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April 14, 2008
Another good use for Japanese language skills….
Determining what flavor of potato chip you want at a Japanese food mart:
Because he knew Katakana, the Japanese alphabet, Carmel Middle School eighth-grader Allan Schaefer was able to read the different flavors of potato chips at Sakura Mart in Indianapolis. He chose curry flavor over French salad.
Schaefer was among a group of eighth-grade students in a Carmel Middle Japanese class who had a hands-on experience last week with the Japanese language and culture. (continue...)
Teaching Japanese in Shelbyville, Indiana
I don’t know if you have any interest in teaching Japanese to high school students. Here is a profile of Nihongo student who learned Japanese and did exactly that…
In high school, Steve VonWerder wasn't voted "most likely to teach Japanese."
"Most language teachers learn their language in high school," VonWerder said, "but I didn't study any foreign language in high school."
In fact, the Shelbyville High School teacher didn't show any interest in learning a foreign language until he traveled to Japan as a missionary at age 24.
"I wanted to teach English in a foreign country and do Christian work," VonWerder said. VonWerder learned Japanese in six months through immersion. For him, learning the language was a necessity, not a novelty.
"I had to learn Japanese so I could buy my bananas," VonWerder said. "How could I pay my bills if I couldn't speak the language?" (continue reading…)
April 08, 2008
Is Japanese enrollment declining at this Maine college?
For those of you who are interested in who is studying what language, this article may be interesting. The sample here is admittedly a small one (students at Bowdoin College, in Brunswick, Maine). But a sample is a sample. Now let’s dig in.
The article states outright that Russian language enrollments are declining. This is an old story. Russian language studies enjoyed considerable prestige during the Cold War, and a big surge of popularity during the Gorbachev era. In 1990 many Americans believed that Russia was going to become the next economic superpower. We now know that history turned out differently.
The article doesn’t exactly say that Japanese enrollments are declining, but that they are small to begin with. This doesn’t surprise me. Japanese is a difficult language, and it has none of the chic appeal associated with some European languages like Italian and French. Japanese is a language for dry, practical people who study business, accounting, and engineering. So what’s wrong with that? As the professor who is interviewed in the article reminds us, Japan is still the world’s second largest economy, China notwithstanding.
My guess is that the Japanese language will never enjoy stratospheric levels of popularity in the U.S. There is too much competition from other languages these days (Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, etc.), and too many other countries occupy so much of the news. But Japanese remains an extremely useful language, and my guess is that it will remain so well into the foreseeable future.
April 06, 2008
Word of the day:
倍
（ばい）
-times, fold
U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama is setting records on the fundraising front, as this article notes:
選挙資金競争でもオバマ氏優勢、３月はクリントン氏の倍か
米大統領選の民主党候補指名争いで首位を走るオバマ上院議員の選対本部は３日、今年３月の献金額は４千万ドル（約４１億２千万）に達したとの暫定数字を発表した。献金者は４４万２千人以上で、うち２１万８千人以上が初の寄贈者としている。
一方、ライバルのヒラリー・クリントン上院議員の陣営は、３月の選挙資金は約２千万ドルであることを明らかにした。
Read the complete article here..
Supplemental vocabulary:
米大統領選 （べいだいとうりょうせん） U.S. presidential election
民主党候補指名争い（みんしゅとう こうほ しめい あらそい） fight for the nomination of the Democratic Party
首位を走る （しゅい を はしる） to take the lead
献金額 （こうけんがく）donation amount
暫定数字 （ざんてい すうじ）tentative number
貢献者 （こうけんしゃ） donor
寄贈者 （きぞうしゃ） contributor; donor
選挙 （せんきょ）election
競争 （きょうそう）competition
The many ways to say "to wear" in Japanese
I just couldn't resist that swipe at wearing neckties....
March 30, 2008
Word of the day
寸前
（すんぜん）
immediately before; right before
The headline below contains some disturbing news. Apparently a large ice shelf at the South Pole is on the verge of collapse due to global warming.
南極の大規模棚氷、温暖化で崩壊寸前
Supplementary vocabulary:
南極（なんきょく）South Pole
大規模 （だいきぼ）large scale
棚氷（たなごおり） ice shelf
温暖化 （おんだんか）(global) warming
崩壊 （ほうかい）collapse
March 25, 2008
Word of the Day
揺るぎない
（ゆるぎない）
firm, unshakable
The following article describes U.S. Vice President Cheney’s trip to Israel. While in Israel, the VP affirms the U.S. commitment to U.S.-Israeli ties
米副大統領がイスラエル訪問 「揺るぎない」関係維持を約束
Supplementary vocabulary
米副大統領 （べいふくだいとうりょう） U.S. Vice President
訪問 （ほうもん） visit
関係維持 （かんけい いじ） maintenance of relations
約束する （やくそく する） to promise
