Who is this Guy Anyway?

My name is Mac and I’m living and working in the Kansai area here in Japan. For those outside of Japan, Kansai is located around Osaka. It’s where all the fun people are and all the fried food is as well. I’ve been studying Japanese for well over 6 years now. It has been a rather winding path that has made many pit stops along the way, but I hope it will eventually lead to passing the N1.

The Early Years

About 10 years ago, when I was *&%$ years old, I discovered Japanese video games. I had stumbled upon a mythical world where cool RPGs came out 6 months before their release date and had story lines punctuated with English speaking cut scenes, but Japanese controls. I died a lot, but for some reason, I was hooked on imports.

From there I developed an interest in talking with people from other countries. I liked the idea of seeing the world from a different perspective, so I got into tutoring students learning English as a second language. I meet a lot of Japanese students studying abroad and discovered they were a fun bunch.

I then decided to teach English abroad in Japan. Before I went though, I wanted to be prepared. So, I did what any twentysomething would do, I asked the company I was working for to pay for Japanese lessons. I’m not sure why, but they obliged and I did a year of Japanese at a university. Then, armed with my one year of Japanese I set off for the land of the rising sun.

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I personally use all of these on a daily basis and highly recommend them.

Making it in the Land of the Big Red Spot

That one year of Japanese proved to be pretty much worthless, as I discovered that people don’t actually talk like textbooks. They in fact talk like real people. Go figure. I immediately got a tutor and started meeting with her for about 3 hours a week plus an additional 5-10 hours of study a week. After about 2 years of this, I managed to pass the old level 3 (now N4) just barely.

I then set my eyes on level 2 (now N2). But, I made a pit stop in Europe for about 2 months and got a little lost. I came back to Japan about 3 years ago to start up my studying once again. I’m proud to say that I have now successfully failed the old level 2 twice and N2 once. It was difficult, but perseverance eventually pays off.

After all of that failing, I decided I’d focus on the new N3, which I just took in December 2010. I have a strong feeling that I passed, but I guess I won’t know for sure until February 2011. Until then I’m wishfully studying for N2 again.

So, Why are you telling me this?

Why do you have to be like that? I’m pouring my heart out here.

Well, the moral of this story is that I made a lot of mistakes. I got off the path, I didn’t quite know where to go when studying for this test. But, along the way I learned a lot about what not to do, and about how to study more efficiently.

I’ve also made up my mind that I have to pass N1. It has become my life’s mission so to speak, at least for now.

Wow, you need a life!

Hey! The point is, that you don’t have to make the mistakes I did. My hope with this site is to help guide people to the easiest and quickest way to pass the tests and master Japanese. It is my hope to help people just like you get over the hurdles that are in the way.

Now, it’s not going to be easy. There is no ‘easy button’ when learning a language. If you want something easy to do, stop reading right now and go watch TV. This blog is not for you. But if you are interested in mastering the Japanese language well enough to pass the ultimate N1 test, I promise to give the best tips and advice to ace it.

Mmm, all right, so where is the vending machine that sells ladies’ underpants?

Are you even paying attention? Stay focused.

I’d like to know about you now, yeah, that’s right, you. What makes you tick? Why did you start studying Japanese? Why are you studying for the JLPT? Let me know in the comments below.