What are you SUPER saiyan?

Gohan and Goku may look relaxed here, but they are actually actively training for their next battle with the foe, Cell.


I'll never forget how much power I was drained of the first night I spoke in three languages.

It was back in June of last year and I had just moved to Japan. My Japanese was subpar at the time but one night I somehow found myself being invited to one of the local clubs by a group of Japanese girls. Once we arrived I met a variety of other people, including other foreigners. One of the groups I began a chat with didn't respond in either Japanese or English, but rather Spanish.

I hadn't spoken Spanish in months, maybe year, but there I was trying to communicate in my father tongue.


"¿De dónde eres? ¿Verdad? ¿Cuál parte? ¿Soy de Los Estados unidos pero vivo en Japón."

「何がおすすめですか。ジントニックか。好きな飲み物だよ！ちょっと待って、頼もうと思う。」

"Hey, where's the restroom?"

"¿Te gusta Japón?"

「写真を撮りましょう！」

"En el futuro quiero estudiar in España. Hay muchas fiestas en España. ¿Qué no?

「その彼女と喋りたいんですが、私の日本語はちょっと。何をするべき？」

"Is it OK to go out and come back in? I need to breath outside!"


And so the night continued to progress in this manner.

Now, let's return to the above related picture.

If you're not familiar with the Dragon Ball Z series here it is in a nutshell. It's a group of fighters who are always training and powering themselves up to try and beat their next foe, usually from another planet or galaxy. Two of the main characters, Goku and Gohan, can transform themselves into powerful angelic beings called Super Saiyans. When they first discover this ability they are new to it and have a hard time controlling and understanding it. For them to go in and out of Super Saiyan mode requires a large amount of energy.

In order to beat their next super opponent Goku and Gohan learn to maintain their energy levels while continuously being in the state of a Super Saiyan. They do this even while taking a nap in the grass. By carrying out their day like this they are able to maintain their strength levels so that they can be ready for battle at the drop of a hat. This is an ingenious strategy: one that I've tried to adopt for myself.

I used to babble on about how one day I was going to know five languages in the future. Truth be told I couldn't foresee it happening on my own. I imagined that one day I would just wake up and magically be able to spit out five national anthems in five different languages out of nowhere. Unfortunately though nothing that awe-inspiring could take place overnight. I've realized now that it's going to take a lot of work. And that work has already begun.

Everyday I read Spanish news on my computer, teach English at work, study Japanese throughout the day, and just recently I started to learn Chinese pronunciation. I'm doing these things daily so that I won't be drained in the future when I have to switch between speaking five [possibly more] languages that all have different pronunciation, grammar, sentence structure, intonation, formalities, and tenses.

~Anthans