There are many important milestones that a foreigner trying to master Japanese will face. Ordering in a restaurant for the first time, for example, or communicating to the pizza delivery guy how to get to your apartment, not easy since streets are generally not named in Japan. Trying to get the hang of keigo (polite Japanese) is challenging since English speakers aren’t used to the concept of using one form of language to raise up (exhault) the person you’re talking with while using another type to lower (humble) yourself, and I remember crashing and burning many times due to getting the two confused. For many students of nihongo, the Japanese Language Proficiency Test is the primary goal they set for themselves, and whether you’re trying the easiest level (level 4) to test your grasp of elementary written and spoken Japanese or are going all-out for the hardest level (level 1), required for foreign students to enter a Japanese university, having a goal and meeting it is a glorious thing. Some might consider passing level 1 of the JLPT to be the “ultimate” test of a person’s Japanese, but I found an even higher goal gaijin can shoot for if they’re so inclined: talking with the Emperor. I was watching a press conference with Japanese Emperor Akihito, and a foreign journalist stood up to ask him a question in Japanese. Unfortunately, the reporter garbled the question just enough that the meaning wasn’t clear to the Emperor, who had to ask the poor man to repeat his question several times, while the cameras and everyone in the room stared on. Having been in many embarrassing situations myself, I felt terrible for the poor reporter. (Incidentally, J-List stocks dozens of excellent study aids for students learning Japanese — browse our huge selection of items, now!)
