Learning the Lingo – Japanese

Going to Japan can be intimidating – I speak from prior experience! You arrive in a country with an alien culture and an even more alien language system and you can find yourself floundering as a result. When I moved to Japan in 2007 I went with no language proficiency whatsoever and, for the first few weeks, I struggled, relying on my housemates at the time to explain things to me and bail me out of difficult situations. If you’re planning on going to Japan, even for a short period, it is definitely worth familiarising yourself with two of their alphabets – Katakana and Hiragana – as they will make your time there a little easier. At the very least it might stop you accidentally ordering crab flavoured ice cream!