Asahikawa American English Conversation School
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Learning Japanese
巹偲擔杮岅
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I first started learning Japanese in November of 1975. I had just graduated from high school in June and joined the United States Coast Guard (USCG) in August. After I finished basic training in October, I was sent to Honolulu Hawaii for two months. After that, I was to be sent to somewhere in the Far East. In November, I learned that somewhere was to be Japan.
I bought a pocket-sized phrase-book entitled Easy Japanese. Under the title was the claim; "Learn to speak Japanese in only two weeks!" Yeah,... right!
I studied the book a little bit every day. But at that time, I didn't realize that my pronunciation was very wrong. At the beginning of the book, there was a pronunciation guide but, there was no cassette tape sold with the book so, I was unable to hear the phrases as spoken by a native speaker. This was a major disadvantage for me.
In January of 1976, I was sent to FESEC (the Far East SECtion office) of the USCG at Yokota Air Force Base located in Fussa City near Tokyo. I tried speaking the Japanese that I had learned from the phrase book but, I soon discovered that nobody could understand what I was saying. I concluded that my pronunciation and intonation were all wrong. Fortunately for me, I found a suitable study course at the PX (Post eXchange) on Yokota Air Force Base. It was entitled: The Living Language Course for Japanese." The study course consisted of a Conversation Manual, a Common Usage Dictionary and, more importantly, four cassette tapes with the dialogues of The Conversation Manual recorded by native speakers.
At the end of January 1976, I was sent to my final destination. The island of Iwo Jima. It is famous in American military history as the site of the bloodiest battle that the U.S. Marine Corps has ever fought. There is even a statue of the well-known flag-raising on Mt. Suribachi, at the Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC.
After I arrived at LORAN (LOng Range Aid to Navigation) Station Iwo Jima, I began my study of Japanese in earnest. My method of study was simple, and as follows:
1. While looking at the Conversation Manual,
2. Listen to the cassette tapes and,
3. Repeat what I heard.
Key Point: Listen and Repeat. Listen and Repeat. Listen and Repeat.
Of course, I couldn't listen to the cassette tapes while I was working so, I kept a phrase book in my back pocket and every time I had a chance, I would take it out and memorize one phrase. My method of memorization was to say the phrase over and over again until it became a part of my brain. Then, I would learn a new phrase, and so on and so forth.
Six months later, when I went back to the Tokyo area again, I tried to use the Japanese I had learned and guess what,... People could understand what I was saying, and they responded to my questions. The only problem now was that I couldn't understand most of the responses, because people talked too fast. Anyway, I was very much encouraged by my experience and when I returned to Iwo Jima a week later, I decided to study even harder. And, I did. I was scheduled to be transferred from Japan back to the United States in December of 1976. So, I decided to do some sightseeing on Honshu before my return. I planned to climb Mt. Fuji, visit Kyoto and Hiroshima. It was not a guided tour. I was on my own. I planned to stay at Youth Hostels or anywhere else I could find a room. I had no reservations.
My Japanese ability was much better than it had been six months ago but it was still not good enough. Anyway, I did my best and was able to get around to all of my planned destinations. Overall, I had a very good time. I decided right then and there that sometime in the future, I would come back to Japan, to live and work as an English teacher, for about 4 or 5 years.
When I finally got out of the Coast Guard in 1980, I enrolled at Washington State University and began my college life. I wanted to major in Japanese but, WSU didn't offer a major in that field so, I settled for a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing. However, I took all of the classes offered for Japanese and Chinese and I had earned a minor in Japanese by the time I graduated. I also had a Sony Walkman strapped to my head for about 8 hours per day, every day. I was constantly listening to Japanese and Chinese Language tapes, as I was walking to and from classes, and while I was cooking or cleaning. I clearly had a strong motivation to master Japanese but,.... why?
When I graduated from the university in June of 1984, I went to Seattle, Washington to try and find a job where I could use my Japanese Language ability. Unfortunately, there were none that I was qualified for. As a result, I worked at many different kinds of jobs that I didn't enjoy very much.
Finally, in March of 1990, while working at a private college, I got the opportunity to come and work in Japan as an English teacher. I was so happy, I could hardly contain myself. When I heard that my destination was to be Asahikawa City, Hokkaido, I had to go look at a map to see where it was. I had heard of Sapporo, but never Asahikawa. When I saw that it was located in the middle of Hokkaido, my first thought was: "It must be very cold there."
Because I had continued my study of Japanese since I had first started it back in November of 1975, I was well prepared for my new life in Asahikawa. Although I could understand most of what was being said to me when I first arrived, I still couldn't speak very smoothly. But since I had the opportunity to speak Japanese every day, my ability improved very rapidly. It was my dream job!
Unfortunately, the Japanese branch of the college went bankrupt in July of 1992 so, I lost my job and had to return to the USA for a while. However, I liked living in Asahikawa and improving my language ability so I returned in February of 1993 to look for a new job and to find a new place to live. I did both, and the rest is history.
In June of 1996, I opened my own small American English Family Classroom while still working at various other places as an English teacher. Although I know I will never become financially wealthy by doing this work, I am rich in other ways that can only be measured in the gratification of a job well done. I intend to live here forever, and to continue the dream that I first had way back in 1976.
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