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the deep end

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

Today I followed through on my threat to find a Japanese class. I'd made appointments for an interview with two schools in the city, both in the Shinjuku area as it turned out.

The first one had as its principle benefit a very flexible schedule. They were happy to offer you time in lieu if you missed a day, and because they ran so many courses they felt that they'd be able to accommodate me wherever my skill level turned out to be.

Unfortunately, the class I best fit was full, so they told me that I'd have to wait for the next course -- a beginner's! It wouldn't start for another two weeks, so I'd be losing a fair bit of time and then I'd be in a class that was far too low-level for me.

Happily, the second school was different. After struggling through their language test, they decided that I was actually past their beginner's course (it must be really for beginners!) and that they had a class that was about seven or eight days into a 60-day run.

They showed me where they were, and I agreed that I was not hopelessly behind that level -- only behind enough that it would hurt to catch up for the first couple of weeks.

I'm attending a trial class tomorrow to see if I can tough it out. This is going to be some serious language instruction: five days a week, four hours a day. I hope I can hack it. (And that my classmates don't throw me out for being too far behind.)