Today I’d like to share one of my all-time favorite sayings: “The power of continuity.”

In Japanese we say 継続は力なり (Keizoku wa chikara nari), which basically means “Keeping at it gives you strength.”

I kicked off learning English and Spanish about fifteen years ago, and I’ve never really bailed on it—though I gotta admit there were a few stretches when I pretty much ghosted my Spanish 😂.

These days I’m back at it and taking Spanish seriously again.

As for English, I’ve been around it every single day for the past fifteen years.

Like I mentioned in my last post, back then I couldn’t hold a convo in English to save my life.

But now I can show international travelers around Japan, I’ve got friends all over the world to grab bites and hang out with, and I can tap into info from everywhere.

My life has totally flipped a full 180 thanks to the simple habit of never throwing in the towel.

When I first started learning English, I wanted to study abroad, but it just wasn’t in the cards.

Both of my parents were struggling with severe depression, and with other family issues on top of that, I couldn’t be away from home for a long stretch.

Still, I was convinced I could learn English without leaving Japan, so I grabbed a vocabulary book and just started.

You might think, “Didn’t you study English at school?”

But the truth is, I hardly studied it at all.

Back in junior high, I would skip or be late to nearly half of my classes over those three years, and I even dropped out of high school in my second year.

So honestly, my knowledge of English back then was basically zero 😂.

Anyway, I just dove into the world of language and set a high bar for myself:

I would learn English well enough to earn money with it and broaden my life.

How I Learned English and Spanish

Years 1–5

• Worked at a restaurant packed with international customers and staff

• Took one-on-one lessons at a café three times a week

• Memorized vocabulary like crazy and started grammar from scratch

• Watched English TV dramas over and over

• Traveled abroad on my own

• Made friends from different countries

Years 5–15

• After getting married and having a child, I no longer had daily contact with foreigners, so I started taking online lessons

• Began subscribing to English-learning magazines and newspapers

• Watched English dramas every single day

By my seventh year of studying English, I had improved enough to teach beginners, so I started working as a private tutor.

The first time I actually earned money using English, I was over the moon!

Then, after the long COVID years finally came to an end, I became a tour guide in my thirteenth year of learning.

Small efforts every day will end up changing your life for sure.

For me, learning a new language has been the biggest game-changer of all.

No shortcut, no overnight miracle—just steady effort. 

A lot of Japanese people start learning English but quit, saying things like,

“I’m not cut out for English,”

“I’m terrible at memorizing,” or

“I’m busy—maybe next year.”

It’s been a long journey to achieve, but I made the most of every moment when it came to learning.

Before I knew it, learning had given me a level of confidence I’d never had. There’s no grammatical similarity at all between English or Spanish and Japanese,

but challenging yourself stimulates both your brain and your soul!

Aside from language, I enjoy studying Japanese history, brain science, finance, and linguistics.

It’s never too late to learn,

and I’ll keep learning until the day I die.