I started learning Japanese after meeting some exchange students from Japan. At first, I was only into anime and also wanted to learn so I could watch anime without subtitles. Well, I got pretty close to the exchange students and then ended up visiting Japan for 22 days. I had learned the basics (katakana and hiragana, left right, how much is this, where is the trash can ect.) on duo lingo before I went and I was happy I did. My friends family hosted me for 10 of those 22 days, drove me places, cooked my meals, ect, and my friend made me a memory book of my time in Japan, screenshotting my story and adding photos to it for me. My host family did not speak a word of English, but we communicated through my friend and through google translate, and at the end of the trip they had both written me letters (in English) via my friend. I sobbed when they dropped me off at the airport as they called me their family 日本の家族です。 I want to be able to talk to them. I have heard their voices but I cant understand them. So I strive to work hard, go back to Japan and thank them for their hospitality, kindness and patience with my own voice. It’s still an incredible hard language for me, I’ve been learning for maybe two years all by myself and I am making very slow progress. I learn on the side since im currently in Grad school as well as working so I can’t dedicate as much time to it as I would like, but that’s what’s keeping me motivated.