Why I Chose to Study JPNS

I chose to study Japanese because I have been deeply interested in Japanese culture since I watched Miyazaki's Spirited Away as a child. Since then, I fell in love with watching Japanese animations, through which I was exposed to various aspects of Japanese lifestyle and traditions as well. Further, my parents are big fans of Japan; since Japan is close to my home in Korea, we often plan family trips to Japan. My parents are passionate about honing their Japanese skills by listening to instructional audio CD's in the car, and I would love to be able to help them practice. I thought that learning Japanese in a formal academic setting would allow me to expand on these interests in a meaningful way. I would also love to be able to communicate with native Japanese speakers and engage in language/cultural exchanges. So far, I have been pleasantly surprised with how syntactically similar Japanese is to Korean (my first language). However, I have found the number system (ex: remembering when to use "shichi" vs. "nana" or "kyuu" vs. "ku") somewhat difficult to get the hang of. However, I am excited to continue practicing and improving in the coming weeks! :)