Before we get started - Motivations and Expectations

Today is the last day of the year, and I have a rather daunting task at hand. A week off from work, with absolutely nothing to do. I could stay at home, binge watch the new show Blacklist or just laze around. However, lately, I've been haunted by the guilt and the remorse of squandering the opportunity of moving to Tokyo. And even if I am not that competitive anymore, I know I can do better.

In order to avoid the pitfall of losing focus or giving up too early, I need a few things.

 1.What's the Motivation - Meet more people, explore Japan more, have more interesting conversations, make friends, eventually get a social life outside work

2. How strong - Might not benefit my Career in short run but could reinvigorate my interest to stay in Japan longer. Tired of spending time in and out office and gym. Tired of looking dazed and lost in both social and business meetings.

3. What will it take - Concentration, hours of studying and practice

4. Success - Be able to hold a social conversation by myself. Give a presentation in Japanese at work.

5. Wager - Leave Japan by Year End if I fail again. Succumb to Parents' pressure and get married.


Don't want to be too hard on myself. Let's also set some clear expectations

1. It will take time. Be patient and keep putting in the effort
2. Goal is to have simple social conversations by EoY, not to give a speech or write a book
3. Don't feel shy to practice
4. Don't feel shy to ask for help



Now time to get started.

Why Lazy Nihongo?

It's been more than a year since I moved to Japan. 13 months and 3 days to be more precise. I frequently interact with Japanese speakers every day. My office graciously pays for a 'sensai', who visits me twice a week, patiently delivering lessons from  'Step up Nihongo'.

One would expect a fair deal of improvement in my ability to converse in Japanese; but unfortunately my progress have been rather slow and admittedly dismal. I could come up with a million excuses, but let's face it, I am extremely lazy. I have absolutely no incentive to learn Japanese, even though I live here.

You are obviously wondering why. Unlike most foreigners living here, I work in an American company where employees are expected to know English. I live walking distance to work, with no complications of understanding the messy metro system or having to converse with taxi drivers. I live in an expat friendly area where English Menu cards are quite a norm. And even if I go backpacking outside Tokyo, I somehow always find ways to get around (gMaps gets the credit here).  Japanese are super friendly and always willing to help you, even if they can't communicate that well in the language you understand.

I have often encountered foreigners here, who speak fluent Japanese. It was either the food, the movies or the Otaku culture - Comics, manga, games, etc, that motivated them to move here, and learn the language. Unfortunately, I have no strong interests in any of these. For me, relocating to Tokyo was all about the adventure of living in a completely foreign world, without having to give up some of the comforts of my previous home, Singapore. And it's quite early to decide how long I plan to stay here.

As an economist, I understand how incentives shape human behavior. Subconsciously my brain is evaluating the trade off between leisure/laziness to the effort in learning Japanese. What is the marginal increase in my utility by learning in Japanese, and is it worth it?

However amusing it may sound, Laziness can often be the most rational choice :)

Since I am writing this post, I obviously want to figure out a way to learn Japanese, despite my laziness. In this blog, I am going to finally make an attempt learning Nihongo, and will share my strategies and methods. Let's see how it goes.. Happy Learning!