[WingsToDiscovery]

Originally Posted by Gahzirra

So which one are you and what makes you special? playing Devils advocate

I'm like God; I exist outside of this realm.

Originally Posted by Gahzirra

I would state, Yes knowing Japanese prior to living in Japan would make life easier...What really you don't say? Yet many of you didn't follow your own pearls of wisdom, some things are easier said then done.

I guess you've never seen how many f*cktards come to Japan and immediately start crying because no one will speak English for them. Either it breaks them down, or they just swarm to other gaijin and start hanging out with them all the time. I know my statement "Learn Japanese if you want to live in Japan" sounds like one of the most obvious titles ever, but in truth it's actually a lot of tongue in cheek.

Originally Posted by Gahzirra

Fact is learning a language you are not immersed in will take you far longer and odds are you will still not learn the "correct" language.

So Wings, which courses and books would you advise he reads so he can have casual conversation with others in Japan...while your at it give him a time line on how long not being immersed in the language will take to be fluent.

And yeah, I think Nyorin said this, but I think this is where you accidentally took what I said the wrong way. I don't have any expectation for anyone else to be fluent. I simply suggest that people learn as much Japanese as they can before coming to make their lives easier. Learn from the mistakes from others (including myself) for not knowing as much as we should.

Originally Posted by Gahzirra

Good luck and have fun--as the others stated just be prepared for some difficulties. As long as you don't go in with ridiculous expectations you should be fine.

And that's all I want. Although the last sentence may not reach a lot of the young'ins in this forum