Follow the author on his odyssey from a 24-year-old Midwesterner unable to speak a word of Japanese as he recounts his initial struggle to survive even Japanese 101, to cramming four years of college Japanese into one year with top grades, to gaining functional fluency, conquering kanji, and finally gaining sufficient mastery over the language to develop marketable Japanese skills as a Japanese teacher and translator, all within four short years. There is no shortage of excellent resources for learning the Japanese language. If simply having access to excellent study material or a learning environment were the key to language learning success, anyone today with an Internet connection or a good textbook would become a successful learner. However, without the proper insight and understanding of what it really takes to master Japanese, the reality is that most aspiring Japanese learners ultimately fail in their quest to master the language or even gain a basic level of fluency. This is NOT your run-of-the-mill Japanese textbook. You won't learn Japanese grammar, hiragana, katakana, or kanji by reading this book. Instead, How to Master Japanese provides a full insider's glimpse of what it really takes to succeed at Japanese, both inside the classroom and beyond, in order to attain a true functional proficiency in the language. As you read, you will learn how to negotiate the many unique nuances of Japanese culture, as well as avoid the many pitfalls and detours in the learning process that can result in years, if not an entire lifetime, of lost time and frustrated effort in attempting to learn the Japanese language and grasp the complicated intricacies of Japanese culture. Topics covered include: -Succeeding in Classroom Japanese -Study Abroad in Japan -Japanese Foreign Exchange -Successful Japanese Self-study -Conquering Kanji -Mastering Spoken Japanese -Negotiating Japanese Social Conventions -Making the Most of Your Stay in Japan -Advanced Japanese Language Study -Sex, Romance and the Japanese Language -Teaching English in Japan -How to Make Your Japanese Marketable -Working in Japan for a Japanese Company -How to Find a Japanese Specialization -Maintaining and Improving Japanese Post-Japan -How to Break into the Japanese Translation Industry -And Much More How to Master Japanese is a must-read for any aspiring Japanese learner and is full of first-hand insight into the nuances of the Japanese language and culture for any reader with even a passing interest in the language and culture of Japan.