Whenever i meet new people and they find out my husband is Japanese, the first question they ask is “can you speak Japanese?”
As these people gradually become my friends, over time, i’m starting to get badgered about what i’m doing with my life. At least once a month a friend will turn to me and say something like “why don’t you make use of your Japanese language abilities? It’s such a waste.”
Others seem to think that if you don’t have a high paying job using your abilities then all that study has gone to waste. I’ve never felt that way.
I started studying Japanese in 2nd year of high school and continued until i left. I picked up Japanese very easily and found i had a natural ability for it. I got A’s all the way through school and finally became Dux of Japanese in 1994.
When i left high school i didn’t have any clear ideas about what i wanted to do with my life so i enrolled in a 1 year diploma of Japanese at Tafe (a government college). After completing the diploma i started applying for university and was accepted at Murdoch university where i completed a 3 year Bachelor of Asian Studies, majoring in Japanese.
As i grew up in a poor family, it was not the done thing to do something just because i liked it. I had to have a reason. I convinced myself i wanted to be a Japanese translator. Whenever someone found out what i was studying at university and they asked me what i wanted to do, that was the answer i gave them.
By the end of my degree i had met Yasu and we had started living together. We got married, and my language abilities became useful for communication with my in-laws as none of them speak English.
Some people find it hard to believe that Yasu and i don’t speak Japanese. Yasu just doesn’t want to speak Japanese to me. But that’s not really a problem for me, i don’t really mind. I think he feels that he would rather speak English as we are in Australia, not Japan.
I speak Japanese with Yasu’s family and my own Japanese friends. I also write letters to my friends and Yasu’s family in Japan, in fact his mum and i are just like pen-friends, we write to each other every week.
It’s taken me a long time to get to the point where i think it’s ok to say, the reason i studied Japanese for so long was for fun. I enjoyed it, and i still do.
I study on my own still, with a textbook, online, and with some Kanji programs on Nintendo DS. I like to practice, but not because i’ll forget. I’ve never had trouble remembering Japanese, it always stays in my head, even if i don’t study.
So all those years ago, if i had come out and said i was going to university because it was fun, i wouldn’t have made a burden for myself. I wouldn’t have friends and family expecting me to do great things with my ability.
Simply communicating with my in-laws and friends is enough for me. I also like being able to read the labels on Japanese food products. I like to be able to read the kanji of signs when i’m in Japan, and any documents that i have to fill out. I like to be able to go on Yahoo Japan and buy things online or read the daily news. I like to use my Softbank mobile phone and send messages to friends in Japanese. I love watching Japanese tv and understanding everything they’re talking about.
For me it’s not a waste.
