七転八起(Shichiten Hakki) is a Japanese four-character idiom and proverb. It literally means Seven Tumbles, Eight Stand Ups (Fall down Seven times, stand up Eight) In English, life has its ups and downs.
Don’t give up in difficult times. If you work hard, you will achieve your goals and dreams.
As a Japanese speaker, I spent a lot of time improving my English. I’m still learning new vocabulary even though I completed my degree program and have a job in America. Every day is a learning day.
I was young and confident that I could live well in America. However, real life is much harder than I thought.
If I were an English speaker, I might live easier and have more opportunities. In reality, I had to go back to school to get a better job. I needed to submit good test scores to enter school. I needed money to study at college. I worked and studied hard for everything every day.
I normally don’t cry, but I cried a lot. Like me, many first-generation immigrants and foreigners work hard in America. They have to start from scratch.
It took about 10 years to feel my life is fun. I personally think that Nine tumbles, Ten stand ups (Fall down Nine times, stand up Ten) is correct.
It doesn’t matter the number of failures before success…
Photos by イラストAC
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