Dialects

Had an interesting discussion yesterday in Japanese class about particles in Japan, which led to a discussion about how natural fluency develops from childhood, which led to talking about an English dialect. The main example was we say “I am going home”, not “I am going to home”. But Japanese will always have に in the sentence when you’re going somewhere specific, 「家に帰る」。 Then someone said that they’ve heard some people in the States and the UK say something like “I went hospital”, which brought up briefly the notion of English dialects. And then after class, I reminded myself that the Japanese I’m learning is “standard” Japanese, and there are… Read More

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Virtual Japan Tours

So the Internet is full of big rabbit holes to fall down. Some pleasant, some not so pleasant. And then. others…a virtual Japan tour, a new dialect, and…well… As we all know (right?), Japan doesn’t have a single language. It has a bunch of regional dialects, with foreign students mostly learning 関東弁, the language of the capital, Tokyo. I think the dialects are interesting, and I really find it interesting that 関西弁 is the dialect of comedians. And then, we come to Tajimi in Gifu prefecture, home to a virtual tour of Japan. And you book your virtual tour reservations courtesy of Hans, who is the white guy in the… Read More

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