I've always been somewhat interested in Japan and Japanese culture. One of the first memories I have of my interest came when I read the book, The Samurai's Tale, by Erik C. Haugaard in the 4th grade. Today, I'm interested in learning Japanese because I want to communicate effectively with Japanese-speaking people, here and overseas. I may want to work in Japan one day, also. I'm thinking of sticking with Japanese to satisfy the language requirement, so I'll be studying it for at least two years. The areas I've had the most difficulty with in the last few weeks is conversational Japanese, which really only can be practiced by speaking and listening, and not so much by reading and writing or memorizing vocabulary. This is also what I'm most excited to do- converse with friends.