LEARNING JAPANESE HAS FOREVER CHANGED ME

By Nicolas Nhalungo

As far back as my memory will permit, I have always been enthralled by language. With age, that fascination, and love, only grew deeper. I often wonder if it was a result of my innate curiosity for how things work or whether it was a product of my cultural heritage. Mozambique is a cultural hotspot, a result of unique geolocation, migration patterns, and prolonged colonisation. Born in the capital city of Maputo, I was exposed to a plethora of regional dialects, as well as Portuguese, the language of our former colonizer. 

At the mere age of 4, my family relocated to Egypt, a country with a long history of linguistic shifts. We lived there for about eight years, and during my time there, I learned English (the language I am the most fluent in), French, and conversational Arabic. I guess you could say I was somewhat of a sponge as a child, but aren’t most children? I wonder. I grew up watching Brazilian and Mexican novelas (in Spanish), reading French comic books and listening to American pop music. 

In the 3rd grade, I was transferred from the English curriculum to the French one due to my ability to learn the language with great ease. By the age of 8, I was already fluent in speaking three languages, which to many may seem like a lot, but for the people around me at the time, it was commonplace. For obvious reasons, in my early adolescence, I briefly considered majoring in linguistics and later neuroscience, but life had very different plans for me. 

"By the age of 8, I was already fluent in speaking three languages, which to many may seem like a lot, but for the people around me at the time, it was commonplace."

Although I have never majored in anything related to language, I have always found myself within its orbit. I consider myself to be quite fortunate, and not only because I can eavesdrop on conversations at the airport or meet polyglots in the club and converse with them in multiple languages seamlessly (funny enough, this happened to me with a Chilean guy who shared the same name as me), but also because it opens a portal to a multiverse. Beyond language being a means of communication, it is also an incredible anthropological resource — this became abundantly clear to me when I moved to India and studied Sanskrit for a semester (a parent language to many Indian languages) and further was emphasized when I started learning Japanese.

That's me in the front row in Kanji class

As someone who was already exposed to many languages beyond the ones that I spoke fluently, I had an understandable hesitation towards moving to Japan to pursue my postgraduate degree because I knew that I would have to learn the language if I wanted to fully integrate myself into Japanese society. Living with so many languages in my head already caused a great deal of confusion, and I did not want to add to it. And truthfully, I did not think I had it in me, certainly not because I lacked the prowess, but because I lacked the faith that learning this non-Romance language would bring any real benefit to me once I graduated, should I choose to leave Japan. 

"Living with so many languages in my head already caused a great deal of confusion, and I did not want to add to it."

In the year since I moved to Japan, I have experienced a metamorphosis in more ways than one. Learning Japanese has not only broadened my opportunities but also widened my perspective. Learning Japanese is not easy; it is an uphill battle that requires discipline, dedication, and patience. A lot of patience and perhaps God’s good graces. I feel empowered to do anything I set my mind to. I did not think I needed that kind of reassurance at this stage in my life, but I am thankful for this incredibly hard lesson.

Me at the Samurai Festival in Omihachiman, Japan

Japanese is a language that carries so much meaning in its characters, more than I will ever truly know. Through learning Kanji, a writing system adapted from China about 1600 years ago, you can learn a lot about how the Japanese view the world around them. Take the kanji for noisy, it’s represented by the same character for women, 女, multiplied by three,姦. It is one of the things which gives you insight into how misogyny exists in all languages across history. Many Japanese names are derived from nature; this is also true for many African ethnicities. However, due to colonial influences and organized religion, many now choose names that are easy to pronounce. I, for example, was named after the Oscar-winning actor, Nicholas Cage. 

"Japanese is a language that carries so much meaning in its characters, more than I will ever truly know."

Me at the Samurai Festival in Omihachiman, Japan

Living in Asia for close to a decade now has made me acutely aware of my own Eurocentric views on language and has fundamentally challenged them. Seeing Japanese society begrudgingly embrace the English language and apprehensive to accept it in its totality can be viewed from two lenses, that of a petulant child that does not want to accept change, but also of a people who hold their culture and history very dear. In the book When Languages Die, the author David Harrison explores the phenomenon of language extinction, and the irreversible loss of humanity’s collective knowledge, namely heritage, ecological understanding and their prescriptions of the world functions. Language, like knowledge, is power.

"In Japan, you never offend someone or something directly. To say someone’s children are noisy, you tell the parents that you are astounded by their energy. I, for one, appreciate the poetry and enjoy seeing them run in circles to avoid saying the wrong thing."

The Japanese are very encouraging to foreigners trying to learn their language, especially given how challenging it is. At least that has been my personal experience. “Ee, Nihongo jozu desune” is a very common phrase. It is a way to show amazement at your domain of the Japanese language, or a polite way of saying it is a good attempt. There are nuances in Japanese politeness. There is a lot being said under the guise of sweet wording. The way the Japanese communicate today and the ways their language has evolved over time is a big reflection of their current society. I see this a lot in the way we operate as Mozambicans and fellow Lusophones and how distinct our African counterparts are. In Japan, you never offend someone or something directly. To say someone’s children are noisy, you tell the parents that you are astounded by their energy. I, for one, appreciate the poetry and enjoy seeing them run in circles to avoid saying the wrong thing.

Giving a talk at a Japanese school

Visiting a shrine in Kyoto

That is not to say that the language is perfect, and I certainly have my qualms, but I have greatly enjoyed the process of studying Japanese. To anyone who thinks they are too old or too dumb to learn a new language, I challenge you to change your perspective. I am far from being fluent and dreaming in Japanese, but I do dream that one day I will be fluent in this language that has opened a new portal for me to see more clearly how language works.

Nicolas Nhalungo is a Mozambican freelance journalist, writer and aspiring researcher. For the past four years, he has been covering stories in business, culture, fashion, entertainment, tech and more.

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