Sometimes it’s the little things that make this language journey worth the effort

It's 8am in Tokyo, I'm sitting at the coin laundry, flipping through one of my favourite kids books and realised I know more Japanese than I thought I did.

I could use the machines, I can read the book, I chatted with a kind old lady on the train, made some Japanese friends at a little Izakaya and have other fun little interactions. Then, when push came to shove, navigated some situations that I never thought I could. Rather than worrying about producing eloquent, flowery sentences, I just said what I needed to politely .. and it was understood.

This isn't a yay, I'm the best thread in the least, there's shelves of manga, I reached for the kids book, I've got a long way to go. My point is, don't give up if you really want to learn Japanese, it may feel like you're not getting anywhere, but it could be that you just don't realise how far you've come.

Now I'll go back to reading my caterpillar book..