A Story of A Young Boy Who Achieved His Dream to Study Abroad by Mastering Foreign Language — Part 1
“If you don’t come from a rich family & want your life to be better in many ways, you must study like crazy. Only that way, you can really change your life.” — Daris Sandy, 2022.
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“I want to master the Japanese language and continue my studies there,” my little brother said confidently when he was in the first grade of Senior High School.
We’re very close to each other. As far as I remember, we started to have a story time to share about our dreams & plans for our education journey in 2021. We both enjoy the process of acquiring new knowledge. Although we know the journey will be rough, lonely, and long, at least we have each other’s back. From time to time, we always share our wishes and stories to keep the spark to achieve our goals within ourselves alive.
I’m so grateful to have him as my brother. Even though he’s younger than me, I can learn many things from him. I learned that to be able to achieve your dream, you have to work really hard for it, be consistent, be a disciplined person, believe in yourself, and focus. You’ll never know when the bright chances come; therefore, whenever the time comes, you’ll be ready to catch that chance confidently and bravely.
My brother has started to study Japanese consistently since he was a 10th grader in Senior High School. He taught himself because going to courses is way too expensive. He doesn’t want to put more financial burden on our parents. Well, there is a famous quote from my favorite novel, The Alchemist:
“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
My brother’s situation is indeed aligned with this quote. There’s an extracurricular of studying the Japanese language. Without any doubt, my brother grabbed this chance and utilized this golden chance to study more from his Sensei. It seems like the universe is really helping him to achieve his dream.
Long story short, he was one of the best students in the class. Then, one day my brother’s Sensei suggested my brother take the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) to measure his ability to understand & communicate in Japanese. He said that it’d be great to have the certificate, it can help those who have it to study or work in Japan.
My brother took his Sensei’s advice into account greatly. Then, after a few weeks of thinking and planning, he finally decided to take JLPT in Semarang. He had a few months to prepare for the test. As an additional information, there are some levels of the Japanese Language Proficiency. I’ll mention it from the lowest to the highest level: N5, N4, N3, N2, and N1.
In his first trial, my brother obviously took the lowest level. At that time, he was still a beginner. He studied very hard every day before the test. In a day, he always spares 1–2 hours to dedicate himself to studying Japanese. I was amazed by his dedication, so I asked him, “How come you’re never lazy to study Japanese every day?”. Then he answered, “There were times when I felt too lazy to study, but I always remind myself to not disappoint my future self.”
As a kind & supportive sister, I accompanied him to take JLPT N5 in Semarang. We chose this city because it’s one of the closest cities to our hometown. I still remember vividly that the test was held in July 2023. After a few months waiting the announcement, he succeeded & passed the exam brilliantly. I know how hard he has studied, so I know that he deserved it.
My brother is not the type of person who is easily satisfied with the result he gets from a certain field. If he knows that there is more to learn or to discover, he feels challenged and tempted to master it. I remember he said:
“Life is just like a game, you have to study and master some skills to equip yourself so that your life will be upgraded to the next level. The more skills you have and the more you’re experienced in some fields, the more prosperous you are”. — Sandy
In the next 5 months, he took a kinda reckless decision, I would say. He decided to take JLPT N3. This time, we went to Yogyakarta. As a loyal supporter of him, I accompanied him. The night before he took the test, he studied until late at night. I thought it was about 2 PM. He only had a sleep for 3 hours. This is due to the test being held early in the morning. Before he entered the test building I convinced him to do his best and whatever the result is, he has done his best. The most important thing is his effort, he has to know that the effort never betrays the result.
My brother was kinda worried of the result. He said that he wasn’t sure about his skill in the vocabulary section. It is where the kanji letters are tested. It was difficult for him. Well, can you imagine that his leap is quite far from a beginner to intermediate in 5 months only? Most language learners need at least 6 months to 1 year or even more to be at a level of intermediate from a beginner.
Alhamdulillah, praise to Allah.. he passed the test of JLPT N3. Although the result isn’t as satisfactory as N5, he passed the minimum requirements.
To be continued…
