When Staying in Japan with a host family..

[SmoochesToYou]

Normally, where do you sleep? I'm so uneducated, that I'm not sure if whether futons are still commonly used.
It's not like I can travel to Japan anytime soon, I still have to get into high school and take 4 straight years of Japanese lessons. I hope I'm not surrounded by anime freaks. (No offense, otakus. :3)

'nyways, can anyone help a dumb ol' 13 year old? D:

[Yudan Taiteki]

Depends on the family. You might have a futon, or you might have a bed.

[SmoochesToYou]

Thanks much. I'm looking forward to a futon for some reason. oWo

[Kdar]

Does it makes a difference?

[Xurma]

I guess you interest in Japan might disappear in that 4 years. Same happened to me. Be careful not to be too enthusiastic or you might lose your interest.

[SmoochesToYou]

That's probably true. It's hard to not be excited about going somewhere foreign.
Japan's culture just interests me a lot.

[pubju]

yeh, trust me on this one, dont be too enthusistic about Japan else you will lose motivation quickly

[jt]

I guess you interest in Japan might disappear in that 4 years. Same happened to me. Be careful not to be too enthusiastic or you might lose your interest.

yeh, trust me on this one, dont be too enthusistic about Japan else you will lose motivation quickly

I think these two posts are way off base. I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with enthusiasm, or that you have to "be careful" of having "too much" of it. The problem comes when a person's enthusiasm is poorly-directed and/or unrealistic. They're attracted to some idealistic image of Japan that has little, if any, basis in reality. They spin their wheels for a while trying to learn the language, but don't make much progress, and then realize that there are other things more important to them.

I don't think there's anything really wrong with this though. If Japan and Japanese is really important to a person, they'll probably find a way to make things happen. If not, and they move on to other things -- so be it. That was probably the better choice for them to begin with, so it's all for the better.

One hint: if you find yourself having to ask yourself, "Is (...) really that important to me?" over and over again, then you probably already know the answer.

This goes for a lot more than just Japanese.

[two_heads_talking]

Kdar wrote:
Does it makes a difference?

obviously it does or the OP wouldn't have asked.

[Yudan Taiteki]

jt likes Pokey too. HOORJ!

You can make a lot of general statements about language learning but they may not apply to a specific person, and your personal experiences may not apply as well. So for instance, it's true to say that for all the people that visit this site expressing an interest in Japanese and Japan, perhaps 1 out of 100 (if even that) will ever develop significant proficiency in Japanese or go to Japan. However, that doesn't mean that any specific person should be discouraged from having an interest and pursuing that interest.

I don't think you have to worry about too much enthusiasm -- in the end, whether you learn Japanese or go to Japan is primarily based on your long-term motivation and your opportunity, neither of which should be affected by initial enthusiasm.

(But I agree with jt about people having an idealized view of Japan. That can be dangerous.)

[SmoochesToYou]

I try not to have an idealized view of Japan- I know that it's not all "kawaii" school uniforms and stuff.
Bad people are in Japan as well as America. And they're not all bishies.

[Homer]

When staying with a host family in Japan, the family will first of all try to include you in the social life of the family. Whether you sleep on a futon or not depends on the family, some families have very classic Japanese standards while other ones are more westernized. I slept on a futon at my host family place, but the children actually slept in normal western beds (probably cause the beds were too small). Futons are great: I've never slept bether.

Maybe when your 15 and your parents approve it, you can already participate with some summer programs out there. I suggest you take a look at http://www.langubridge.org. That's the organisation I went with this summer. You basicaly attend Japanese lessons while staying with a host family.