Why I Speak Japanese. 

lol!

When I was younger I definitely....confused some people haha. That being said, it suddenly "made sense" when I had a marketable, unique skill to use during job-hunting. No matter what the skill, a usable skill in life or work will set you a part, eventually for the better. :) Wishing you all the best!

you need to move. i live in minneapolis and there are many black people studying japanese. you will find a support system among us and many of us are advanced level and beyond. keep working at it 応援していますよ！

KuraBlue 頑張って!!

Why is it weird for a black person to want to learn japanese?

KemushiChan ロレッタ you saw an opportunity and seized it. Many would have passed it by

KemushiChan ロレッタ I'm studying abroad in Tokyo for the next year and I'm SO incredibly thankful for scholarship support. Have been wondering if a 電子辞書 would be a worthwhile purchase. Have you used one in your studies? And would you recommend them to intermediate/advanced learners of Japanese?

Hello, KemushiChan ロレッタ ! My name is Kelsey (my fiance, Evan, and I share a RU-vid account, sorry for any confusion. Haha)! I was also interested in Japanese culture when I was young, but Japanese wasn't taught at any of my schools growing up. The language I learned in high school for mandatory credit was not a language I had any connection to, nor was I inspired to learn any more of it after I graduated. I can't imagine how amazing it would have been to have the opportunity to start learning Japanese at a young age! I'm 25 now and I honestly think about this all the time because I'm currently trying to start learning Japanese seriously, but I don't know where best to start learning and I'm very financially limited. But, after watching your video about the MEXT scholarship for research students through embassy recommendation I got really excited! I feel like this would be such an amazing opportunity to finally act on my interests and learn in japan with a goal in mind. Would you be willing to give me some MEXT advice? Applications are open for a month, and I'm trying to find a Japanese university that has an english taught MBA program. Are you enrolled in an english taught program, or were you able to be enrolled in a Japanese taught program because your Japanese is so advanced? I like Sophia University, but I'm reading that it is a highly saught-after private university, so I'm hoping for some suggestions of some other universities which offer english taught MBA programs that may be more attainable to me/ look more financially probable in the eyes of MEXT. Which ones did you come across in your search for a university when you were first applying? I'm looking through faculty at a few different universities trying to find a professor that specializes in something I can get excited about so I may build my research proposal to best take advantage of their expertise. How did you find a professor to be your mentor through your studies? Did you have a specific area of study in mind before choosing someone, or did you find someone you liked and build off of their interests? Thank you so much for reading this all the way to the end (TaylorB reference lol)! Any advice you'd be willing to give would be so extremely appreciated! Thank you so much for this video, and I look forward to your next video of you, Boomer, and Lily! 😁

KemushiChan ロレッタ i was motivated to your video thank you bcoz of that i'm really have to study more harder but with the heart, bcoz I'm also dream to live or work in japan for my family and also reach what i wanted in life. Thank you for sharing all you been through in your life. It was really a good start for me to be inspired and motivated in to your words.

This is a very interesting topic. I supported the petition. Here's why: I had Japanese language course in middle school in Maryland. I would have continued Japanese language courses in high school, but I ended up moving to a different state where there were no Japanese language courses taught at all. Even though I originally got into Japanese "anything" through anime as a kid, it was my middle school language teacher who truly introduced me Japanese culture. He actually traveled to Japan sometime before the semester and saw how Japanese people lived. So, he worked with local people to build a mock set of a typical Japanese home at school and we got to go to it once a week and practice living as a Japanese person for class. This included taking off shoes before stepping onto the Tatami mats, rolling up the futon and putting it away, learning where clothes are put away versus using a dresser in the US, and sitting with a kotatsu to learn the difference between staying warm at home in winter versus how its done in the US among other things. I will never forget that experience. In fact, the teacher's mock Japanese home garnered enough attention to be put into an official museum! Experiences like this is why I signed the petition. If schools take out Japanese language, then the opportunity to teach students about Japanese culture dwindles down to a brief mention in a textbook. I know, because the high school I went to after moving did exactly that for its social studies course. Thank you for sharing the video and here's to your continues success and the success of the petition!

Sam サムコ I was just bragging about you to Boomer this morning 💕❤️ You're amazing too!!

awwwww Silhouetta I miss youuuu!

Sam サムコ _

get a room

I guess Im asking the wrong place but does anybody know a way to get back into an Instagram account? I was dumb lost the password. I love any tricks you can give me.

@@callumaden9373 Huh?

as another fellow studying Japanese by self, try communicating with Japan People for learning a vast vocabulary i usually visiting a web Showroom-live where Japanese people broadcasting live from amateur to idol even tough i'm still got a little help from google translate :p

Thank you so much for the warm, sweet comment! Funny enough, seeing everyone else get motivated here in the comments is having the same reverse effect on me again. I really do hope your dreams take you far, and that along the way it's an amazing journey.

classes once a week in anything is going to cause a lot of regression. It's very inefficient. I have studied languages since i was 11 and daily exposure is key even if it is just music or a magazine article, etc.

Even if you don't ever get to a super fluent level in Japanese, don't worry too much about it. As long as you know basic Japanese, visiting Japan at the very least isn't a big challenge. There's a RU-vid channel (Abroad in Japan), and the host first moved to Japan without much knowledge of Japanese at all. He can now speak fairly fluent Japanese (Mostly due to immersion), but when he first started he didn't know much. He managed to make it through that, because (Surprisingly to some people) many Japanese people can understand enough English to be able to understand you if you need to use it.

I'm 12 and learning it I use basic apps like duolingo and books and self studying but I understand with you mean with the time thing since time t gets in my way so although it may be difficul I believe with enough practice you'll get it 💖

By the Numbers only hard thing is their writing system. Japanese is a very logical language. How the sentences are build for example.

only thing that is maybe hard is the writing system since its vastly different to ours but besides that the language itself is not hard

I think it's easier than other Languages... Chinese or Korean for instance..

Hey, Thanks for the reply.... Is it? That's great to know...I've heard people say that before.

Torterra Plays Mc chinese is easy imo, japanese just seems like there's millions of things to learn before you can even get started

女子ですか。

k t この子の日本語は、ほんとすごい。自然だわ

話が長すぎてつまらないと思いましたが、k tさんの優しいコメントを見て安心しました。ありがとうございます！英語がんばってください！

nils8950UTAUACC 完璧で素晴らしい文章ですね。これからも頑張って通訳になってください。

J’ai rien compris

nils8950UTAUACC 私も日本人ではないので、日本に行ったこともないけど、独学で日本語をマスターするのは無理かなとたまには思ってるんですけど、nils8950UTAUACC さん(もちろんロレッタさんも)の言葉になんか感激されました！勇気をもらったみたいくらい。これから頑張りましょう！

私も日本語を勉強している！ブラジル人だけど日本に興味があるから十二歳だった時に勉強し始めたんだ。今年の冬は初めて日本に行って本当に日本語で話す機会があった。前はブラジルを出たことがなかった私にとって、それは凄く貴重な経験で、心の中で何か変わったと感じがする。六週間だけだったが色々学んで今は日本はもっと好きになった。だから、日本語を学んでいる皆様、諦めないで頑張って下さい。きっと日本に着いたら「大変だったが、頑張って良かった！」と思うよ(o^^o) 私はまだペラペラ出来ないけど、頑張り続ける！ ファイトファイト

@@alsamiyasfh4416 Personne n'a rien compris :')

Gerson Rocha amen , I like that .. let’s preach , where are you from in Brazil ?

Wow that's amazing dude! I rarely hear ppl talking about preaching nowadays. I'm so happy I came across this comment.

KemushiChan ロレッタ Thank you so much for the subtitles 😊

Omg, I lived in VA as well and went to Fairfax Coounty school. I'm currently trying to teach myself Japanese, do you have any personal tips on easy ways of learning it? Tysm💖

Omg, I lived in VA as well and went to Fairfax Coounty school. I'm currently trying to teach myself Japanese, do you have any personal tips on easy ways of learning it? Tysm💖

Can you break the Japanese bit by bit in the English Translation next time, please?? For example: Niku (Meat) bakari (Only) taberu to (If Fat) hutoru (To Grow Fat) yo (Stating a strong conviction or to convey). God will BLESS you.

If I make them for German, they'd be only translated from your English translation but I suppose that they are well translated from you

dont give yourselves limits .the mind is very powerful and only listens to what "YOU" tell it. im a selftaught japanese student with 3 years studying by myself with last year being fortunate enough getting a japanese girlfriend and she boosted my ablity while already being "FLUENT" enough to communicate with her while self studying and even way before metting her you can go very far by yourself ive been studying japanese bymyself for 4 years and the fact my gf can understand me is an accomplishment

Chelsey Fudd I’m actually really amazed to come across a comment like this, as I feel in a very similar situation to you. I am 24 now, but dropped out of college at 20 due to severe depression and agoraphobia. Since then, I’ve only had a few odd jobs that don’t last, and due to my struggles with mental illness, I isolated myself from friends and family and society as a whole. I’m currently in that ‘stuck’ phase too, of trying to get ahold of my life again, and start building my career and social life again. I know this is long, but I just wanted to let you know you’re not alone in this situation! I was really happy to read about you going on a mission trip across the world, that is really inspiring to me. :) I’d also love to visit Japan one day, and I know that eventually I will, it’s just a matter of getting back on my feet again. Anyways, I just wanted to reach out and wish you best of luck on your trip! Take care of yourself.

Thank you for your kind words! It's so encouraging to be reminded that I'm not alone during this challenging time of my life, and that there are also others in similar situations as me. I pray that an opportunity will arise for you to travel and try something new as well! Maybe not even necessarily across the world, maybe even somewhere in your own community! Somewhere new and exciting that will give you a refreshed sense of purpose and inspire you to push forward! Thank you again for your kind response! I'm glad to know we're not alone! :)

You can always check the internet for basic grammars to start the study so won't be completely new to the subject in college :D

Korean and Japanese grammar are very similar :) Once you learn one of them, it should come easy for the other. Good luck though my friend! I’ll hope to continue my Korean soon after learning French and Spanish

Me too, my school doesn’t have Japanese courses do I hope to study it in college

Don't give up! You've already put 4 years of had work into learning the language, best to continue and once an opportunity presents it self you can seize it ^^

I feel the same ㅠㅠI'm always thinking if it's still too late for me to improve in japanese...or learn a new language

It's never too late. Sure the best time to learn something was 10 years ago but the second best time is right now. Push yourself, dedicate your free time to practice and immerse yourself in the language and culture as much as you can. I'm knocking on 28 and I've only just started learning. I just focus on one small thing at a time and master it before moving on. I'm gonna get there eventually, mark my words! Enough chit chat though, time to study 😎

I started at 33 I'm 35 now. I feel you i feel like its too late for me but honestly i don't give a damn it will work out somehow as long as I put in the work to learn the language. I am completely self studying so far. And I put in a lot effort and time. For me though its more like going to japan as an artist or going with an intra-company transfer in my current company and hoping i can get by with work experience vs a college degree bc i do not have one but in recent yrs that is becoming a little more lax that work experience in a feel can equate to a college degree.

@@SyrianSoaper I'm with you there. I'm 33 now and finally learning the language that I wish I would've or could've started 10+ years ago. We can do this!

Thanks for sharing your passion. How did it go so far?

mniy425 I want to thank you for bringing the issue into attention and forwarding it to Loretta. I also want to ask you if you can elaborate, when you state that you are seeing a pushback from expat in Japan. Are you saying they are not willing to let others learn beginning Japanese ? Or there not interested in the whole Japan’ and US exchanged program ? I’m sorry for the questions, I was just confuse on that assertion that expat are not willing to let other learn the language .

Paine Mcphee A lot of ex-pats have an aura of, "everyone who is new is embarrassing and annoying". From the Tofugu podcasters to the RU-vidr Dogen, I see so many people assuming a.) Anyone starting to be interested in Japan is probably a weeb and are all embarrassing by virtue of being new, b.) People beginning to have interest in Japan or who haven't traveled there yet aren't putting enough time into researching things for themselves or are asking to be coddled ("stop asking me xyz, Google it!" As a teacher, answers like that really grinds my gears. My kids ask the same questions over and over, so I show them how to answer questions on their own and make those resources easily available to them! Or sometimes they really did do their best, they're just stuck on something I can help with!), and c.) If you teach English in Japan you're lesser than other people and deserve to be shamed for it. (I teach English as a second language in America, and I really don't get why ESL in a different country should be regarded any differently?? Teaching is something people go to school for and have to be certified to do...) There's also this weird sentiment that if you don't completely assimilate to Japanese culture, you're being a bad/embarrassing representative of your country. As a WOC that REALLY upsets me. We acknowledge that forcing immigrants to reject their culture and completely assimilate to American culture is racist and horrible, but people measure how successful you are in Japan by how assimilated you are. If you're bitter and blend in entirely, then you're seen as "good"; if you're still excited and optimistic and stand out in any way (still can't speak the language well, make little cultural faux pas, etc.) you're seen as embarrassing or bad. Who does that judgement affect the most? People new to life in Japan, or those in the beginner stages of learning Japanese. When I was in an immersion program, upper level students constantly ostracized the lower level students! They easily lost patience with them when a few brave souls tried to start a conversation, and constantly made comments about how bad they were and how they should be embarrassed. My teachers applauded how I "took the time to speak with the lower students", as if we weren't all beginners at some point and everyone deserved to be treated with respect... I see a LOT of long-time nonnative Japanese speakers and long-term expats cop the same attitude and exclude new people, favoring to only be with those who have the same level of skill or experience, and judging those who don't. It's disheartening!!

@@kotori40 Learn Japanese with fellow weebs on VRchat lol

Come on over buddy!!!!!

@@kemushichan Of course! Right after uni graduation next year :)) thank you for responding!!!!

日本語上手ですね❗頑張って❗

Tigerlilycoconut Write it! Japanese Kanakana Memrise

Lingodeer

日本語上手いねぇ。。しかし、上達に成れるんじゃなくて「上達する」ですよ。それから、「流暢に成れる」も言えます。

椰子刺し武蔵ー ありがとうございます

もううまいやん

もう上手👍✨

Koriand'r Of The Stars exactly

You're too sweet!

I would say if you do make it here for grad school, try to find a way to work in a case study/interview with Sony Music/entertainment and you maybe able to wiggle your way into th industry a lot easier that way. Job hunting is rough, but if you're student a lot of companies are open to interviews and such, which makes it easier to connect and network.

Hey neighbor!!!!! 😍❤️ Its a small world, eh? Hope the classes aren't too brutal!

KemushiChan ロレッタ Hey! I’m definitely gonna study hard and watch more of your videos to get me through it!!!

４年も勉強していれば、相当のレベルだね。日本語能力試験の成績だけが全てじゃないよ。

Caroline Evans そうですね。コメントをありがとう！