hey guys so lots of people have been
asking about how I started studying
Japanese and how I got so good at it etc
so I thought I'd better make a video
talking about that soon so I'm gonna do
that today um I'm just going to do it in
English because it's easier um I started
studying Japanese when I was 14 um so
that was grade 8 for second year of high
school in Canada we had just like
Japanese classes we could choose a
second language and there was like
Spanish Russian Japanese and French a
couple of things maybe I just randomly
chose Japanese and so yeah so I started
then and I studied for four years in
high school and I think in grade 9 yeah
grade 9 when I was 17 I went on a
two-week exchange to Japan and in II
what they Prefecture North or in Japan
and I did a homestay there and at that
time my Japanese was so bad I couldn't
say anything at all and every time I I
always remember this every time my
homestay asked me what I wanted to drink
the only thing I knew how to say was
bingo like apple juice and I hate apple
juice but it was the only thing I could
say so I'd always say ah bingo juice I'm
never gonna forget that but yeah so the
first time I went to Japan by Japanese
was horrible but it was so much fun
everyone was really nice and of course I
think lots of people most people speak a
little bit of English here so it wasn't
hard her or anything and then yeah I
went back to Canada
and the second time I went to Japan was
probably my first year of college yeah I
think um I stayed with my friend in
Yokohama for five weeks and a lot of
time my Japanese was a lot better so
that time was pretty fun I could get
around on my own like take the training
go shopping and stuff um so yeah we had
a lot of fun then and the next time I
would I also stayed in he'll go
Prefecture for a couple weeks that time
I think I visited another friend down
there um oh yeah I at my university in
Canada I worked as a like assistant for
the Goths English word exchange students
so um when the Japanese students would
come to visit my university I'd like two
of them around the city and teach them
English and stuff like that so that's
how I made lots of my friends in Japan
and I could also use like lots of
Japanese while I was doing that job so
that really improved my Japanese I
really don't like studying so honestly I
don't sorry so honestly I don't study
like very much at all I learned most of
my Japanese just from talking to my
friends and listening to music I started
becoming interested in Japanese music in
high school I guess and since then I've
been listening to it so that that really
helps a lot I always told people that
listen to music and watch like Japanese
comedy shows or dramas or movies that
kind of thing it really helps and it's
not studying it's fun right
um and then so yeah so I went back did
you find a couple times just short trips
to visit friends and stuff like that and
then then the first long time I was in
Japan was for two years um god what year
was uh I don't know I think from when I
was 19 to 21
that sounds about right I lived in uwate
Prefecture again and I was an English
teacher for two years and yeah my
Japanese got a lot better during that
time even though I was teaching English
of course like I had friends and stuff
so I spoke a lot of Japanese so um yeah
I I wasn't studying or anything just my
Japanese got better just from talking to
people and of course living in Japan um
and then yeah I went back to Canada and
oh yeah sorry before I went to you what
the I I studied in University for a year
of Japanese um but I don't know I didn't
find it really helpful like honestly
like taking classes and stuff like that
all it's good for is learning kanji and
I guess vocabulary it's really good for
preparing you for like the jlpt or you
know any kind of test like that then I
recommend taking Japanese classes but I
don't know I find out they're not very
helpful with like um everyday kind of
Japanese like you learn really polite
proper Japanese and you don't learn
casual stuff that you'd actually use
everyday so for learning that kind of
stuff just make Japanese friends and
watch watch dramas this it like that
and yeah so then after I lived in you
what date for two years I went back to
Canada um because my visa ran out I I
never want to come back to Canada but I
always have to because it's hard to get
a visa to stay here and
and I finished a couple programs in my
University and then I came back here to
study this time so yeah honestly I don't
study from books and stuff like that at
all the first time I really started
doing that was when I was studying for
the jlpt exam last year um so yeah if
you guys have any other questions let me
know and I'll try to answer them thanks
P