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1. Internally screaming when you're introduced to the 46 basic hiragana characters
2. Then externally screaming when you find out you need to learn 46 more characters of the katakana variety
3. Dying when you realize that in order to read a newspaper you need to know around 2000ish kanji
4. Being a total expert on the different counters for birds, small animals, long cylindrical objects, flat objects, unidentified objects, large mechanized goods, days of the month, minutes, etc.
5. Cringing when someone pronounces "sake" as "sah-kee"
6. Biting your tongue when someone asks if you're learning Japanese so you can watch anime without subtitles
7. But actually being really excited when you start to understand anime dialogue
8. Discovering super cool facts about Japanese culture just from studying
9. Trying to get used to putting equal emphasis on all sounds
10. Joyfully tearing up because of how easy conjugation is
11. Then cursing your existence when examining all verb forms
12. Laughing at all those beautiful translations
13. Trying your hand at Japanese slang
14. Dealing with tongue cramps during your first attempt at "Ra, ri, ru, re, ro" sounds
15. Bending pronunciation to fit your personality
16. Being thankful for particles
17. Sweating profusely when talking with a native speaker
18. Sacrificing your sanity to the JLPTs
19. If able, experiencing the flat out fear and pure elation that comes along with going to Japan and immersing yourself in the language and culture
20. Bugging your friends and family with your nonstop Nihongo rambling
21. And finally, looking back and being proud of how far you've come on your Japanese journey.
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