AJATT-lite

Overview

Fluency Is Overrated

What does it mean to be fluent?

If you’re like me, you think of ordering pizza over the phone, and watching the pizza delivery person’s face in shock as you answer the door—surely not you could have ordered the 18 inch ham and pineapple pizza? Surely it was some other deranged person in the house who looks the part?

Ok, so maybe not everyone has the pizza fantasy. But it illustartes the point. Most of us think that fluency means 1) speaking 2) without an accent, while 3) understanding 4) all domains of potential topics. I call this “General Japanese Fluency,” and it surely is the goal for many, if not all of us on this site.

But don’t let that stop you. You can become “fluent” in reading books, and before that in the subset of novels, and in the further subset of manga, (and in the ever further subset of young children’s manga).

The Immersion Environment

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the AJATT method is that it requires you to be immersed in a Japanese environment all the time. In fact, it’s the most essential element, and the source of the acronym “AJATT.” But is a prolonged 18-month period of near total immersion in a Japanese media bubble really necessary?

The answer is no. That’s the good news. The bad news is that without the language immersion evironment, you’ll have a longer journey to [General Japanese Fluency] But as I’ve stated on this blog, rushing towards GJF