Onward and upward !