My initial interest in Japanese language and culture was sparked by an article about the genetic study of East Asians and Asians in general which revealed the striking similarity between Tibetans and Japanese. Later, I also discovered the existence of quasi-historical stories or myths-like accounts of ancestral links between the two peoples or regions. Anyway, I decided to learn Japanese because I would like to study Japanese history, specifically, the political and institutional history of Tokugawa Japan and the role of religion in state formation and practices of governance in general. I soon discovered that there isn't much of a similarity between the Tibetan and Japanese language beyond the numbers, but I am still highly excited to learn the language and read Japanese history (I am taking a history course on early modern Japan). The most challenging aspect of the course is keeping up with the fast pace of it. I need to work on both grammar and memorization of vocabulary. I...