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The Path of Pitch Accent

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So what is pitch accent? Let’s go to the self-proclaimed 上手 of it all. Or at least in the English-speaking world. Kevin O’Donnell (who goes by Dogen [see below]) is certainly メッチャペラペラ. No argument from me as to how hard the man worked to get where he is today. He teaches you pitch accent. For the government-approved dialect of Japanese. I get a bit irked by his choice of pseudonym.  Dōgen, also called Jōyō Daishi, or Kigen Dōgen, (born Jan. 19, 1200, Kyōto, Japan—died Sept. 22, 1253, Kyōto), leading Japanese Buddhist during the Kamakura period (1192–1333), who introduced Zen to Japan in the form of the Sōtō school (Chinese: Ts’ao-tung). A creative personality, he combined meditative practice and philosophical speculation.… Read More

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ビギナー

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So I had my verbal placement test. It took two teachers to give their fair opinion that I belonged in the next level of the beginner class. I put in an intermediate writing test two weeks before, which I didn’t notice at the time. I just picked one that didn’t look too easy. So they were gentle in telling me that I wasn’t intermediate level material, but I sure did fit in as a next level beginner. Four years, and still a beginner. But isn’t that true of many of life’s endeavours? No? Frankly, and don’t tell them this, but frankly, after my verbal skills test, I was expecting to… Read More

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Talking to Yourself (PG Rated)

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I do love dancing to Caribbean music. There is one song that contains the lyrics If you can’t get a woman, take a manIt’s the only solutionTake a man Nothing wrong with that, but not my personal preference. But for Japanese studying, the lyrics would be If you can’t get a language partner, talk to yourselfIt’s the only solutionTalk to yourself Again, not my personal preference, but this time I am all for it. You can do language shadowing, or you can follow along with LingoDeer stories, but getting language practice this way is, well…better than nothing.

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At the Japanese-English Language Meetup

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I enter the Japanese-English meetup and am assigned to a group. For the first part of the meetup, we speak in English. Then, forty to forty-five minutes later, the host tells us to switch languages. Sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we just keep speaking English. No one objects. For some, Japanese is a scary language, and for others, they appreciate getting more English practice. Sometimes we do. Then the fluency stream takes over. Either you are swimming in the stream, or swimming as hard as you can so you don’t drown. The native speakers and the people who are almost fluent dominate. Sometimes I get a word in. Sometimes I just… Read More

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Shadowing

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I have an Android app I have had installed for the longest time. So long, I forgot about it. But then, you see a moment from someone you’re following on HelloTalk, and your memory gets jogged. To be honest, I forgot about it because my Japanese skill when I installed it was pretty low. But now, I think it’s improved to the point where I can get some benefit from using it regularly. It’s an app created by the International University of Japan for their students, but non-students can use it too. Called Ganbatte Shadowing, it explains all the concepts of shadowing, and then has “tasks” for you to complete.… Read More

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The Language as She is Spoke

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So, I use HelloTalk, and sometimes I use it to actually talk with people. Last night I tried a conversation with a long time language partner. We were both equally clumsy in our studied languages, although I think I was a bit more clumsy. But it was interesting. I figured out something from context and responded, and some of my sentences were spoken without me thinking in English first. What I found lacking from most formal Japanese classes was speaking and listening training. Sure, you did the exercises in the book and played around with the questions and answers a bit, but it wasn’t like a normal everyday, lengthy, conversation.… Read More

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Speaking Japanese outside Japan

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Naturally, if you want to learn how to speak a language, you need to speak it with a native speaker of the language. Someone who isn’t afraid to correct your mistakes. But outside of Japan, how do you meet with native speakers of the language? School This is certainly one option. But the only native speakers in the room are going to be the 先生 and any アシスタント. And they’re too busy running classes to have much time to chat with you after class. Some schools offer an immersion experience. If you’re independently wealthy, you can apply to do a full immersion at a school in Japan, which solves all… Read More

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