I’d like to say hello to everyone from studyjapanese.org. In Japanese of course, I’d be saying “Hajimemashite,” accompanied by a proper bow. My name is Jason and I’m one of the linguists at LearnJapanese.com.

For a 14 year period, most of which was spent in the Kansai area, I spent many an evening in Mister Donut downing free refills of coffee and studying Japanese. Some of my studies involved copying Japanese textbooks into a notebook and annoying Japanese friends, government officials, police officers, and shop clerks with my horrible language skills while reassuring them that it was in everyone’s best interest for them to correct me. Occasionally, as is often the case when learning languages, things clicked and I gradually saw improvement. Eventually, I passed level 1 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) and found myself using Japanese to communicate more than 90% of the time. Since then, I’ve taught Japanese, worked with students studying abroad in Japan, and also acted as a cultural consultant.

One of the best things about learning Japanese for me has been the opportunity to have a whole other language with which to frame my thoughts. The linguistic and cultural differences between thinking in Japanese and thinking in English allow me to look at different topics from two very different perspectives.

Although the world has gotten much smaller with advances in technology and communication, Japan is unique in that there are still a lot of great things that don’t find their way into English language media. Even a little Japanese ability can go a long way to opening up a whole new world. I’m looking forward to all of the ways that the merger between StudyJapanese.org and LearnJapanese.com will combine resources to benefit the international community of Japanese language learners.

As I would normally say at the end of an introduction like this, “Dozo yoroshiku onegaishimasu!”

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