I have found that learning foreign languages is quite a rewarding experience. I have been able to use my communication skills to accomplish things that I could not otherwise have been able to do thanks to my ability to speak in several different languages. Although English is my native and primary language, I have studied German, Spanish, and Japanese and used all of them in conversations with others. In general, I have found that learning one language, or, rather, learning how to learn languages, will assist the learner with learning subsequent languages. When I studied German, the first foreign language that I learned, for example, I found that I was occasionally not entirely sure of what I was doing. Once I started to study Spanish later, I found that I had gotten used to studying new languages, and I was able to learn more effectively. When I finally began to study Japanese professionally at a university level, I had already been living in Japan for some time and knew a small amount, but rather than opting to take a proficiency test that could potentially allow me to skip at least the most elementary level of Japanese class, I decided not to, and I started from the beginning, as if I knew nothing, as I felt that perhaps even the most basic Japanese class might still be able to teach me something valuable. Although I did learn some things in that beginning Japanese class, I got something much more important: practice. [→続きを読む]