I didn’t speak ANY Japanese before I came to Japan in 2003. I wanted to travel and meet new people, but when I finally arrived and couldn’t communicate, I felt so sad and alone.
My sadness became depression as I started learning Japanese. I had very little confidence in myself because I failed to learn French in high school AND Spanish in college.
I tried going to Japanese lessons, but quit after my fourth day. I thought the lessons were boring, I didn’t understand the teacher and I felt too embarrassed to speak.
I also studied at home with textbooks, listening practice exercises and flashcards…
But none of these things helped me speak.
In conversations, I couldn’t understand the pronunciation and accents of native Japanese speakers, or their slang, idioms and expressions.
I was incredibly shy, so I rarely opened my mouth in conversations. And when I did speak, I thought about grammar rules, translated in my head, and regularly used unnatural-sounding, inappropriate words that I pronounced incorrectly.
I felt angry, stupid and ashamed, nearly ready to quit and return to America because I thought I would never get fluent...