Hello everyone in the wonderful hive blockchain. I hope you are all doing great and enjoy your day wherever you are. Once again, I’m grateful to the hive learners’ community for their amazing initiatives.
The hive learners’ community has again presented us with another amazing topic and I’m so glad to be participating in it.
Knowing how to speak and write in more than one language is very important in the world we live in today. A lot of big industries globally are demanding people that can speak different languages; multilingual applicants.
Growing up, my siblings were brought up with English; the universal language that I think everyone knows how to speak. Thanks to my parents, especially my mom who taught my siblings and me how to speak her native language; the Edo language. One of the main reasons why I love speaking in my parent’s tongue (Or any other language besides English) is that not so many people will understand what you are saying. For example, when my siblings and I are in a gathering and I want to tell them something secretly, then I say it in our native language.
I learned a new language when my family moved to Osun State, in the western part of Nigeria. The language they speak there is Yoruba. At first, it was not easy for us to adapt, but as time went on, it became a part of us, we learned the language and now, we can speak it fluently (Well, except my sister). My dad also learned how to speak the Yoruba language fluently, but he doesn’t like it when we speak it to him.
A few years ago, I challenged myself to learn a new language. At first, I was confused about which one to learn, but after much deliberation, I decided to learn the Korean language; probably because of my love for Korean movies, or because I love the way they speak it. I downloaded an app that teaches me how to speak Korean. But after a few days, I got tired and gave up. But at least, I learned some things; like how to say good morning, how’re you, I love you, hello, and so other simple things.
I’ve also tried to learn other languages like French, Indian, Chinese, and Japanese, but after some weeks or months, I got fed up and stopped trying. I thought learning French, Korean or Japanese would be just as easy as learning the Yoruba language. But it turns out that I learned the Yoruba language very quickly because I lived among the Yorubas. It was then I realized learning a new language can be very difficult and annoying (especially when you are trying very hard but not quite getting it). To learn a new language, one has to be patient, committed, and dedicated.
If I had to learn another language, what language would it be?
Japanese. Japanese is the language spoken in Japan. As I said earlier, I once tried to learn Japanese, but it didn’t go well. Earlier this year, I got over my failure and challenged myself to learn Japanese again. This time, no backing out. I must say, Japanese is not an easy language to learn, but you just have to take things slowly. I did my research and found out Japanese is one of the most important languages in the world. Although it is not spoken by a lot of people outside the country (Japan), it is still very important.
Why Japanese?
The main reason why I’d really love to learn and speak Japanese fluently is because of my love for anime/Japanese animation and manga/Japanese comics. Although some of the anime I watch are translated to English, about 97 percent of them are in Japanese. No matter how interesting it is, or how cool the fighting scenes are, it is impossible for me to watch without translation. Now, don’t you think it’d be cool if I were able to understand and speak Japanese fluently? That means I don’t have to use subtitles. Very cool if you ask me.
Also, I said earlier that I tried to learn Korean, French, Chinese, and Indian. Well, when I did my research about Japan and its language, I found out the Japanese language brings you closer to some other Asian languages like Chinese and Korean. This is because there are some Chinese and Korean characters in Japanese, so learning Japanese is a faster way to learn Korean and Chinese (which I’ve always wanted to learn).
My love for Japanese culture is also one of the reasons why I want to learn how to speak the Japanese language fluently. I love Japanese culture; it is unique and fascinating. Their fashion, food, religion, places, movies, and so on, is very interesting, which is why most people love to visit the country. My most favorite part of Japanese culture is their food and sport.
Sumo, a Japanese form of wrestling, is my most favorite sport of them all. It is a form of wrestling in which a person wins by forcing his or her opponent out of the ring/marked area. A sumo wrestler can also be declared the winner if he makes any part of his opponent’s body (except the soles of his or her feet) touch the ground. Growing up, my siblings and cousins used to try sumo wrestling, it was so much fun.
Japanese food is also a very nice thing about their culture. although I have tasted it just once when my aunt took me to Lagos. Ask any tourist about their visit to Japan, they’ll surely talk about the food.
In conclusion,
Learning another language (not just Japanese language) is very important. Although it can be very difficult and annoying, if you’re patient, dedicated, and committed, I’m sure you’ll scale through. Learning a new language is very rewarding. One of the most important and rewarding parts of learning a new language is that it helps to communicate with people. Bilinguals have the opportunity to communicate with a lot of people. For example, when a bilingual from Nigeria, who is fluent in another language, let’s say Japanese, travels to Japan, he/she will definitely be able to communicate well with the locals.
As I said earlier, learning a new language brings you closer to their culture.
Yonde Kurete arigato (find the meaning of this and tell me in the comment box).