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Japanese

I had a Dream about Japan

Last night, I had a dream about Japan.  It wasn’t a nightmare.  It also wasn’t nice. This part of my dream started being in a van or something that someone else was driving, and being stopped by Japanese police.  It turned out the van had some kind of illicit substance in it, but none of us knew what was going on.  The police detained all of us.  I thought I could use my knowledge of Japanese to communicate with them.  I tried.  They kept responding in English.  They pretty much… Read More »I had a Dream about Japan

Are Japanese Comfortable with English?

I won’t bury the lede:  no, but that’s changing. I’ve been watching a lot of anime lately.  An interesting thing about anime is that it is written by Japanese people for Japanese people, and the western audience is an afterthought and, I think, seen as unimportant.  That’s changing because there are a lot of potential fans in the west (the Crunchyroll awards seemed pretty well attended in Tokyo) but for the most part, that’s true.  So, by watching anime, you get a pretty good idea of not only Japanese culture (obligatory fireworks… Read More »Are Japanese Comfortable with English?

Kanashii vs Sabishii: The Untranslatability of Nuance

Well, here’s an interesting one I pulled out of my “things to write about” hat, which is growing larger and larger. In Japanese, there are multiple words for “sad”.  I’m not going to pretend “kanashii”, and “sabishii” are the only ones.  They might be, they might not be.  But they are the words I know.  And they cause no end of grief for watching subtitled anime. The word translated as “sad” in Sound! Euphonium is “sabishii”.  That isn’t a word that directly means sad. In the tenth episode of the… Read More »Kanashii vs Sabishii: The Untranslatability of Nuance

The Roman Alphabet in Japanese

One thing that really puzzled me, even from the beginning of my studies, is how Japanese tends to integrate the roman alphabet.  Sometimes in ways that are obvious, sometimes not, but they seem to be very aware of the alphabet and they use it in some case.  There are a few letters they’ve integrated into Japanese words – T, S, M, L, and H. (I seem to recall P too, but I can’t remember exactly how). I think partly they think it’s cool, and partly it’s just easier to use… Read More »The Roman Alphabet in Japanese

Can You Learn Japanese from Anime?

Well, back to some posts about what this blog was originally about.  The last few were pretty personal, and I don’t mind that, but you gotta counter the carbs with some meat, I guess.  Don’t worry, the personal posts will be back, I just have some stuff to mull over and process on my own before posting it here.  This blog is a lot of things, but it’s not really therapy, and it shouldn’t be, either. The question of the day:  Can you learn Japanese from anime? My answer has… Read More »Can You Learn Japanese from Anime?

Why I Hate Anime Dubs

I hate anime dubs.  I mean I really can’t stand them.  I’ve tried to watch one or two, and I always end up dropping it after a few episodes.  Subtitles are far better in my opinion. Is this because I’m an elitist who thinks that the anime is only good in its native language? Well… that’s true, but that’s not why I hate anime dubs.  It’s close, but not really. Is it because I’m upset at the localizers for fucking up the dubs? Well, I am, but that’s not why… Read More »Why I Hate Anime Dubs

虹が先学園　綿生活

きょう今日日本語を書いています。まだ私の日本語は悪いですけど、とにかく時間をためします。 最近“ラブライブ”のアニメをみました。大体たのしました。正直ちょっとばかですけど、本当にいっぱい心があります。一番　“スクールアイドルプロジェクト”が大好きです。二番　“サンシャイン”　がだいすきです。今、”スーパスター”を見ます。大好きも。でも。。。“虹が先”みるをできません。 時々日本人はアメリカ人がわかりませんおもいます。正直アメリカ人は日本人が分かりませんも、両方向です。日本人おもいアメリカ人が日本人の方が自由あります。時々多分真実です。でも、完全なじゃないです。ときどきアメリカ人にも悪いです。 子供たらでした、いつも一人ででした。生むことの前に両親はカルト宗教に内でました。いっぱい物私に教えました、でも最高たいせつ、外のセ世界は邪です。だから他の子供は邪でした。 いつも一人でいました。 これは理由に学校はいまつもちょっと痛いです。 アニメの学園たいていいいです。よくアニメに学園は大切です。でも普通です。でも、ときどき、頭にチョップをします。虹が原はめちゃ大きいですよ。学校はすごく大きい、綺麗、すてきです。いっぱい、いっぱい学生があります。学生は多分この学園にいっぱい思い出をつくります、いっぱい楽しいがあります。。。全部物私が全然ありませんでした。 これは噓がわかります。分かります。この“学園“は東京に”big sight convention center”。日本にそんな学園ありません。だけど、大切じゃないです。噓は力がありますも。これ噓。。。これ痛いです。 時々、アニメが痛いです。 まだ日本語は悪いです。JLPT　N5です。　失礼します。

Why Japanese Was, and Wasn’t, a Waste of Time.

So a couple of things before I start this post. Thing #1:  This is a post where I take advantage of the fact that no one reads this.  If this post were to somehow, by some miracle, go viral, I will probably remove it. Thing #2: This post is a statement on how things are, not how they should be.  The distinction is very important here, and I’d appreciate it if you, the reader, would keep it in mind. I am a very intelligent person.  In fact, I’d go so far as to say… Read More »Why Japanese Was, and Wasn’t, a Waste of Time.

Liminal

This blog is nearly six years old now. And tonight I came very close to shutting it down.  I’ve talked about doing that before, and I talked myself out of it, and the primary reason is, I’d just end up spinning another one up anyway.  I can’t stop writing.  I’ve never been able to stop writing. I started learning Japanese in 2018.  The first post here is March, 2018.  It is almost March, 2024.  I started learning Japanese at around the time (give or take) that I started this blog,… Read More »Liminal

Japan

Before I work today, I have a post I need to make.  I’m making this post because I need to make it.  The only real choice I have, really, is whether I post it privately, or publicly, and for now I chose publicly. Japan hurts, and I don’t know why. When I first started learning Japanese, I did so because I felt a strong attraction to the language, country, and people.  I don’t have this feeling about any other country.  There are countries I absolutely loathe (Russia, North Korea), countries I… Read More »Japan