Nujuさん

J-POP, Anime Japan, Japanese Drama

A very interesting post by Gakuranman on the art of verbal warfare in Japan. As he correctly points out, politics is one subject that may not be an advised topic of discussion in Japan, especially if it deals with the US military bases or the lack of (and I mean, nil, zilch, nada, nothing) information on Japan’s plan to build a base in Africa. Anyway, mix in cultural differences when arguing and Gakuranman says that you have a recipe for disaster. He writes:

In a recent scuffle over the controversial whaling issue, I managed to seriously offend a couple of Japanese friends. So here’s some insight to help you avoid making the same mistakes.

Gakuranman asks the reader to “begin by thinking about a style of speech, in particular the dialectic method present in both Eastern and Western philosophy.” I should add that many arguments rarely see the best alternative to a negotiate agreement since, like negotiations, one party typically wants to come out on top in some shape or form. At least that’s what they expected during Western negotiations.
Anyway, keeping the dialectic method in mind and considering the linguistic nuances in Japanese plus the seemingly socially ingrained habit of ”Start – Continue – Change – Conclusion” or Ki-Sho-Ten-Ketsu (起承転結), in which

“the supporting points loop around the main point without creating a linear argument. These points are intended to only obliquely reference the main point, it is up to the reader to infer how this relates to the main thesis. There is no firm conclusion, only an ambiguous ending that may point to several possible outcomes.”

The same pattern is used to arrange arguments! See the diagram and the blurb below for more on this topic during negotiations (controlled arguments) in various languages:

“The cultural component of communication has become the subject of study in a hybrid field called contrastive rhetoric. Scholars in this area often use Kaplan’s diagram (Box 1) to explain international negotiations in business. Perhaps it is useful because paragraphing strategies reflect cultural styles. In countries whose languages derive from old German–including German, Dutch, and English–negotiation styles tend to be linear and direct. (Campbell)”

While your are contemplating the doodles above, click here to dive inside the blog known as Gakuranman. Be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his post on why the pen is mightier than the sword (read the post, you’ ll get it)! Me? Now fading to Black and wondering if circular logic is the key to understanding or the lack of it?!
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I found a great xls format that was great for making printable flash cards.

just open these files and the file should already be setup for you to print just do a quick preview to make sure it is all setup  the way it should with the paper source as index card or 3 X 5 and set to landscape. and you will need 46 index cards for each file for a total of 92 cards.

also here is a chart i made that is printable pdf enjoy

These are only a few of my goodies more to come.

Its been a while since I have blogged but, I [わたし] have been busying with 私の日本語 and my [私] company I [わたし] started. Lots of work but still very rewarding.

My teacher Kinuko Sensei [きぬこ 先生] uses Genki Integrated Course Elementary Japanese which are great books easy to learn from.

here is a link for studying hiragana [ひらがな] katakana [カタカナ] it really works to speed up your learning and mastering of the kana system.

http://genki.japantimes.co.jp/self/self.html

Medric Networks LLC   Network Consulting

www.medric.net

I have been studying Japanese for awhile. first i just watched anime  and picked up phrases and then i actively starting looking into the languages and via the internet and speaking with native and non native Japanese speakers, that has been worked well but i never got pass the beginner level i know around 200 kanji but still have trouble getting my point across. So i started to finding different websites that have helped me getting moving to the level i want (which is not that high)  just being able to communicate at a middle to high school level and not make a fool of myself to often.

First up is YesJapanes 

Their lessons are very good and easy to understand and they have great mini games that helps you to remember your kani or kanji after the lessons. They also have  videos of the real world Japanese language from native and not native experiences.

Second is Japanes Pages 

This is a great place to go and stay awhile. It has forums books and other goods lessons and overall everything, and they have some iphone apps.

Third is Nihongo Pera Pera

This was a great read it has a lot of information on how you too can achieve your goal all you have to do is stick with it cause you will get burned out and its good to see someone else that has gone through it.

now some fun places just to relax but still stay in japan study mode.

First is Danny Choo

This site a great place to go when you want to have some fun and enjoy the sites and weirdness of the Japanese people

Second is d-addicts

Its great to watch something other than anime and see how Japanese speech patterns and body language and the more you hear and see the more you will retain. its good to ready it but some much better that hear it and you will be laughing at yourself every time you hear a word or phrase you know. no translation need it just pops, now that makes all that hard work pay off.

This is a few shots of what my friend  pulled together for me of Morioka 「盛岡市」It is one of her favorite places in Japan 日本国. It’s  on her way to her  Mothers  home town of Hanawa「塙町」.  The trip was  long one with with lots of trains involved. first the Shinkansen「(新幹線」from Tokyo「東京」 to Morioka 「盛岡市」and then took the local train from Morioka 「盛岡市」 to Hanawa 「塙町」.
It took about 3 hours on the Shinkanzen 「(新幹線」 to Morioka 「盛岡市」 but with the local train it took about 3 hours from Morioka 「盛岡市」to Hanawa「塙町」.  The Shinkansen 「(新幹線」is very fast. I guess that’s why they call it the bullet train.

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I ran across this website when after I got frustrated with dong Rosetta Stone V3 Japanese I am learning but it seems I still cant interact with Japanese people or media. So I was logged into yahoo.co.jp and a pr [press release] or advert caught my eye and i though i would check it out. This site is great for those who want to learn how to speak Japanese and this tool does just that it really get those who have been studying and know some Japanese to use what is in our heads out loud and that is the point of this whole thing right is to be able to speak out loud and read a website and feel confident in our prowess. Oh its free and yes it is available in English but it defaults to Japanese so if you have enough knowledge to change it to English then this site will do you good.

iKnow! へようこそ – 英語学習コミュニティ – iKnow!

 Here is another great sociable site where users an log in and learn with and from each other; kind of like an each one teach one concept. I love to see the envelop of technology being push not by something new and shiny, but by something simple but done in a new way.  Like a group of friends talking over a cup of… well mocha latte.