Student Again post

content/blog/2025/student-again/index.md

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+---
+title: "I'm a Student Again"
+description: I started taking Japanese classes at CCSF.
+slug: student-again
+date: 2025-09-02
+resources:
+    - name: textbooks
+      src: textbooks.jpg
+      title: My textbooks
+      params:
+        alt: >
+            Three textbooks fanned out on a dark wood desktop. From left to
+            right: Japanese for Busy People Book 1, Genki Book 1 Workbook, and
+            Genki Book 1 Textbook.
+tags:
+    - Life
+    - School
+    - japanese
+    - CCSF
+---
+
+{{< figures/image name=textbooks >}}
+
+I've been fortunate to take two trips to Japan over the last couple years.
+Leading up to those trips, I picked up learning Japanese, attempting to build
+some basic language skills for getting around. At first, I used [Duolingo][dja]
+but recently switched to [Migaku][mja].
+
+When I returned from our most recent trip, I decided to find a class so I can
+practice speaking skills. [Community College of San Francisco][ccsf] has an
+excellent program called "[Free City][fc]" that grants free tuition to residents
+of the city. It also has [Japanese program][ccsfja]. So I enrolled in their
+online Japanese 1A (Intro to Japanese) and in-person Japanese 10A (Beginning
+Conversational Japanese) courses.
+
+The scheduling constraints are more complex this time around. Juggling the
+responsibilities of work, childcare, volunteer work, and other hobbies is a
+challenge. It makes me appreciate the freedom I had in my late teens and
+early-twenties.
+
+Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to learning in a more structured way again,
+and also getting a chance to practice speaking with real people rather than
+talking to the AI bots in my phone.
+
+[dja]: https://www.duolingo.com/course/ja/en/Learn-Japanese
+[mja]: https://migaku.com/learn-japanese
+[ccsf]: https://www.ccsf.edu
+[ccsfja]: https://www.ccsf.edu/degrees-certificates/japanese
+[fc]: https://www.ccsf.edu/free-city