Hi (こんにちは)! My name is Ranita and I am from India (インド).  I have been learning Japanese (日本語)  for over six years now. I have lived in Japan (日本) for a year and during my stay, I immersed myself into everything Japanese. I am very excited to join the Japanese blog. Looking forward to share my knowledge about Japanese language and culture. In this post I would like to talk about my interests and experiences as a language learner.

I remember very well how excited I used to be as a kid on receiving chocolate boxes from overseas. More than the contents inside I used to take interest in the covers which had product descriptions inscribed in foreign languages (外国語). I didn’t know how to read them or what they meant but I would certainly spend hours trying to interpret their meanings.

For people born in a multilingual country (多言語国家), knowing more than one language is not a big challenge. I was taught English, Hindi and Bengali at school and became familiar with other Indian languages through television shows (テレビ番組). Whenever I come across an unfamiliar language I always feel something magical. While reading an encyclopedia about ancient civilisations and their scripts or while listening to a friend talk in their mother tongue (母語), I have always felt an urge to know more about different cultures and its languages. This interest of mine has led me to pick up words and phrases from many languages, whenever I get a chance.

Learning Japanese was my choice but falling in love with Japan was a coincidence. Being one of those geeks (オタク) who loved watching and talking about Japanese anime (アニメ) all the time, I could not wait to start learning Japanese formally.

It was not until I finished my high school (高校) and started learning Japanese at a language school (語学学校) that I realised what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. While learning the language I kept digging more into Japanese culture (日本文化). The further I studied about Japanese traditions (伝統) and customs (習慣) the better I understood Japanese people (人) and society (社会).

Today, I have built my career around my passion. For the last four years I have been writing about Japan, preparing Japanese lessons and translating Japanese as my profession. However, I never stopped learning Japanese because learning is a lifelong process and the more you know the more you grow.

While I was studying and researching at Nara Women’s University in Japan, I traveled to all its 47 prefectures (都道府県). I have heard people say that traveling is a privilege. However, I would like to differ with them, I believe that travelling is an obsession to know more. This obsession was sparked in me by nothing but the interest in learning Japanese language and culture.

The passion for learning and discovering distant lands and their cultures has always been  strong in me. Foreign words and scripts infuse in me an interest to explore. I believe that mastering a new language is incomplete without getting to know its place of origin, its people and their culture. So I wish to continue learning and knowing more about our diverse world.