Woah…and foreign languages…
Woah another post in the space of 24 hours. Maybe I am going to start blogging everyday again (or several times a day even!)
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Conversation overheard on the train home today *
Uni Boy 1:I am going to Mexico for three months on exchange…
Uni Boy 2: Cool, so are you studying English.
Uni Boy 1: No…Spanish. They speak Spanish in Mexico
Uni Boy 2: But they speak English too right? Because isn’t Mexico like right near America?
Uni Boy 1: Yeah, but we are right near China and Korea and not many Japanese speak either of those languages because of the you know, conflict. Instead we all learn English in school right?
Uni Boy 2: So Mexicans don’t speak English? Do they have a conflict with America? Is it the same as us and Korea…They don’t really like each other?
Uni Boy 1: I am not sure. I guess I will find out when I am there.
Uni Boy 2: I still thing will probably speak English though cos doesn’t the whole world want to speak English and go live in America? What language do they speak in Europe? English right?
Uni Boy 1: I am pretty sure they speak lots of languages and I think the main ones are French, German and English…
Uni Boy 2: But everyone speaks English as well too right?
They got off the train at this point…
* Translated and slightly edited…just cos I felt like it….and because I am not a qualified translator so I wrote what I thought they said.
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I don’t know if it is just me, or my understanding of the conversation but Uni Boy 2 did not seem that bright. I have decided to listen in on more train conversations from now on (especially when I forget my book or kanji cards) to improve my listening…Although Listening and speaking are my best points, it is reading, writing and grammar that I need to work on!! (Hence the kanji cards)
The conversation lead me to wonder about why people study other languages? Or who can speak other languages? And if given the chance what languages you would want to learn? Share your experiences please!!!!!!!!!
If I was one of those people that had a gift and learnt languages easily (I am not by the way, which is why I am actually studying my ass off now trying to get ready for my proficiency test) then I would master Japanese then study Spanish then Chinese. They say the three most spoken languages in the world are Spanish, Chinese and English… After that I would then like to learn French or Italian.
I wonder who in the world speaks the most languages (anybody got a Guinness book of world records handy?) It would be really cool to be able to speak a lot of languages and be able to be a translator for the UN or someone famous or important, or in embassies or even for tours all around the world. I was a tour liaison leader for a Japanese group of students that came to Australia for 3 weeks and that was a fun job!! Even though it was in Australia…I still got to translate for them and help them with stuff plus go to the zoo and beach and other fun stuff like that. (That said travel tours translating would probably be less stressful and less strict…ie I am pretty sure if you work in embassies or the UN it would be almost impossible to have a blog, flickr or internet personality!)
I am really jealous of people who seem to master languages really easy. Or can speak lots of languages. Take my friend Douglas…He was born in Brazil to a Scottish mother and Brazilian father so his first two languages were English and Portuguese. He then learnt Spanish, Italian and French before moving onto Japanese. He is fluent in 4 and still working on his Italian and Japanese…(I think…he might be fluent now?!) Imagine the career possibilities!!!
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I really wanna get better at italian since a lot of my family cant speak english, but I also want to learn Japanese and spanish. Did a few lessons in Japanese in school… I can say hello, good morning, goodbye and count to 10 but thats about it.
I’m thinking of visiting Japan next year, so I might have to brush up on it, lol.
I do find it hard to learn languages though - probably because i have the memory of a goldfish and just forget things as soon as i have learnt it. My parents have been trying to get me to learn italian for years and its a big shameful thing that I’m not fluent like my 2 other Aussie cousins. Guess it doesnt help if you’re shy too… I’m always worried I will sound like a dick and people will laugh at me.
LOL at the uni boys though…
I would love to learn a foreign language but the question of which one always gets me. It was amazing being in Europe and hearing how bi- and tri- and quad- (if that’s the word) lingual everyone is - and from such a young age too. It makes life so much easier for travellers and I really started to realise how hard most tourists to Australia must find the fact that so few any of us speak anything other than English.
I imagine English speakers have a much easier time travelling through most of the world, than say … Estonian speakers, and I heard stories about people who didn’t speak English learning it to go to South America, because it’s just assumed to be the second language of anyone everywhere.
Makes us English speakers kinda arrogant sometimes though …
I am the same way Lulu, I’d love to speak Japanese, Italian, French and Madarin.
I did Madarin in Primary school for a couple of years, and Japanese for a couple in High school, but I think French and Italian would be easier because they use English characters.
Imagine how much you could evesdrop on if you could speak lots of languages
Listening to conversations on public transport is half the fun 
i always feel so ripped off only being able to speak one language. even some of the morons i work with can speak two languages… it makes me wonder how hard it can really be. and then i listen to another language, and think i’m beyond it now at this late stage…
I’m definitely not the sort of person that can learn a language easily - I work very bloody hard at French! (I’ve been studying it at Uni for two years now) Most of the time I feel like giving up because it’s so hard, but then I think “No, if 12 year old children are running around in France speaking english then I can learn french at 21!” Seriously, being bilingual is such a great thing and opens up so many doors. I know I would kick myself later down the track if I gave it up now. I’d love to be fluent one day…
You’re right though - english speakers are arrogant - especially us Australians! We just expect everyone else to speak our language - probably because we’re so isolated over here. The Europeans are all mulitlingual because they live so close to countries who speak other languages. I strongly believe though that compulsary language studies should be in place from an early age right through to high school. And one lesson a week doesn’t cut it, I’m afraid!
But then I suppose our curriculum is full enough already….. and there’s the problem of which languages to enforce… (I’m also studying education hehe)
I’m going to visit Japan one day, do one of those ‘teach english overseas’ jobs, just for the hell of it (everyone does that, don’t they - I’m such a sheep) but hopefully I’ll pick up some Japanese that way. Doubt i’ll ever learn it officially though. The characters scare me! Accents on french vowels are bad enough!
Deb- Italian is in your blood, so if you ever went to Italy and immersed yourself for even just a couple of weeks you will find that it would come back to you and probably come to you quite naturally!!! My Dad has always wanted to learn Italian (His best mate is Italian) and because of that I only know swear words and ti a mour (Ask your parents if they know amberto totsi (sp??) because I know two of his songs off by heart…and they are in Italian cos dad used to sing them to me with his friend…
If you come to Japan be sure to email me and I would be happy to play guide!! Take you places to take great photos etc and teach you Japanese….ie leave you in a room with Shumpei cos that`ll teach ya!!
ClaRue- English speakers are slightly arrogant. A lot of foreigners in Japan will automatically speak English to anybody instead of trying to use limited Japanese…or apolgising first and actually asking if they speak English…And that annoys me (Although so does Japanese people who think that all people that are not Japanese speak English…I feel sorry for non English speakers in Japan. I often want to tell people I am russian and don`t speak English)
How was your trip? Pick up any cool phrases in any European languages??
I think it is good to learn a language of a place you want to visit one day or spend more than a couple of days. That way while studying you will be working towards something.
Jen- If i improve my kanji, then I would be able to understand some signs in Chinese but would never be able to read them properly. Mandarin sounds are hard for me to make. As are Korean sounds…I have tried but I just sound ridiculous. I have a Spanish textbook that I bought several years ago (and it goes with me from country to country in the hope that one day I will make it past the first chapter) but I suppose I really should focus on Japanese at the moment. When you come live in Japan I am sure a lot of Japanese will come back to you!! It was surprising how much vocab I remembered from primary school when I started Japanese at uni….Lots of animals, numbers, colours and foods…the sorts of things you learnt as a child!!!
Mars- It is never too late!!! You could start now, but from my experience unless you have someone to speak to in your choosen second language….Go clubbing/pubbing and find an Italian or Spanish of Japanese person and just befriend them!!!
Jac- How is French? Is the accent hard?? I don`t actually know any french except `The boy in the boat likes the girl`, Cheese makes a good snack` and I love you ( I know a lot of strange phrases in different languages…wait til you know my hear about my german phrases!!!! Problem is none of them are ever useful) Have you been to France yet? Go on exchange if you have the oppertunity!! That would be so cool. I loved France but I was only there for three days!!!!!! I want to go back!
Languages should definitely be compulsary!! I think in schools in Australia the most useful would be Indonesian or Mandarin. But that said, that will change in ten years. Ten or 15 years ago it was Japanese. Before that Italian, German and French and before that Latin!! (Might be missing some there). My mum was born in New Zealand and learning Maori was compulsary! I know some strange phrases in Maori too (belly button, iceblock…)What languages are the offering in schools now? In my highschool it was German and Japanese. In primary school we had some Italian and Japanese.
Jac, definitely come to Japan but before you choose a school to work in (especially if you are applying before you get here) send me an email cos some of them are better than others…Also with an education degree you could actually get a really good in an international school!!! You will pick up a lot of Japanese if you live here, especially stuff you can use everyday.
When I travel I always say in the language Do you speak English (or If I do not know the phrase I say English OK? in English….) But I always feel bad for people when I am in there country but can not speak there language, at least a little. I do not want to resort to English because it must get annoying….
I talk too much!!!
It I could learn two languages, it would be Japanese and French.
I did japanese for a two years and wish I hadn’t stopped - it wasn’t that hard for me (at the time) and I think it’d be great to be able to speak it.
I’d love to know French because of all the SBS movies - no matter what they’re saying or doing it ALWAYS sounds fantastic!!!
Hey, I am 15 at the moment, and am working on Indonesian and Japanese. I am fairly advanced (for my age) in Indonesian, and I just love it! Indonesian is terribly easy, because many of the words are borrowed from English.
I’m teaching myself Japanese, and finding it so bloody fun! (But hard when you do it yourself; it’s the discipline that I’m lacking!) I’m learning Japanese because I’m going over to Japan (Kyoto) in 2008 for a year on a student exchange trip - I’m stoked! I really need to improve my Japanese though.
I feel that by living in an English-speaking country (Australia in my case) has put me behind the 8-ball, in the sense that in most other countries, there are a considerable amount of people that can speak English. We already speak English, so where do we go from there?
Anyway, it’s good to see other people that are as enthusiastic about languages as me.
I just stumbled upon your diary, and I love it. I think I will continue to read it
Lulu, do u have msn? whats your email addy?
Lulu, the trip was awesome. I picked up a lot of Polish (which I knew when I was really little) and therefore some bits of lots of slavic languages, but otherwise we probably were a bit lazy.
It’s hard, especially when I’d go into a place having practiced my (insert language here) phrases and get greeted in English, which happened almost everywhere. Or worse, when I’d use a (insert language here) phrase and the locals sigh and answer me in English - which made me feel like I’d obviously completely faffed the foreign language.
It’s kinda sad (sorry, hogging your blog here) - when I started school in Australia I could speak fluent Polish but struggled a little with my English. The advice my parents got given was to only speak English to me at home, so I could practice and I wouldn’t get confused. My English got better, my Polish completey disappeared. It’s as though they had a policy against bi-lingual kids back then, which sucks.
WOW Your blogging friends leave LOOOOONNNGGGG messages!!!! I followed my nose to your blog and wondered if you would be interested in a swap. I haven’t joined gimmie your stuff yet, but I probably will. I am dying to get my hands on a japanese mag called cotton time. A crafty mag!!! Anything you want from Aus.????
If there were ever a post that confirmed all the reasons I have never learned Japanese, then this is it. Incredible. What the hell are these kids learning at school/university.
Someone needs to let people know the Edo period is over and Japan now has access to the world information.
I am not in a good mood today and this post has infuriated me beyond rationale. I watched a YV show tha other day where they have people from different countries discussing the differences between Japan and every other country. It was rubbish. All in English besides the Japanese (fair enough it is the international language). But this persistant habit of the the Japanese media and education system to perpetuate the (made up) notion that Japan is utterley unique in a more unique way than any other country is unique from the next is an absolute fallacy. it puts me in mind of the children’s story ‘The Emperors New Clothes’. The worst thing is is that it makes Japanese people appear naive and stupid, another absolute untruth. Watch any Japanese TV show or go to any Japanese school and you will notice that the word ‘Nihonjin’ is used so often it is inbelievable (maybe even more often than the word ‘American’ in 24 or ‘British’ in Victorian times), maintaining the notion that Japanese are and Japan is are somehow utterly different, more different than say, Iceland is to Kenya. I love this country and I love living here and I love my family, but this is one part of Japanese culture that I and my husband refuse to buy into and frankly abhor. Sorry, but my hormones are seething and I just cannot bear it. Remove this comment if you feel it offensive. Gomen.
Enny- I have to admit French does sound hot. Not matter who is speaking it…It kind of makes you want to swoon!! I actually like learning a language because it kind of gives you a bit of satisfaction when you realize you can say that but in a different language (I always love it when a word is explained to me that I hear all the time but never really knew what it meant…It makes you go “OHHHHHHH I get it now”
Angela- Welcome!! I wish I started learning languages at a younger age as I have heard it makes it a lot easier in the long run. I think Indonesian would be a cool language to learn and is getting more and more useful…A lot of schools teach Indonesian now don’t they? What sort of texts are you using to study Japanese? The most popular here is Japanese for Busy People, which is what they use in a lot of language schools so if you haven’t heard of it you might like to check it out!!! I bet you are excited about coming to Japan in 2008..Will it be your last year of highschool then? My side bar links to a lot of other blogs in Japan which you might also like to check out and another blog which you might like is http://jessesjapan.blogspot.com/…he is a little older than you but spent a year on exchange in Japan last year!! Best of luck with the study!!
Kirsty- I know cotton time. I would be happy to do a magazine swap with you perhaps!! There are a couple of Aussie magazines that are hard to get my hands on which I miss so send me an email and we’ll set it up! Thanks for stopping by!
ClaRue- I am glad you enjoyed your trip. Travelling some just makes you want to travel more though doesn’t it?
I really want to go travelling again, just because, well I can’t decide what else I want to do. But to travel I would need money, and well I don’t have any at the moment which means no more travel at present…
Will have to settle with getting off at a trainstation I have not gotten off at before (On the weekend I went to Asakusabashi…never been before and it was actually kind of cool!)
Sarah- Thanks for your comment. I am not actually sure if I offended you or not though or if it was something else, and not so much me, that offended you ( and infuriated you)? If it was me, I apologise. I have never removed comments from my blog though, and there is no reason I would remove yours!! I do know what you mean about the excessive use of the words nihonjin and also gaikokujin and it does get slightly annoying!
Upbringing plays a huge part in the way people view the world…I am not sure if there is a correct way to view the world either since everyone has different opinions and different upbringings (and governments which unfortunately also plays a part in what you learn and how you view the world….as does the media and their version of what is happening)
I am not sure if I am really making much sence here!
Growing up in Britain there is still an assumption that the rest of the world should speak English and therefore make us feel at home wherever we go. Some people still have that colonial attitude, and love to create little pockets of Englishness throughout the world. Drives me crazy!
I know I don’t have the dedication to learn another language, unless I was living in a non-English speaking country and had to, which is a vague kind of plan for the future.
Loved that conversation btw - hilarious. And a little scary!
Haha, I’ve already done the Jesse’s Japan site. It gave me an awesome insight as to what to expect. Yes, when I will be in Japan, it is supposed to be my last year of hish schooling, but I’m not sure whether my schooling counts in Japan, as it will really be somewhat of a holiday, so I will probably go back to Australia and re-do year 12.
Actually, there are very little schools that teach Indonesian, German, Japanese and French are very popular, but I think there are only about 5 schools in South Australia that teach Indonesian. It’s silly when you think about it, with Indo being so close.
I have a CD-rom that my Nanna kindly bought me (awww!), and the website http://www.thejapanesepage.com, which is very useful with learning kanji, grammar and all of that sort of stuff. There are also many Japanese kids at my school who are probably sick of me badgering them about my queries and thoughts.
And I will definately check out some other blogs, because the ones that I have read are certainly very funny, enlightening and interesting.
I noticed that when I was in Italy doing a 3 week italian course - I was the only Aussie with a bunch of crazy yanks and I did try hard to speak italian so i could improve it, but the locals would hear the americans from a mile away and would always speak english to me. It was just eaiser to do that because it was a relief to have them understand but now i kick myself because i came back and still couldnt contruct a coherent sentence in italian!
Sweetheart - not you! No the content of the entry - you are the sweetest loveliest of all the Bloggers! And keep em coming. The posts - they are great and you will have a permanent record of your life here. No the silly silly conversation you overheard is the biggest pet peeve I have over here. THE BIGGEST! I teach high school - love it but am constantly surprised at the rubbish that is taught under the cloak of cultural exchange. Japanese culture is amazing and stands alone. It doesn’t require myth and fallacy to be amazing - it just is. One of the model converstations in the text book I teach goes something like this ( between American and Japanese kid)
‘By the way I heard that Japan has 4 distinctive seasons’
‘Yes that’s right and we change our clothes to fit the seasons’
‘really?’
What chance do kids have of getting a comprehensive education when the government texts turn out such mumbo jumbo. This is why you end up hearing conversations on the train such as the one you did. And why I get so mad! But it is good to be infuriated right? Get’s the creative juices flowing and gets commenting lively! And I also have monstrous hormone surge.
Sorry for the ambiguity of the comment. Love the Blog, love the posts, come comment on mine all the time.