I had to study a language as a part of the Core requirements, but I wasn't really sure which one to choose. I studied some Latin in high school, but I wanted to do something different. I thought that Japanese would be a completely different experience and would be very interesting to learn. I am most excited to learn an entirely new writing system, although it is very difficult. At this point, probably the hardest thing to do is read hiragana. I can make out the words, but not yet quickly enough to keep up with the daily powerpoint presentations. While Japanese is a lot of work and requires a huge time commitment, it is fun, and it is by far my most interesting class this semester (and probably this year).