Gattsu is a Japanese adoption of the English word “Guts”. It’s use is (as I understand it) similar to the English usage in the sentence “He’s got guts.”. It’s meaning is about sticking it out through adversity. I think. I chose this name because that is the backbone of my method. Let me explain..

About two years ago a weighed about 240 pounds. I was in poor shape, and had been diagnosed with non-insulin dependent diabetes. I lived with this for a while, but then decided I was not going to be another statistic. I tried various diet plans, and stumbled upon one that seemed right. I committed myself 100% to this diet. I now weigh 195 pounds, and am no longer diabetic. I used “gattsu” to pull myself through the process of losing weight.

Was it easy? No at first. But gradually my habits changed to be in line with my chosen way of eating and losing weight and in time, I naturally made the right decisions. “gattsu” was required early on to keep going. Once I started seeing results, success was enough to keep me on the path.

So… Back to Japanese. I plan on using “gattsu” to learn Japanese. And when I say “learn”, I don’t mean to master a few phrases and some basic grammar. I mean complete and total fluency. I plan to eat, drink, breath, sleep, and live Japanese as much as life will allow, and when I’m done, I’ll be not just conversational, but fluent as any average Japanese adult.

What’s that you say? You say it will take more than “gattsu” to accomplish this? Well, you’re right. I’m not an idiot. I have a plan, and luckily for me, it’s a plan that has worked for others. It’s certainly not a mainstream plan, but it’s one that works 100% of the time for those who stick with it. Here’s the scoop:

Some time ago there were a couple guys in Poland that set out to learn English. They decided that endless hours of studying grammar in classrooms settings is not going to make them “fluent”. I mean, how can you speak quickly and naturally if you have to spend precious moments thinking about your sentence structure? So they devised an unorthodox way of learning. They learned to read and pronounce English first. They essentially learned to properly sound out words they saw in English. They then got in to English by reading, by watching movies, and by playing games, all in English. When they came across a sentence they didn’t know, they would write it down and learn it. Learning it does not mean they picked apart the sentence to learn its grammar. Rather, they strove to understand the meaning of the sentence. In time, as they continued to do this, they started to grok (grasp) English intuitively. Sentences that they had never seen or heard made sense to them. Their minds were learning English the same way a child born to English speaking parents would. Through learning, listening, repeating, and a little experimentation.

Don’t believe me? Ask yourself this. Does a 3-4 year old child know what a verb, or a noun is? Did somebody sit down with them, throw endless amounts of vocabulary words and make them read tightly packed definitions and examples of grammar and proper usage? No. They listened. Their sentences at first were simple. But they built on that. They learned “want cookie”. They then figured out that they could say “want milk” and get milk, or whatever they wanted. They learned “I” meant me, and figured out they could say “I want a cookie”. Their knowledge continued to increase and build upon what went before until eventually they became fluent English speaking adults.

You might be thinking “That took them years and years to accomplish!”. You’re right, but guess what? I have a distinct advantage. I’m already an adult. I already have an understanding of basic and advanced concepts of life. I don’t have to learn what rain is. I don’t have to learn how to walk while I figure all this out. I know all that. I just have to learn Japanese. Mark my words. Two years from now, I’ll be speaking Japanese fluently.

Still don’t believe me? Check out the web site that documents their way of doing things: Antimoon

STILL don’t believe me? Check out the web site of Khatzumoto-san, the guy who learned fluent Japanese in 18 months using the system: AllJapaneseAllTheTime

STILL don’t believe me? Fine. Go sign yourself up for a class somewhere or something. We’ll see who’s speaking fluently first.

Think there may be something to this? Read on. I plan on documenting what I do. At this point I’m not going to tell you the steps involved. That is well covered on the two web sites listed above. Instead, I’m going to tell you specifically what I do, and how things are going. I’ll record my discoveries here, and maybe those will help the next person.

This web site is for me too. I find that documenting things like this helps me get through. It helps me stick to it, and occasionally, somebody reads it and gives support, or ideas, or whatever. Thats great stuff.

I do have one word of warning. This blog will not be all in English. As a matter of fact, by the end of it, it will be completely in Japanese. I may translate portions of it for the purposes of showing non-Japanese speakers where I ended up, but for now, it behooves me to use as much Japanese as possible. My apologies to those who wish to follow my adventures but can’t because they can no longer understand them. That’s a ways away, but it will happen. Until then, enjoy the English. =)

Well… Here I go… Since nobody else is reading this, I’ll say it to myself: GANBATTE!