7 Reasons Why I’m Learning Japanese This Year

As we finally say “Sayonara” to 2021, it’s time to say “Konnichiwa” to 2022. Unlike most people, my New Years Resolutions aren’t to go to the gym, lose weight, or stay fit by eating healthy. While all of these things are certainly important, we all know how that goes — spoiler alert — it doesn’t last long and you end up canceling your gym membership before June. Here’s my approach. While I’ve been studying mainly Romance Languages for over a year, I’m making one of my New Years Resolutions to learn Japanese. Here are 7 reasons I’m committed to learning Japanese in the new year.

1: The Most Popular
It’s not just Japan. According to WordTips, Japanese is the most popular language to learn here in the United States and in many English-speaking countries such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. As time goes on and more start to learn and appreciate the language, Japanese could very well end up becoming more common than ever before. As of 2021, there are over 7 million people outside of Japan who speak Japanese, according to The Translation Company. In the United States alone, there are more than 1.5 million Japanese speakers with most living in California and Hawaii.

2: Enjoy Japanese Pop Culture
Japanese pop culture is certainly one of the most intriguing. Japan’s media such as anime, J-pop music, and fashion are based on the idea of being “kawaii”. Japan’s need for all things cute was formed to help others who were saddened and depressed by Japan’s defeat at the end of World War II. In today’s day in age, Japanese pop culture continues on not just for the people of Japan, but even Americans who are feeling any sense of anxiety, stress, depression, or just want to escape the real world for a little while. The popularity of Hello Kitty, My Melody, Kuromi, and other Sanrio characters have been at the forefront of the kawaii world in Japanese pop culture. My girlfriend and I are pretty big fans of Sanrio ourselves.

3: Order Japanese Food In Japanese
It’s always been a goal of mine to order food in any of the languages I learn. As with any language, it’s all about communication. Not only does it impress the locals to have the ability to speak to them in their native language, but it makes them happy that someone else took the time and effort to…