| I think it's 100% worth learning the language. Doing so, you can develop twice the resources, twice the friendships, and twice the possibilities in life than with just English.
I spent some time my first few months studying Spanish from the text book (when i was living in Mexico), but after that, i just got involved. I joined drum line, the choir and ensemble at school, i took a tae kwon do class and made a lot of new friends. I only spoke English when it was necissary (when teaching, or in an emergancy). I was still able to do everything i wanted to do. Meanwhile, I was able to build friendships and experience the country/culture differently than i would have otherwise.
I can see where you are coming from when you say that you have other things that you'd rather be doing. I think that being half way between languages can do that to us. However, i believe strongly in complete immersion or just jumping in with both feet.
__________________  Megumi |