19 posts tagged “japanese”

When I first considered a job teaching English in Japan I had a vague idea of what learning a foreign language might be like. My experience of learning a language at school in Australia was disjointed at best, and was centred around standardised classroom texts and didactic teaching methods. Subsequently I didn't learn much of the Japanese, Italian, French, German, Latin or Ancient Greek I was taught.

Growth

I was fortunate however to have been educated in a school where most of the students spoke a second language at home, so I knew even then that bilingualism was a reality for many people. When I made the commitment to go to Japan, I also committed myself to learning the language, and studying martial arts over a two to five year period. My best chance of learning the language centred around being immersed in the culture, and using it to accomplish tasks of an everyday nature.

When I arrived in Japan, I enrolled in survival Japanese courses offered at the local international centre and took my notes home and practised phrases every day. I also mastered hiragana and katakana early on because I wanted to be able to read. Towards the end of my first year I moved to a rural town, from a prefectural capital, and my opportunities for engagement with the locals grew. I was beginning to feel more confident in my language ability.

Being a language learner gave me a much greater appreciation of what my students needed in the classroom. Everyone learns differently, and made sense for me to approach language acquisition from a learners perspective. I took the Japanese Language Proficiency Test in my second year, and sat it each year following. Studying for the test helped me understand the different modalities of language learning. Doing the past exams helped me to understand my weaknesses and better prepared me for what was ahead. I was constantly on the lookout for different learning techniques. Language learning itself, became my hobby.

Communication

When I met my then future wife in 2004 all of our communication was in Japanese. As we grew together as a couple my language needs changed, I was now required to understand things with a degree of subtlety that I hadn't had before. Speech was infused with nuance, and although the potential for miscommunication was high, I credit my wife's patience and understanding with my current language ability. We now have two children, a boy and girl aged 2 years old and 3 months respectively. They will be joining me in Australia in June.

I have come to the realisation that language learning is not separate from cultural experience. Language learning doesn't happen in a vacuum, it must be connected with and through people to what you want to achieve as an individual. Just as the motivation for learning a language must come from within, so too should the approach. Language learners are individuals first, and approaches to language learning should be centred around individuals.

When I started twittering in Japanese about a year ago, I had no idea how far I would go with it, or what benefit it would bring to my study of Japanese. At times it has been a distraction, and at the height of my addiction attraction to it, kind of costly, as my international SMS bill went through the roof.

A fish's gravestone

What it has helped me do is be more productive, more outwardly expressive with my inner Japanese speaker. In some respects it has helped me find my my Japanese voice, as clumsy and stilted as it still feels. Sometimes there is a dialogue maintained with other twitterers, and sometimes there is not. There is always the need to formulate thoughts into comprehensible sentences.

Just recently I have been gathering my daily twittering into the one post with the help of a service called LoudTwitter. I was hoping that it would spur me on to breaking out of the 140 character limit, and into writing more consistently in Japanese on this blog. So far only 5days of this kind of daily diary through twitter have been posted here.

Never would I have in wildest dreams thought any one would go to the bother of translating my twits into English. But , someone has. Now I'm not quite sure how I feel about this, the illusion of anonymity and privacy provided by blogging in my second language has just been erased a little further.

Blogging in my second language I feel I am far less critical of my self, perhaps blunter and less self conscious about it. In English the same expressions may come across as selfish, and ill-conceived. As a Japanese speaker I am not yet beyond the junior high school vernacular, but that's OK with me.

There are plenty of people blogging in a language that is not their first. Does it provide you with a different sense of self?  Do you feel safer presenting parts of you that you wouldn't in your mother tongue? If you could blog in another language, what would you say? Would it be different from what you already write about?

Just the other day as I was getting ready for work, my significant other called me in from her place in front of the dresser. "Yes, what is it" I asked and she sheepishly replied, "there is something I have to do, that I've been putting off". Now this is very unlike C, she finds it very hard to admit any weakness, and doesn't budge on matters of principle. So it was with great intrigue that I quizzed her for more detail, "I haven't learnt English yet" came her response.

We have attempted a couple of times in the past to get started on this goal together but for what ever reason it hasn't really taken off. C always goes into a coy schoolgirl act, which I love b.t.w. when we sit down and go through short lessons together, but these are very few and far between. I long ago stopped bursting into English when I get frustrated because I realised that English would just become the-language-the-angry-gaijin-uses-when-he-is-angry language.

I guess the catalyst for C getting started on this goal has been the impending visit of my family to Japan. She realises that in the three+ years we've been together and since our visit to Australia way back when, she hasn't learnt much. C may want to converse with Mick and Min more than she was able to back then. Whatever the reason I am happy that she has come to the realisation by herself.

The motivation for learning a language has got to come from within I believe, so I've been careful not to push too hard when it comes to opening the textbooks. I believe I've been rewarded in some way because that patience has paid off. I've even noticed the textbooks floating around the house, a sure sign that they are being used. We have yet to have even a short conversation in English, but I am looking forward to that day.

Every now and then I get a rare insight in to the Japanese psyche, from students who are articulate speakers of English. I may not always agree with what they say, but I appreciate their point of view nonetheless.

My verbal sparring partner for this evenings match prefers Kansai humour, he thinks that Tokai humour is too dry. Kansai humour is funny because Kansai people themselves are a joke. They do self parody very well, I guess that they don't have much choice, because it is considered rude to poke fun at other people in public.

Classic humour like manzai and rakugo are his favorites, they don't need props and rely heavily on the art of story telling. Recent derivatives of Japanese humour are made for consumption on the small screen and are heavily westernised, he tells me. I tell him the reason Japanese games shows are so funny for westerners is that we just aren't allowed to humiliate people in the same way on TV.  

Some things of course are taboo, the royal family, gay humour, socal vices and gangsterism, all staples in the western diet of comedy. Things are changing however, Yakkun is a guy in school girl drag that carries a baseball bat, Hard Gay is an ex pro-wrestler in leathers, humping anything with two feet and a heart beat. He says that bad taste is not possible in Japanese humour, if the majority disapproves then it ceases to be funny.

We talk at length about black humour and how manic depression often gives us our best comedians. He can't remember ever watching The Blues Brothers, so I write it down for him. He finds it hard to define the Japanese sense of humour but he knows it shaped by a stratified and heirachical society. It is only permissible to ridicule someone for the sake of humour if you have established the pecking order.

Now I am beginning to understand why I am often the butt of jokes in my household, and why what I say is rarely considered amusing. My situation has been been compared that of the hapless Masuo Fuguta in the cartoon series Sazae-san.

I know this much, I enjoy childrens television and o-warai, but don't watch variety, or game-shows for that matter. I find they cater to the lowest common denominator.

What kind of Japanese humour have you seen? What makes you laugh and what makes you cringe? Have you ever wondered what they might laughing at?

A short while ago, Jonathon got in touch with me about studying for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. He stumbled across a 43 Things post of mine and thought there might something I could share that might help him in preparation for this years level 2 test. Hopefully I can share a few things here that might also help others studying for the test.

First, just a little background on me and why I study for the test. I came to Japan in April of 2003 to study Japanese and practice Aikido, at the outset I gave myself anywhere between 2 and 5 years, but no more. For the first six months or so I didn't do any any study, except daily writing practice of the kana, and a 6 lesson course in survival Japanese. I was really too busy at that stage with adjusting to my new lifestyle and working environment.

After about one year, I had picked up a few useful phrases, but I was no where near approaching real fluency, I hadn't even begun to study kanji. Then I joined a small class run by volunteers at my local international centre, bought Japanese for busy people and started studying in earnest. My aim at that stage was to pass the level 3 JLPT, I felt confident that had already done enough to pass level 4.

In the summer of 2004 I met my wife to be and we were married in August of 2005, we have a son who is now just over one year old. I would be normally be satisfied with a mere conversational level of Japanese, if it weren't for my family. I study because I want to communicate with my wife in a way that expresses my true feelings in a way that she understands. My wife doesn't speak English. I study because I can't imagine asking my son to do his Japanese homework if I haven't done mine. We plan to move to Australia early next year, where his exposure to his mother tongue will be minimal, outside of the home environment.

The JLPT provides a good measure of competence in reading and understanding what choices are necessary when writing, but it doesn't directly measure your writing or comunicative ability through conversation. These things aside, it is a reason to study. Having sufficient motivation for learning to read, write and speak Japanese is absolutely essential. Every year I study like I am expecting to fail and each time I am pleasantly surprised by my results.

So assuming you have the necessary motivation, and you have the time set aside to study, here are a few small things that might help you when planning your course of study.

First of all, understanding the format and the kinds of questions you are likely to face, is most important. If you have the done the test before you will also have some idea of where your weak points are.

Early on it is essential to build your knowledge of kanji, as it will help you study other parts of the test and improve your vocabulary. If your reading speed is high you can cover a greater number of texts. Because learning kanji is time consuming I put this first on my list of priorities. I also never stop learning kanji, I just adjust the amount of time I spend on it based on other priorities.

Do a few practice tests, under test conditions to establish some baselines, that way you can focus your attention on your weaknesses when you study. If you can find out where you are having trouble then you can focus on those areas a little more strongly. If you need to, buy books that will improve your skills in these areas. I remember an old adage from my days as a competitive cyclist, train your weaknesses and race your strengths.

The test is broken down into three sections, you need to understand these well and also how best to train your abilities in each area.

• Kanji and Vocabulary - Kanji cards are invaluable, for the first 2 years I was never without 30 or so cards in my pocket. More recently I've been using KankenDS on NintendoDS and the studying written kanji with the help of the same books that Japanese students of Kanji use. Almost every morning I write between 6 and 8 characters 15 times each in a kanji notebook.
• Listening Comprehension - this is the section I usually do best in, partly because I am constantly exposed to real Japanese at home. Closer to the test I do some specific training using the audio and scripts from the past test and other texts that I have. If you don't have the opportunity to listen to Japanese on a daily basis you will need to get access to some good podcasts, from sites like JapanesePod101 or from the past tests.
• Reading Comprehension and Grammar - This is my biggest weakness, memorizing archaic forms of grammar isn't fun, and usually I don't get much of a chance to practice them in real situations. It is also the most demanding part of the test, the volume of text covered and the time allotted always leave me scratching for answers as the last minutes of the test wind down. Get a good book, and make a habit of using past exams as much as possible for this section.

I hope I haven't overwhelmed you with too much too soon Jonathon, I'd like to know more about you and your motivation for attempting the test. For anyone else who is studying for the test I'd like to hear from you, what works best for you?

I am writing this in response to Bart's post on learning languages, Polish and English. When writing my comment on the original post it soon became apparent there was a lot more I wanted to say on languages.

Thanks for the post, Bart. I agree with you in saying that the Internet is cheaper than almost any other method of learning a language. Except, perhaps, if you happen to live and work in a language community that is not your own. If you happen to have both, like me, then you are very lucky indeed.

I am also with Steve in saying that sources of good content are needed, but not necessarily more websites. You can find content in your desired language almost any where you look, in the street, in the library, on TV and of course on the Internet. Perhaps what we need as language learners, is to learn how to get this content working for us.

What do I mean "working for us"? Well, please let me explain. If we decide one day that we want to learn a language, we have a much better chance of doing that if our goal is to understand what people are saying in that language, moreover, to communicate with them in their native tongue. Language is about communication after all.

Now, communication happens between people, and those people share a common bond called community. Moving in with my wife's family in Japan has made me part of their family and the wider community. Most of us don't have the luxury of being able to move to another country, yet we all need community to achieve our language goals.

The people I teach English to do this by joining an expensive conversation school, where we simulate to a large degree natural conversation. In a sense I feel this interaction is artificial. After all, they are paying for a service and they have certain expectations, there are not the same bonds that normally hold communities together. I don't spend any money on language learning apart from the occasional text book or dictionary, I certainly don't pay for conversation. I don't think any should have to pay to find someone to talk to.

What the Internet has made possible for me, is to allow me access to wider communities of Japanese speakers. Within those communities I am exposed to a greater variety of communications styles, and hence vocabularies and expressions, than I would find at home. I naturally gravitate to communities where there is a large degree of activity, which exposes me to a greater number of opportunities to find people to talk to and things to talk about.

There are many tools that have become available recently that enable us to join communities and manage our involvement in them. Social networking has become the new media buzzword, everyone has facebook or myspace account, people are getting connected on a wider scale than ever before. What I am really interested in is how we can use these new tools and technologies to enhance our experience of this world as individuals, and secondly, as language learners how we can adapt them to suit our own language learning needs.

To see examples of where I am active in virtual communities of people who speaking or wanting to speak Japanese, look no further than this list (warning: shameless self promotion) .

• My YouTube Profile - Here I post a vlog in Japanese, my subscribers are mostly Japanese and non-Japanese who speak Japanese. Every time someone comments on my vlog I get constructive feedback on my Japanese, and in Japanese. Just recently we started a smaller community of non-Japanese who speak Japanese on YouTube groups for more support and encouragement.
• My Twitter Profile - I'm just new at this one, but it forces me to be attentive to my language production and comprehension skills during the day. I work in an English speaking environment, so I need to direct my attention towards communicating in Japanese more regularly than in the mornings and evenings at home.
• My 43 Things - Mostly posts in English but my involvement in things such as the goal Learn Japanese gives me access to other learners which can help me find good sources of content.
• My Vox Groups - Vox is of course both a social networking tool and a blogging site, having all of these rich media services also helps when pulling together a community. I still have a lot more connections that I want to build here, and Japanese speaking friends I want to make. It is also very handy to be able to put all your productive output in one place.

Well this post is starting to drag on just a bit, but I thought you might these things interesting. I'd like to know if and how everyone here is using social networking tools to improve their language ability. I'd love to share some more ideas with you all.

Brett F.

I`ve started to use the supermemo.net online learning tool and a free French phrasebook with audio samples to get the first 200 words/expressions down. You can find it at http://www.supermemo.net.pl if you are interested. Supermemo.net was instrumental in laying the foundation for my Japanese vocabulary, although I had to build the course materials for myself. I took a break from supermemo.net last year to focus on other things but I am considering taking it up again for Japanese as well.

The science behind SuperMemo is quite solid, check the site out. To quote the site "SuperMemo is the most successful single application ever developed in Poland". The software is available for various OS`s and PDA`s and there are two modes of study, the supermemo.net online version is light you can use it anywhere, even via email. The application for your desktop is a little clunky at times but is immensely powerful and configurable, even charting your progress on leanring new things. It`s a little bit too much software for the time I have to devote to it, so I might get into a little later down the track.

(Cross posted from my 43things - Where do I start, and how do I know when I get there?  — 2 days ago)

My KankenDS rank is 8kyuA, although I regularly fail review tests. I won`t be attempting 7kyu until I have reached 50% completion on 7kyu and I can pass the 8kyu 10minute review test for five consecutive days. I expect to reach 50% on 7kyu by the end of March, at which time I will attempt the 7kyu test on KankenDS. This will coincide with the completion of the 8kyu Kanji Gakkshu suteppu.

As it stands at the moment I have reached various degrees of completion on each grade of KankenDS.

• 10kyu - 47%
• 9kyu - 59%
• 8kyu - 65%
• 7kyu - 21%

It may be unrealistic to expect completing each level to 100% before moving on to the next, so I will focus on raising these percentages only as an exercise in revision.

Just to restate these goals in clear and simple terms;

• I will complete 50% of 7kyu KankenDS by the end of March.
• In the same time I will be able to pass the 8kyu 10minute review test for five consecutive days.
• I will attempt and pass the 7kyu test on KankenDS when the above two conditions are met.

One of the keys to acheiving goals is to set acheivable ones which have reasonable time limits and then break them down. These smaller more acheivable goals should have time limits or frequencies, that fit into your life at reasonable intervals.