On Language

At this stage in my preparations for life abroad, I think I'm pretty darn close to being ready to go. Really, all I need are a few more items of clothing, some toiletries, and then I can take off. However, this doesn't take into account the other side of my preparations, which is oft-neglected, and that's my own fault: mental prep.

One is encouraged to review hiragana and katakana, with English grammar on top of that. I worry that I won't have a proper vocabulary of business English for when I arrive, and that I won't be able to read anything once I'm there. I can't remember a time in my life where I've been - for all intents and purposes - illiterate. It's a deeply unsettling feeling, knowing that I won't know how to get around, and that even if I stop to ask for directions, there is a great chance that I won't be able to communicate with anyone in order to do so.

That's the selfish part of it, really. The not-so-selfish is my secret dread that I am not, after all, a very good teacher of  ESL, having done little of it in my life, and thus will be doomed to a year of failure, embarrassment, and drudgery. All of which is complete nonsense of course, but the small voice in my head that points out my inexperience and naivete concerning such matters does tend to grow louder from time to time.

Quite frankly, however, I'm sure that there have been (and will continue to be) people both less qualified and more rigid than I going abroad to teach other people a language that they may not functionally know anything about. I've my strong orthographic and grammatical skills to back me up, plus a penchant for picking up languages fairly easy with total immersion, if nothing else. The rest I can - and will - pick up along the way.