Japanese and JET

My history learning Japanese goes pretty far back. It certainly feels like I’ve been studying languages in some form or another all my life. I took French all through high school and got pretty good at it, too. The French teacher used to lavish praise on my accent. 

So how did this lead me to JET? It’s actually pretty interesting. Well, to a linguistics geek like me. As anyone who has learned a decent amount of another language knows, you find out more about your native language than you’d ever expect in the course of foreign language study.  It certainly was the case for me.  French may be quite similar to English, but English and Japanese are worlds apart in most ways. In order to really be able to understand the differences, I had to pick English grammar, morphology, syntax, etc. apart as well. I had to learn the functions of things like participles, clauses, tenses so that I could then apply those terms to what I was studying in Japanese. 

I found I liked the ins and outs,  and the technical aspects of English so much, that the idea of teaching English as a second or foreign language appealed to me.  When I learned about the JET program, it seemed to be a perfect marriage of opportunities: I would have the chance both to teach English, and continue learning Japanese.  

In order to give myself every advantage in the selection process (which has over time gotten more and more picky, I hear), I decided to major in East Asian Studies (with Japanese as the language), and to minor in Linguistics. I still don’t find much as satisfying as drawing a grammar tree for a sentence.  In addition,  I also went through an intensive TESOL certification course in New York in 2009. It’s called the CELTA, and I highly recommend it for anyone who has an interest in teaching English.

Evidently those preparations were sufficient, since I am now here in the land of the rising sun.  Still, I know lots of people get chosen who haven’t gone to the trouble of tailoring their education to suit being an ALT (alternate language teacher). But for me, since it really is what I’d call my passion, the effort seemed warranted. Since I figure I’ll continue doing work within this field when I go back to the states, it’ll stand me in good stead in the long run.

But for now, I’m feeling quite content where I am, in the city of Anan, in the prefecture of Tokushima in Japan. And on that note, I think I will make my next post about this city of mine, my daily life, my school, and whatever else seems pertinent.

Here's some pictures of stuff around Anan just to whet your appetites!

Mata kondo.

"How did you get so good at Japanese?!?" "Well......"

So I suppose I should start from the beginning. When I was much younger, I encountered the Japanese language for the first time watching a subtitled version of one of the Sailor Moon movies. I think I was probably 11 or 12 at the time. I was fascinated by the musical, lilting sound of Japanese. From then on I had an enduring interest in the language.

For the vast majority of that time until now, the extent of my “studying” involved learning lyrics to J-pop and anime theme songs by ear following along to written versions I found on the internet. You remember the ol’ VHS days when they would have three tracks of subtitles on the opening/ending sequences for shows? The ones that were the Japanese text, the Roman alphabet spelling, and the English translations? Those helped a LOT. Each tape had maybe 3-5 episodes, each episode had full intro and endings, and by the second or third tape, I’d have the songs memorized. You have *no* idea how well learning songs like that helps one master Japanese phonology. Seriously. I recommend it as a studying method.

Another advantage was that I had no clue about the meanings of those lyrics for a long, long time. How is that an advantage? Well, when I finally got around to studying the actual grammar and vocabulary, I found myself thinking “Ohay, I remember hearing that before!” all the time. Thus memorization was much faster and easier because I had previous aural memory to support what I was learning. In fact, to this day I can tell you exactly what part of what anime I know XYZ words from. It's probably kind of weird, actually.

It wasn’t until I got into college that I took any kind of formal Japanese language course, but I whizzed through the first three semesters. Well, as far as listening comprehension, vocabulary, grammar and stuff. The WRITING, though. That I had only studied for maybe like, a cumulative two weeks in my life. So that was all new. Even now kanji (Chinese characters) trip me up and are my major jakuten (弱点) (weak point). Still I’m working on that as much as I can (read: as I am inclined to when feeling slightly less lazy).

Phew. That’s a lot of blathering, innit? I think I’ll stop here for now. Next time: how my interest in the Japanese language led me to JET.

Mata kondo (また今度) (‘Till next time)

Day one...

... of blogging, that is. I've actually been in Japan for about 6 months. I mused about setting up a blog before I left the states (like my girl Meredith here), but hemmed and hawed, and now I'm half a year in and only just starting! Go me.

Anyway, there are myriad topics which I think I'll cover eventually, including the JET program, moving across the globe, being a "gaijin", learning Japanese, teaching English, common cultural elements and snafus, and of course diary-style posts about my life and what I eat here.

For the first post, however, I think it would be prudent to simply give some background on myself. My name is Nathalie (yes, the "h" is intentional; no, you don't pronounce it). I'm an American girl from the famed, widely-known, universally recognized state of Delaware. I consider myself a decent word smith, so I hope that my ramblings are coherent enough to be entertaining for you. My taste in music tends to lean toward the wordless, be it background soundtracks or classical. My favorite author is, hands-down, Dave Barry. I will probably allude to some of his jokes. In fact, I will probably insert more than a few inside jokes on here. For the sake of those reading who may not be privy to my self-referential humor, I will try to keep it to a minimum.

My languages are English (of course), a fair proficiency in Japanese, and whatever French is left rattling around in there from high school. I may write a post or two in Japanese, or if anyone requests it, I could discuss specific aspects of the language, phonology, syntax, circumlocution, etc.

というわけで、日本人の読者に

もし、何かのアメリカとか英語とかの質問があれば、ぜひ聞いて下さい。どうせに言語学の話するつもりだし、全然構いませんよ。返事は必ずどのぐらいかかるとは言えません、できるだけ早く答えろうとしますね。

So, yes. Most likely the topics I choose to discuss will be both general and personal, subjective and objective, whatever strikes my fancy. Anyone who decides to follow/read/humor me, I appreciate it! よろしくお願いします。

'Til next time.