Comments on: Propaganda: Run Your Mind Like a Benevolent Dictatorship

By: Mikomi Rae

Mikomi Rae — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 23:43:07 +0000

I have to admit, a lot of your philosophies intimidate me to no end, but I think what you say in this post is VERY motivational… I think I might put it up on my wall or something… XD “The surest way to fail is to quit doing it!”

By: The Big Project: A Theocratic Dictatorship « J-need

The Big Project: A Theocratic Dictatorship « J-need — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 04:35:38 +0000

[...] he is free to say or write whatever he wants. However, he also says that his personal life is a dictatorship. That is, he does not allow any ideas into his own life (unlike our society, which does allow [...]

By: Chapter 3 - Japanese Men Mumble | babelhut.com

Chapter 3 - Japanese Men Mumble | babelhut.com — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 10:29:38 +0000

[...] to identify how certain words change when they are mumbled. Now I can learn, practice and become accustomed to hearing [...]

By: Rachel

Rachel — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 01:59:38 +0000

khatzumoto, your blog has been so helpful. I’m a junior in highschool right now, and when I graduate from college I plan to move to Japan and become a highschool teacher. I’m learning Japanese right now. I didn’t really know where to post this comment, so I figured I’d drop it here.

I’ve decided to change/bend everything in my life so that I’m surrounded by Japanese culture, and language. I’m really focused on learning this language. There are no excuses now, it doesn’t matter if there aren’t lessons avaliable anywhere, or I don’t have that much money, I can do this. So thanks for the encouragement (^-^)!

By: Rehearsal, Take One | Biesnecker.com

Rehearsal, Take One | Biesnecker.com — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 09:22:08 +0000

[...] time he picked up a basketball, he probably sucked, but he worked at it and got better. I found this post at All Japanese All the Time to be right on the [...]

By: Nivaldo

Nivaldo — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 11:28:07 +0000

Oh, I forgot to say that I’ll keep reading your blog and commenting.

By: Nivaldo

Nivaldo — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 10:26:19 +0000

Sugoi! Thanks for the info. It only makes me want to go to Japan even quicker. Anyway, it’s going to be tough. Well, I think this is my last comment(unfortunately, bwaaaaaa), because I got to work really hard on my immersion environment and at the same time study the hardest way possible to get the best marks(this is the only way to get to Japan as quick as possible). I’ll probably go to Japan after some 3 years from now. Thanks for the blog. See you there(in Tokyo!)!!!

By: khatzumoto

khatzumoto — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 10:15:49 +0000

1. Most people know the anime that play on normal, terrestrial TV. Anything else is the domain of supergeeks. So, everyone knows “Naruto”, but almost no-one knows “Cowboy Bebop” because it was only aired on premium cable. Most people in Japan don’t even know (and if you tell them, will gaze at you in disbelief) that their culture has spread worldwide, and that there are kids all over the globe like you and me who were practically raised on anime.

2. Mmmm…haha…no. It’s probably more to do with Japan importing food from far away, and paying high energy costs? You’d probably want an economist for any more info than that . Anyway, fruit is more expensive here than you might be used to…

3. Pretty cool. Lots of LCDs everywhere. Lots of places where you can use digital cash (pay with your cellphone, etc.)

By: Nivaldo

Nivaldo — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 07:47:15 +0000

Hi. I was asking myself constantly if I should thank you because I thought I would be drawing your attention to a simple “thank you” message. But, I decided to write it. But I don’t like sending useless messages so I’m posting some questions I would be glad if you answered:
1. I’m a big fan of anime and I know that anime is the biggest attraction in Japan, otherwise, I have wrong information. Anyway, Khatzumoto, how is the anime reputation there in Tokyo?
2. One day, I watched a brazilian reporter(in a brazilian TV Channel) there in Tokyo say that fruits can cost really high there. Is that true? Does it have anything to do with the “religion” of food you where talking about?
3. Also and at last, how is technology in Tokyo? I see only small pieces of it(for example: the tiniest TV in the world) but I know or at least think that there should be much more that I’m just not able to see.

By: khatzumoto

khatzumoto — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 04:01:52 +0000

>what is osmosis to you
Essentially, picking up and/or inferring words and readings and being able to actively use them without any specific, conscious, direct or indirect effort for the word or reading in question (so, without even having SRSed it), just by being “soaked” in the Japanese environment. It seems like I’ve picked up a lot onomatopoeia that way, and lots of slang…I think the ability to learn words this way (i.e. more or less unconsciously) may always be there, but only really blooms into direct usefulness after lots of conscious effort.

I’m sure we mean the same thing? Or don’t we? Do you have a different definition for it?

By: beneficii

beneficii — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 03:40:35 +0000

Khatzumoto,

“Yes, I learned kanji readings through sentences. Osmosis only started working for me from about 3-4 months ago. Like the guy said–in order to do something with ease, you must first do it with difficulty.”

In that case, what is osmosis to you/

By: khatzumoto

khatzumoto — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 14:45:20 +0000

>how did you get a job in Tokyo?
Japanese bilingual career forum
http://www.careerforum.net/

Your English is amazing. Do the same thing for Japanese and you’ll be all set.

By: Nivaldo

Nivaldo — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 14:39:02 +0000

Well, although there are similarities between portuguese and spanish, there are many differences that make spanish tough to read or speak even for a portuguese speaker. Besides, I’m OK with the english version. Only those two words are problematic for now. Thanks for the help anyway. Huh, Khatzumoto, how did you get a job in Tokyo? I’m also trying to go to Japan as quickly as possible but I’m afraid I have no sustaining base there, you know, programming skills and so on. I mean, my dream is to work at Sony Corp. But is there any real hope?
Also, my native-looking english is due to a sort of unconscious immersion environment I ran into and I’m still in as I have to write, read, speak, and understand english everyday(for example: windows and important textbooks that I can only find in english).

By: khatzumoto

khatzumoto — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 14:03:30 +0000

@quendidil
Yeah, teachers don’t generally want to hear the truth so much as they want to hear their own opinions recited back to them (no disrespect intended). Just write what the teacher wants to hear–write what the teacher believes; agree with the teacher’s pet theories in your essays, even if you think it’s bollocks. That worked for me gradewise. The other thing I tried (where possible) was writing good essays that are relevant but outside the teacher’s expertise, such that you have more freedom to write what you want without running counter to the teacher’s opinions and thereby hurting his/her ego.

By: quendidil

quendidil — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 13:54:40 +0000

Another site, this is just episodes 15-37 of Death Note, but it’s useful methinks. Especially since I’m currently shadowing Death Note. There seems to be very little such 台詞集 for anime, I’ve only found another site with the complete FFVII:Advent CHildren script.

http://blog.hjenglish.com/cyqm/category/11689.html?Show=All
This is by a Chinese guy, he copied down the complete scripts for the episode by ear, there might be some errors.

http://rokoran.com/ff7hokankeikaku/ff7ac/spript/original.htm
advent children

By: quendidil

quendidil — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 13:49:46 +0000

Ah my　Bad, Its just a few lines per episdoe followed by commentary.

By: quendidil

quendidil — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 13:44:44 +0000

Lol, I have that book, I bought it a while ago but just browsed through it, I find it rather time-consuming to go through all the processes that the book recommends. Yeah, specific points, I sort of agree with that but sometimes, even when I know the points, my bloody Social Studies teacher doesn’t accept my “explanation” of the points, I really dunno how to solve this problem so I’m just leeching essay answers to similar questions of past-year papers and memorizing them. This is just a problem I have with Social Studies (as it is taught here in Singapore), my English essays are fine and consistently can get 25/30 or more.

On a side note, I’ve found a site with アニメの台詞集
http://mirumo.serika.ciao.jp/

By: khatzumoto

khatzumoto — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 13:05:09 +0000

@quendidil
Hmm…essay answer…interesting.
Well, I once read somewhere (I believe it was in Adam Robinson’s “What Smart Students Know”, a book I highly recommend), that the main problem people have with essay answers isn’t knowledge or grammar, but forgetting to cover specific points.

Also, remember that an SRS is built for small chunks of info, not large tracts. So try to break things up into small parts.

So, what I generally did with an SRS question that required an essay-like answer was simply to mention the bullet-points of my answer (my answer was the points). Filling-in can more or less wait for the real thing. For example:
Q: Discuss the main causes of WW2?
A: Territory, boredom, apathy, resources, pride.
Each of those answers would have its own paragraph…If more detail is needed then you might need a better question. Anyway, my point is, don’t overload any single question-answer pair, you can only answer so much in one go…

>do you ever memorize pure facts (etc definitions)?
Yeah, but as question. E.g. “What is the name of the process whereby [blank]?”

By: khatzumoto

khatzumoto — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 12:55:40 +0000

@Nivaldo
Perhaps consider Heisig’s “Kanji para recordar”–it’s the Spanish version, but maybe the similarity with Portuguese could help?

Also, you sound like a native speaker of English to me, even if you aren’t. I know many native speakers (Iincluding myself) who learned words they had not previously known, through Heisig. I learned the word “halberd”. So, I think you’ll be just fine.

Anyway, yeah, if you have any questions or anything, please feel free.

By: quendidil

quendidil — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 12:11:04 +0000

Alright thanks a lot again,
another question: Let us say you prepare some essay questions in advance, do you break the answer essay into parts and memorize the sentences, or do you memorize the paragraphs of each section in advance?

Also: do you use only questions or do you ever memorize pure facts (etc definitions)?

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