Introduction: Let the Journey Begin....

＼(＾▽＾*)こんにちは(*＾▽＾)／

Hello there World! This is where I will blog my progress of learning the wonderful language called Japanese. I actually started self studying Japanese around late '07 or early '08, that only lasted for about half a year before I gave up. I just had no motivation for a number of reasons. The #1 reason I quite my self studying was because no one I knew was learning or knew Japanese. How much I regretted letting go of my self studies when I went to Japan last year. Ah, me and my laziness.

Before I move any further let me tell you a little bit about myself. You can just call me Chukuma and my native tongue is English, obviously since I'm writing in English. xD I have lived in Japan when I was younger, around 6 years (lived there when I was a toddler and moved back when I was 6 or 7), and lived in an English speaking community. I did study a bit of Japanese while in school, but it was mainly vocabulary (I actually don't remember much of it besides learning how to write my name and colors) and culture. I remember in culture class we always use to watch Japanese folk tales cartoons and skits from Kasou Taishou (欽ちゃん＆香取慎吾の全日本仮装大賞; Kinchan and Katori Shingo's All Japan Costume Grand Prix).

I wasn't really into the Japanese culture and media like I am now. I came back to the States in 2003, I was 10 or 11. Then, my friend introduce me to Kingdom Hearts and I was in love with the song used in the opening. As most of you may know, it was "Simple and Clean" by Utada. I looked her up and that was when I just started getting engulfed in Japanese culture; the music, food (well I always was a fan of their food when I was in Japan), movies, and dramas. Utada Hikaru, eh I should type 宇多田 ヒカル, is one of my favorite artist.

This site was made so I could blog my journey of learning Japanese. I'm starting from scratch, all over again. I guess I'm more motivated to learn now since I started my Lang-8 account and meet some wonderful Japanese people who wish to improve their English. I also have been watching Japanese dramas a lot since school let out in June. I'm hoping this blog will also motivate me more to learn since I can look back later and see how far I have gotten.

So for those of you who wish to follow me and my progress, I very much appreciate it and please do feel free to leave comments, nice comments, please. Also, if you're happen to stumble here due to wanting to learn or wish to know more Japanese, we can learn together and your help and criticism is very much welcome!

So onward to learning Japanese!

• P.S. I have another blog called Spill the Drama Beans where I post reviews on Korean and Japanese dramas. I also  post news on Korean and Japanese entertainment news regarding movies, dramas, and music.