はじめまして

I signed up for a beginner Level 1A Japanese language class at the UNSW Institute of Languages a few months ago. I'm now in the fourth week of the nine week course and thoroughly enjoying it.

At the end of Level 1A, I am supposed to be able to:
- count from 0 to 90000
- talk about my nationality and occupation
- introduce myself and others at the workplace or at a party
- talk about objects and their owners
- talk about times of meetings and parties
- ask about the hours of service in stores and hotels
- ask about the prices of items in a store and make a purchase
- ask about the size, colour, and country of origin of an item
- order food and drinks at a restaurant
- be familiar with the Japanese currency
- read and write Hiragana (this must be the most difficult of all!)

I must say going for a two-hour class straight after work once every week, having to complete a tonne of homework and memorising and practising to write a whole list of hiragana characters before each lesson is very demanding for a hobby. My せんせい (teacher) かおるさん (Kaoru-san) tries to cover as much as possible to keep to the course outline on the reading, writing and speaking aspects while introducing us to the Japanese culture and social conduct at a pace manageable by all fifteen of us in her class. Her effort in making the session as interactive and dummy-proof as possible is commendable. I have definitely learnt a lot in the last three weeks and looking forward to absorbing more.

I guess I will be continuing on to Level 1B, 2, 3 and so on until the final Level 8. A trip to explore Japan next year is also in order (I hope...).

I am now tempted to continue my French studies so as not to waste whatever I've learnt in the short stint I did as an elective in Uni a decade ago... there will never be enough time for me to do everything that I wanna do...