Language Learning

(Ma) Vaffancuulo : Go fuck yourself.

Ymen no iisa [name] : My name is [name]

Ai yak te? : And yours?

Tezhimin : Nice to meet you.

Dobreedden : Hello (formal)

Ahoy : Hi (informal)

And not one of the above phrases is Japanese.

Broken Japanese: the Placement Test

The test was about as difficult as I'd imagined it'd be. I doubt I can go into details here, but I can at least tell you that it was not multiple choice. Either you knew it or you didn't.

Waseda's Japanese classes are split up into 8 levels, 1 being for beginners and 8 being for near-fluent folks. I got level 3, which is the low end of the intermediate level.

Level 3 is pretty disappointing for me, but I'm willing to admit it's probably right for me in some skillsets. My kanji is probably at level 3. My speaking ability might be 3, too, although I'm doing pretty well day-to-day. Writing (self-expressively) is also probably 3. But Listening, Grammar, and Reading should probably be higher. Luckily, I can go up one level, if the teachers see I'm doing very well in the first week.

(I feel a cram coming on...)

Many people also feel that the test results were not accurate. Some feel that they just got lucky with the test and are scared of the high level they are in. Others are below me, when I know for certain that their speaking is on par with if not better than mine.

We'll just have to see how this pans out. Registration is tomorrow afternoon, and the first week of classes starts on September 28. (Class details to follow in another post, after I've taken a few.)

Broken Orchestra: Karaoke Outings 1 & 2

So glad to be back in the land of good karaoke. Songs I picked:

• I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues, by Elton John
• Can't Stop, by Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Under the Sea, Disney
• Lean on Me, by Bill Withers
• Come Undone, by Duran Duran
• The Scientist, by Coldplay

Lean on Me is beyond me, clearly. It's not a song you should be screaming to hit the notes. After attempting Withers, Come Undone was also beyond. I got it back together for The Scientist, so that was good.

With all of us being from different countries, you struggle to find songs that everyone knows. I ought to make a list for international karaoke groups. Here is the beginning.

• Bad Beatles songs. Everybody knows Yellow Submarine.
• Johnny Cash, Ring of Fire.
• Edith Piaf, La Vie En Rose.* (In the words of a Frenchman, she is their Johnny Cash.)
• Spice Girls, Wannabe.
• Britney Spears, Hit Me Baby One More Time.
• Aqua, Barbie Girl.
• Louis Armstrong, What a Wonderful World.

Any more that you think are universal?

*You know, the song that plays in the background whenever any characters in any (non-French) movie go to a French restaurant. I didn't know the words except for soem of the refrain, but I knew the melody enough to join in. Fun was had, and an earworm was caught.

Third Post of the Night Has No Broken Pun

I am envious of people with serious language chops. Always have been, as far as I can remember.

I'm envious of the Europeans here, who speak near perfect English but who say they are glad of the opportunity to improve it. I think that they have a serious advantage over me. They already are in the habit of thinking in another language. It's not that much of a jump, then, to start thinking in Japanese.

I'm envious of the Europeans in other ways, as well. I see now the extreme advantage of living in Europe (for those who would like to be polyglots or to be culturally-well-versed.) Their countries are small and close together in comparison to the US. Travel is not really a big deal. Maybe it is a hassle, I don't know.

I'm envious, now, of everyone who went abroad in college. What a great idea that would have been. Not just for the experience of another country, but also for meeting different exchange students from all over. I've met some amazing, brilliant, funny, and very kind people here already, and I'm not even counting the Japanese students I've been talking with.

In short, I'm filled with envy. So don't envy me, whatever you do, even if I got an iPhone two days ago.

(Where did that come from? What's in this green tea stuff, anyway?)

Broken English in Tokyo

Specifically, mine.

I have reverted to Simplified English in my everyday speech. Not just with Japanese folks. Not just with the Italians, French, Chinese, and Germans populating the dorms. No, even with Americans and Brits, I find myself using simple language and speaking... absurdly... slowly.... (Yes, slower than normal.)

You may not be familiar with this concept, but there are some people out there who are proposing that the commonly-used international language should be Simplified English. For internationals, what is the point of memorizing all of the plural exceptions, obscure sentence patterns, and bizarre spellings? As long as information is carried across, there's no need for sticklerism.

Before you balk, please consider this: according to Wikipedia, estimates vary, but many indicate that there are more speakers of English as a second language than there are speakers of it as their native tongue. There are more of them than us. Therefore shouldn't they have a say in how English is to be defined?

They certainly have a say in how my English is defined. I go around saying stuff like "This fish does good." "I live on floor one." "At this time can you go?" Help.

Break in Service

Apologies for the lack of content for the past several days. Instead of the usual late-blogger platitudes, here is a compromise: http://knaak.tumblr.com/

Posting my pictures here in this blog is problematic. I'm a bit perfectionistic when it comes to photos, but I don't have the time to fool around in this old, clunky version of Photoshop I've got here.

I am much less picky about cameraphone photos, hence I've created Unbroken Tokyo, a tumblelog that I can update very simply from my phone. "Unbroken" because, hopefully, it will be continuously updated. Those of you on Facebook might not want to subscribe to Unbroken's feed, since it'll be updating there, too. Or maybe you don't want to miss out on any of my food photos. If so, by all means.

Yes, I said food photos. "Unbroken" will be mundane in the extreme. I promise scads of mundanity, punctuated with an interesting shot every 40th shot. Look forward to weird kanji, strange English, bizarre fashions, and foreign scenery, slipped amidst the hundreds of photos I will take of my breakfast natto.

Admittedly, I did not take a picture of my dinner tonight, after I had this whole great idea, but, starting tomorrow...

Broke in Tokyo Tip: Hyakuen Shop

You may think this is an obvious tip for the frugal Tokyoite. You may already know about the wonders of the 100-yen shop. You may already have been to one many times for food, clothing, storage solutions, stationary, cleaning supplies, basically anything and everything.

I knew about it, too, and I still made the mistake of not going to a Hyakuen shop as soon as I got to my new place.

For those who don't know, a Hyakuen (100 yen) shop sells everything for 105 yen (the extra 5 is tax). You may think, "Oh, it's like a dollar store back in the States." Oh ho ho no, it's so much more.

The dollar stores in the States have tons of crap that I never really need, plus anything from such stores breaks within an hour. The Hyakuen shops in Japan have tons of stuff that I do need, and it's not really that bad in quality. Far from breaking within the first hour, I still use some 105-yen items I purchased over 4 years ago.

I got to my dorm and found that I needed dishes, shampoo, etc. I followed some people to a supermarket. Big mistake. I could have found everything I bought at the supermarket and more at the Hyakuen shop.

If you specifically like higher-quality shower supplies, here's a more specific tip for you. In Japan, shampoo, conditioner, and body wash comes two ways: in pumps and refill bags. The pumps cost about twice as much as the bags. I got refill bags at the store, and then I bought Hyakuen-shop empty pumps, saving at least 300 yen per item.

Make the Hyakuen shop your first stop. I wouldn't buy everything soley from it; I do like better food and teas. But it will get you started living cheaply in Tokyo.

Breaking into Tokyo

When I first flew to Japan, back a few years, I was nervous as hell. I was memorizing little phrases on the plane, thinking about how bad I might suck as a teacher, unable to sleep much.

This time, it was completely different. In fact, I had a hard time distinguishing what I was feeling exactly. I was a little nervous about the classes, but not much. I know enough of the language to get around anywhere with little confusion. So what was I feeling? Wrapped up in all the packing, organizing, physical therapy, seeing friends and family, I hadn't had much time for introspection.

As the plane descended after the 13th hour, through wispy layers of clouds that became an overcast sky once we were close enough to see the rice fields, and as the plane landed the air was filled with a grey haze, and we taxied down the runway past a neatly-trimmed hedge that said NARITA (the airport's name), and then later, after passing through customs, when an elderly lady airport attendant showed me how the luggage carts were designed to fit perfectly onto the escalators, and then later, on the train to Tokyo, in the middle of the rush hour press, when one guy fell asleep with his head just below my shoulder blade on my back, so I couldn't move without waking him, and I looked around at everybody's personal fashion, everyone so put together, and later, as I fought with a salaryman who was pushing my bags out of his way while I was holding them in place, and as I stood there looking at the sunset, which had liquified the grey haze into a gleaming gold against the concrete and the wires and the signs, I realized what I had been feeling.

Relief. At coming back to a place that is more a part of me than I ever admitted.

I'm excited to be focusing on my Japanese. I'm thrilled for this opportunity to advance towards a career in linguistics and translation. But, in a certain sense, Japan is a kind of home. I don't think I'll end up living here for good. For now, though, it'll do.