American Gaijin
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Japanese is not English
Shocker, right? I think Japanese students have some stages that they go through when learning Japanese, especially from a language such as English, and especially if it’s their first second language. The first stage is a kind of one-to-one correspondence between concepts. “How do you say ‘is’ in Japanese?” The answer, of course, is desu.…
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Just a Random Post
I don’t know what to post about tonight. I’ll probably post about theoretical physics, Japanese, and maybe something about a duck. So I was thinking about the Planck Time. It turns out that at least as far as we know, when it gets down to infinitesimal scales – I mean *very* small – there is…
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Torn
Sometimes it’s really hard to write for this blog. I’ve written, and discarded, two posts already, and who the hell knows if this one will ever make it to the light of day. But I guess, let’s try anyway. I can’t think of any topic in life that I’m not torn about in one way…
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Ancient
My first exposure to Japanese was watching idol group variety shows, so I guess it’s somewhat forgivable that that is generally the lens through which I see Japanese culture. Their culture, as it currently is, is defined by a mishmash of their own culture and language and some very powerful foreign influences that have completely…
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The most difficult things about Japanese
I’ve been studying Japanese (to varying degrees of success) for close to three years now (I think). It’s most certainly been a while. Over this time I’ve grown to understand where Japanese is simple and straightforward – and where it’s not. Here are what, in my opinion, are the most difficult things about Japanese. Understanding…
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My Favorite Japanese Words
And now for something completely different: A post about Japanese! I love the way some Japanese words sound. I will confess something: The long “I” sound is one of my favorite sounds. I’m not sure why – perhaps it’s because the abbreviation for the word “Interstate” in the US is a long I, and when…
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Why I am Christian
I’m not really going to talk bout Japanese today. Something has been on my mind lately, and I feel like I need to write about it. If the topic turns you off, feel free to skip the post, or even unsubscribe if it turns you off that much. Or you could, I don’t know, read…
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Lamentations
It has been amonth since I’ve posted. I should post something. I have been putting little effort into Japanese lately, if I’m to be honest. I’ve been mostly, when I do study Japanese, just looking at Japanese media and looking up things that might interest me. It is nice to have a sensei at these…
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Burning
I don’t really feel much like writing on this blog anymore. That’s not to say I won’t, but I just don’t feel like it. The past few months have been terrible. I have a hard time describing exactly how bad they’ve been. I am lucky because I still have a job and I haven’t yet…