After I learned I would be teaching in Japan, I immediately began studying Japanese. To my chagrin, I discovered there were 3 character sets required to read Japanese (Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji). My first book (a very thoughtful and useful gift) focused on learning Hiragana, so that seemed like a good place to start. I’ve been chipping away at the character set, using a variety of learning tools (including a couple of free apps) to complement the book.
Yesterday, I went shopping at H-Mart (a big Asian grocery). As I wandered the aisle, I studied packages of Japanese products looking for Hiragana characters on the labels. While I was doing so, I had a moment I’d not experienced with a language in many years. The container I picked up had little English on it, but I saw あずき and realized I knew the characters! So, I sounded it out (in my head, because I’m not a weird guy who talks to packaging): A-dzu-ki. The product was adzuki bean paste.
Then I started looking for packages of products, searching for hiragana characters I knew. It was a long reading shopping trip!
It was a rewarding moment of realization that I was, indeed, learning and retaining.
いって来ます. (see you later)
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