Hi, there! I'm Li Syaoran. I have just begun my final year before graduation from China's Institute for Languages. I've been here for the past two years as well, and now, I am technically, a senior. However, as it happens every year, almost all my close friends from CIL have dropped out as they couldn't keep up with the harrowing schedules and taxing syllabus.
CIL is notorious for its punishing regime and, by the end of two years, the weak-willed tend to drop out before facing another year of increased stress diets. I was, however, among the more determined of the lot, and, along with my close friend Eriol, managed to hang on, by spending hours upon the syllabus every day. This did not mean I was a complete study-wreck. I also managed to squeeze a healthy dose of recreation and hung out with my friends quite often, only, not as often as the rest.
Hiiragizawa Eriol, however, is - God. The dude could spend hours hanging out the day before a full-portion test in Dutch, and still manage to ace the test, without expending any energy at all! He is talented beyond comparison.Every one in CIL is talented - make, that has to be talented, the Entrance Test isn't a joke - but Eriol is unfairly good at learning languages. He puts it to his ancestral roots, he has been learning British English and Japanese since a young age, effectively making him bilingual.
I only knew Chinese before I came to CIL. I had to learn basic English to give the Entrance Test. And now, I am majoring in Japanese with English and French as my minor subjects. Two years of English at CIL have made me as fluent as a native speaker. I have people coming up to me and asking why I chose Japanese of all subjects to major in. Such a difficult language! Are you sure? So much to learn! Such a headache!
But, to me, Japanese was never difficult! I always found it such a breeze to learn! I mastered two of the writing systems - hiragana, and katakana - in a mere month. That was the time CIL devoted to their first brushing of the language. They offered countless revision lectures throughout the year, but I found I could do without them. I have always loved Japanese, ever since I moved to Japan for two years during my fifth and sixth grade. I never quite managed to pick up the language then, but,I was bitten by the bug.
Eriol is majoring in French and he can already talk as fast as a Frenchman! Even I can't follow the true French yet, but Eriol has rapidly progressed in his mastery of the language. He has taken Chinese and Dutch as his minors. I remember him having trouble with following the Chinese spoken on the streets in his first year, but he conquered that obstacle too, though Chinese still remains the only thing I hold over him.
A few weeks have passed since classes began, and I have managed to find a balance between studying and having fun. Of course, Eriol is my only real friend, everyone else is still an acquaintance. But, I'm not entirely anti-social. I've been out on a few dates myself, and am aware that I'm the object of various objections. But, I still haven't really found someone who shares quite the same interests as me, nor a personality that foils and complements mine.
Oh, dear...it's time for Japanese. Later, then..