Especially regarding Business Japanese
As continued from the day before…
As truly functional Japanese-speaking ability requires a huge investment of time, especially for someone from a non-kanji country, I felt I had to be driven by clear goals and set myself specific milestones to get there. For me, the only acceptable level of Japanese ability would be one that let me act like a fully functional adult in daily life, as well as being able to communicate effectively as well in dalily life as regarding business opportunities.
Given that acquiring Japanese was going to make me viable in the job market, I reasoned that I should expect to put the same level of effort and time into learning the language as I would in getting a graduate degree. This was helpful in justifying the time and expense.
The milestones that I set for myself were as follows:
1) Kumon Japanese Language Program Completion. I wanted to digest one complete curriculum as fast as possible, and chose the 15-level Kumon Japanese Language program for its flexibility.
2) Intermediate Daily Conversation. Reaching the intermediate conversational level so that I could speak in Japanese with my bilingual Japanese wife on a daily basis. In addition, so that I could interact in Japanese with in social settings.
3) Kanji. Gradually become familiar with all frequently used Jouyou Kanji as individual characters (through Kanji cards while walking), but primarily through frequently used vocabulary.
4) Functional Reading. Initially reading simple personal emails and gradually switching most of my internet info sources from English to Japanese sites.
To be continued…
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