Tonight was day five of the Japanese class I am attending at Austin Community College, and I have decidedly mixed feelings about it.
On the positive side, I am learning stuff, and I get to practice speaking a little. And I am learning things I didn’t know.
On the negative side, it’s going very slow, and the process of learning is not in the way I learn the best. Honest truth is, I do best when I’m exploring, and this is very structured and rigid. I understand that that’s to be expected in a classroom setting, but I honestly wonder if it’s helping me move forward or if it’s holding me back. And, honest truth is, I really don’t know! I think it’s probably doing both at the same time – holding me back, at the same time it’s filling in the gaps brought on by teaching myself. Maybe I need to resume my external studies just so I don’t feel held back, like I do at the moment. Best of both worlds, with the cost being that of spare time.
I have other mixed feelings relating to having to spend time in a room with other people, but that’s just my misanthrope showing. Sensei made that a lot harder today by having us draw lots to determine who our partner is going to be for the day. I know that is going to bite me in the rear eventually. But it is what it is.
But I’m in this class until it ends, I guess. So I may as well see how it turns out.