Explaining Things in a Foreign Language

Living here, I'm gradually starting to understand how difficult it can be to express ideas when you don't have exactly the right vocabulary. The fewer words you've got to work with, the harder it's going to be. I sometimes wonder what I sound like when I'm telling stories. It's pretty hard to judge your own language ability, because you probably aren't even recognizing many of the mistakes you're making. But even without taking that into account, I know the way I express ideas is incredibly vague and imprecise.

Still, for all the frustration of trying to communicate in a language you have little mastery of, there's a kind of joy in it as well. And by necessity, there's a lot of creativity to it. I often find that English as used by non-native speakers can be more expressive than standard English. I pray that that holds true for Japanese, as well, because otherwise a lot of what I say must border on nonsensical. 

Recently on YouTube I found myself watching a series of videos in which a Japanese woman named Mika explains the plots of various movies (in English). There are accompanying illustrations, which I believe were added by her friend, the person who posted the videos. Mika is not fluent in English, but has enough proficiency to explain the movies in a way that is both entertaining and comprehensible. I highly recommend the series of videos, and I think my favorite might be her summary of the movie "Avatar". Her "Star Wars" videos are pretty awesome, too.

Anyhow, these videos should give you an idea of what I hope I will sound like after a few more years of studying Japanese.