Learning Japanese: Voice of Experience

Belinda Kennett, Yuriko Nagata

• Publisher: Candlin & Mynard ePublishing Limited
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781973329701
• eBook ISBN: 9781370629985
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

This volume explores some of the theoretical, empirical, and practical considerations when supporting educators and learners in promoting language learner autonomy.

Chapter 1: Lockie’s Story

Getting Serious About Learning

Lachlan Jackson

When I was a high school student my twin brother and I convinced our parents to send us to Japan for a short ‘educational’ trip during the school holidays. We went to visit my elder brother who had been living in Osaka for several years. As soon as I arrived I was hooked. I later returned to Japan to work as an English teacher, but learned little Japanese, so when I returned to university in Australia I took Japanese as a major and then I trained to become a high school teacher of Japanese while completing a Diploma of Education. After that I did further higher degrees in Japanese Language and Bilingual Studies including a PhD.

Early impressions

I arrived in Japan at the end of the so-called ‘bubble era’ when the Japanese economy was booming, and Japan seemed exotic and exciting. Back then I couldn’t speak a word of Japanese and, considering the white, middle-class, suburban, monolingual environment which I was raised in, I was absolutely amazed that my elder brother had been able to acquire even a rudimentary command of the language. That he could order a beer in Japanese and ask for street directions was, for me, utterly astounding. So the first obstacle in my quest to become proficient in the language was overcoming my disbelief that someone like me could actually do it. At sixteen I believed that speaking a second language was something only children of families who had migrated to Australia could ever realistically achieve. Despite my brother’s smattering of Japanese, I had no bilingual role models among my friends or family members. To make matters worse, I had been told by my French teacher in Year 8 that I was not cut out for learning a second language and I was directed to the woodworking class instead.

After I graduated from high school I started an Arts degree at university, but in my very first semester I became disillusioned. I’d enrolled in a range of courses such as Introductory Politics and Sociology 101 and although I found the content of the classes interesting, I soon realised that I didn’t have the real-world experience to ground my studies on. Because I had never lived on my own and had never held a full-time job, I just wasn’t ready for university and wanted to try living in Japan, so I got a Working Holiday visa. The day after my final first semester exam I flew to Osaka with the intention of saving money in Japan for six months before moving on to backpacking around Europe.

Teaching in Japan, but not learning

I didn’t make it to Europe because I had the time of my life teaching English for twelve months in an English Conversation school. For the first time I had a decent monthly disposable income, the teaching was easy, and I partied hard outside of work. In retrospect, I completely wasted the opportunities that were right there in front of me. During that first year in Japan I probably learned fewer than a hundred words in Japanese and although I had seemingly experienced every bar and izakaya (Japanese style pub) in the Kansai region, I had not acquired even a superficial understanding of anything Japanese – language, people or culture. But after almost an entire year in Japan and on the day before I was due to fly home, I saw something that was to have a profound influence on the course of my life. On a bitterly cold February afternoon, I peered through the window of the Shudōkan Dōjō (Japanese martial arts centre) located in the grounds of Osaka Castle. I had never seen kendō (Japanese fencing) practitioners in training. It was powerful, explosive and exhilarating, and I had to try it!

Serious study, then back to Japan

Ironically, after a year of living in Osaka, I returned to university in Australia and I began to practice kendo at the gymnasium. Most of the people I trained with had lived in Japan and spoke Japanese to varying degrees. This provided sufficient impetus for me to restructure my courses and soon I found myself sitting in a beginners’ level Japanese class. The going was slow and I was terrified of having to read in front of others. I was frequently admonished by one of teachers for using ōsaka-ben (Osaka regional dialect). I remember being told to stop being smart when I had written できへん (dekihen, can’t do）instead of できません (dekimasen, can’t do). At the time I didn’t even realise that I had picked up the ōsaka-ben negative verb ending -hen (not), which is different from the –masen verb ending in the standard version of Japanese which tends to be taught in the classroom. My Japanese language skills slowly came together and, punctuated by several short kendo training trips back to Japan, I finally graduated with a double major in Japanese and Asian Politics, and a minor in Japanese Studies. There was only one thing for me to do - head back to Japan!

I assured myself there was to be no repeating of the mistakes of my first year there. I set myself specific goals, both in relation to my study of Japanese and my kendo training. I also sought out a volunteer Japanese teacher from the local community centre with whom I could study one day a week. I decided to quit my job teaching English and try my hand at something that would provide me with more opportunities to actually speak Japanese, even though it was less lucrative. I found a part-time job working in a bar in central Osaka. At the bar I was exposed to raw forms of the Osaka dialect in general and much of the slang of the mizushōbai (slightly sleazy world). I remember discovering, to my amusement, that in the bar business employees would greet each other with おはよう (Ohayō, good morning) regardless of what time of the evening it was.

In addition to the words and phrases I was picking up from the other bar staff, the chef, the liquor delivery guy, late night patrons and the like, I was spending increasing amounts of time with the people from my kendo club. I began training several mornings a week and by hanging out with my kendo mates I gradually learned when, and with whom, pronouns such as こいつ (koitsu, you), あいつ (aitsu, him/her) and おまえ (omae, you) could appropriately be used. These less polite forms are deliberately avoided in most textbooks and probably for good reasons, but as they are in common use there will come a time when learners need to acquire at least a receptive understanding of them.

Taking risks and making progress

If believing that I could learn to speak Japanese was my first step to becoming proficient in the language, then mixing with Japanese people, especially of my own peer level, was definitely my second. That sounds self-evident, but it is also something that many foreigners living in Japan forget. Mixing with people puts you in the right context, but using the language is the challenge once you are there. I was not only scared to speak to Japanese people, but also in front of fellow learners who were better than me. During my second working holiday I had befriended several foreigners whose linguistic abilities far exceeded mine. One friend was writing his PhD thesis in Japanese and I was reluctant to speak Japanese in front of him. He could always express himself far more eloquen...

Table of contents

• Acknowledgements
• Authors/editors
• About the artist
• Recommendation
• Notes
• Contributing authors
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Lockie’s Story. Getting Serious About Learning by Lachlan Jackson
• Chapter 2: Jared’s Story. Rainstorm by Jared Denman
• Chapter 3: Terry’s Story. Ringo o Niko Kudasai by Terry Martin
• Chapter 4: Mitchell’s Story. From Learner to Language Professional by Mitchell Curtis
• Chapter 5: Bill’s Story. Love of Literature as a Motivation for Learning Japanese by Bill Fryer
• Chapter 6: Belinda’s Story. Listen Carefully by Belinda Kennett
• Chapter 7: Claudette’s Story. Intermediate Blues by Oi Yee Claudette Chan
• Chapter 8: Hulya’s Story. In-country Learning by Hulya Park
• Chapter 9: William’s Story. All is Not Lost by William Bishop
• Chapter 10: Jackson’s Story. Doing Humour in Japanese by Jackson de Laat
• Chapter 11: Lucy’s Story. Girly? Atashi? by Lucy Fraser
• Chapter 12: Navarone’s Story. Talking About Me… by Navarone Feekery
• Chapter 13: Moeko’s Story. Having Mixed Heritage by Moeko Reilly
• In concluding…
• References