The thing that I can never get used to is when people use the person’s name who they are talking with.
For example, if it were in English:

John: “Hey Steve”
Steve: “Hi! I just got back from Karate, how about John?”
John: “Me? I’m just about to go to the Dojo now, but Eric said he had a great time, did Steve?”
Steve: “Yeah it was awesome!”

It’s still weird to me!!

-the writer

i dont want to judge his wife for his sake, but my experience is that generally jap(anese) are selfish, uncaring people. my reasons for saying this are numerous, one good 1 being that the bar down the road from me in central tokyo doesnt allow foreigners because we are foreigners. thats is the reason. what makes it as bad for me is that the average native japanese i meet has the attitude of “ore no mondai janai” or “it’s not my problem”. which for me makes them equally as culpable. then theres the numerous times i have seen people faint / fall down in public places, especially at stations or on trains and rarely are they offered assistance. what an uncaring, selfish place.

it is for these reasons that i wanted to take my own son out of this society before he was abducted, of which there are an estimated 125 cases without a single one ever been returned to the USA. and this is japans ally, a world super power. what chance do us people from less powerful or influentual countries have? i really feel for even lesser recognised races, most of them really after my own race, white. i remember reading Malcom X’s book many yeasr ago and learning that in the USA if u were (are) 10% black you are considered black and thus a second class citizen. and being naturally disgusted.

anyway back to Morrey’s story which i have seen before . What a great man he is, giving all that care and time to his child. i imagine it must be so unimaginably difficult for the man man to be alone and have his own time taken up with giving, caring. i hope there’s a god and he is rewarded suitably.

i wonder if there is anything we, the public, could do to try and help this stranger, Morrey?

I lived in Korea for 5 years, and as part time ESL Teacher to Korean Adults/Teens, I experienced how eger the Korean people wanted to learn English as second language and have no problem to sacrifice little of their “Mother Tougne” to go along with learning English.

When I moved here, I thought Japanese People might have better understanding of English because their Economy is so Strong, English Communication might not really be a big problem among people, at least for foreigners… to my surprise, People always say to me that “I wish I can speak good English”, “Gome, no Enrilish”… instead when they try to talk to you, they were like “Nihongo Shaberu”(Don’t you speaking Japanese?)….I can understand people taking TOEFL, TOEIC or any other English Proficiency Test, to deal International Community, but seems Japanese People want everyone to take their Test to deal with them, not humble themselves lower-down their Mother Language to really learn other languages, in a general Population Scale.

Due to misunderstanding and fear of humiliation, it appears Japanese isolate themselves from English speaking, instead, developed these Cultural Differences as fence when dealt with Foreigners… I just wrote another comments on Craig, “The Daddy’s Boy”, that how Japanese Law treat their own kind so gentle while punish those who doesn’t fully understand the Japan Culture!

I know about SLA, I often encourage my friends, Japanese Friends to speak their own mind, and do not worry to make mistakes, that’s how we, as “natual” English-speaking people did when we were little, “make mistakes”, and learn from it.

Maybe this is a Pandora’s Box Question: Why do Japanese People so solicitous?

Well, to me, Japanese is neither a Hobby nor a Struggle, if I can make the message cross through, Good, if not… oh well, Moving on. I do, however, take issues when Japanese use “Cultural Differences” as excuses to deal with others!

Boku1 – Sometimes I look at the JLPT and I get to thinkin’. The test might not be simply a test of Japanese language ability but of Japanese Culture ability. The typical foreigner reaction to testing like JLPT is “This is useless bullshit that tests my ability to memorize shit and forget it the next day.” Right as they may be, if you can pass Level 1, you’re probably sufficiently trained for whatever bureaucracy this country can throw at you.

PS. I had to look up the spelling of bureaucracy.

It would be just dandy if the new JLPT does test for communicative competence, but unless it includes an oral interview and ideally an essay type interview, it will not be testing communicative ability directly. There’s sort of an old cliche’ “Test what is being tested,” that applies even to Japanese, unbelievable as it may seem. I have yet to pass Level 1, but that’s because I see absolutely no need to waste any more of my life studying nonsense that evaluates only passive skills and requires endless hours of mind-numbing tedium for little more than a number on a sheet of paper. (If I get in to a situation where my Japanese is not adequate, will anyone be impressed if I pull out that silly certificate?)

I have been able to improve my Japanese by actual use in all four areas—reading, writing, speaking, and listening—by actually immersing myself in those areas as much as possible with the help of a private tutor. It is amazing how much more motivated one gets if he/she is interested in an article compared to being forced to read some dry, meaningless dribble that a test-prep book writer forces on you in order to ask 27 equally lifeless questions about it.

As far as texts are concerned, most Japan-produced texts seem to be aimed at students of university age on home stay programs. Japanese for Busy People is an exception, but it ends at about the lower intermediate level, and goes to “Japanese for Professionals” which takes and entirely different approach and regresses back to the 1940s and tedious, motivation draining, soul-killing memorization.

One of the best texts (from the University of Hawaii) Aozora, Intermediate-Advanced, although a bit dated is based on modern knowledge of language learning and teaching.

Good teachers can be found, and if you find good private teacher who is willing to work with you, and adapt to what you need, I think the benefits are worth the cost. And it ain’t ever going to be easy for most. There is no magic method, no always “fun” “fast” and “simple” way to acquire any language. Run away from any school or teacher that claims otherwise (or ask them to prove it with non-company produced evidence based on modern research.)

People in the US usually spend a few years studying French or German – what if I went to US and said “The secret to my success is to refuse to speak English, after all, half of Americans should have taken a few years of French.” No, you get with the program, and speak English. In Japan, that means speaking Japanese.

I know plenty of non-Japanese who went to Japanese colleges and graduated with no problem, it just takes a little effort.

At any rate, I wanted to add to this list, the web site/iPhone program smart.fm. This was originally for studying English, but can be used now to study Japanese and other languages,