Comments on: Top 10 Reasons Why Expats Who Live In Japan Don’t Know Japanese

By: lisbet

lisbet — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 14:32:19 +0000

Having taken Japanese classes in Japan, my experience was actually that most of the teachers are very very enthusiastic and sweet, but are just terrible teachers. They have little training and little practice and you’re better off doing it at home apart from one thing- the Nihongo “cafes” many of them offer- for a small fee one can show up and speak only Japanese with other learners in a low pressure environment, about the topic of the week. That, my friends, was worthwhile… because I met other foreign researchers, and I got to practice my nihongo without the panic that comes with talking to native speakers in Japan (for me- but I panic talking to people in general due to being very shy.)

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By: I Can’t Learn Japanese/Spanish/Farsi/Whatever « Kara

I Can’t Learn Japanese/Spanish/Farsi/Whatever « Kara — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 05:11:40 +0000

[...] Top 10 Reasons Why Expats Who Live In Japan Don’t Know Japanese. The author makes some good points and addresses many of the arguments I’ve heard/read. Worth the read if you’re lagging in your studies and need a little motivation. In fact, the whole site is pretty good motivation, encouraging learners to create an immersion environment no matter where they live. I use it as my excuse for the giant Gackt calendar hanging on the wall in my bedroom [...]

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By: bridget

bridget — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 02:07:20 +0000

you really have hit the nail on the head in so many ways. I’ve been studying Japanese for a long time now, in high school, in university, and I spent a year at a Japanese university and I decided to try out the teaching english/living in Japan thing, but so many people, in both of those situations, as you said, create this enclave for themselves. Its insane. There are, however, plenty of opportunities to get yourself out of that, though.

The other thing that I’m happy you touched on was the nihonjin-ron. So many of my Japanese teachers (and textbooks!) have been condescending about foreigners learning Japanese. People and materials that are not positive or supportive are in no way creating a suitable environment for a language learner.

thanks for a great post!

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By: The Wait That Kills: Before You Pwn, You Must First Own | AJATT | All Japanese All The Time

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 15:01:25 +0000

[...] Japanese government is one of the more hands-on bureaucracies in the world, and I wouldn’t trust them to teach garden variety Yamato kids, let alone ethnic minorities. The HKSAR administration is one [...]

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By: Top 10 Reasons Why Expats Who Live In Japan Don’t Know Japanese | JapanLike

Top 10 Reasons Why Expats Who Live In Japan Don’t Know Japanese | JapanLike — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 09:58:55 +0000

[...] Top 10 Reasons Why Expats Who Live In Japan Don’t Know Japanese 1 www.alljapaneseallthetime.com — A lot of people from foreign countries — including people of Japanese descent — come to Japan without a lick of Japanese. And stay that way. For years. Here’s why. I just made this list up based on personal observations, so it’s not complete or definitive. If you have any ideas, feel free to add or whatever. [...]

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By: earn

earn — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 09:27:28 +0000

Hi Khatzumoto!
This is my 2nd day peeking into your blog and I’m so in love with it~!
Currently I’m studying Korean and I’m so0o using your methods [man!how could i miss your blog last year] because I’ve been trying various methods that didn’t work and I’m now very, absolutely whole-heartedly believe, THIS IS IT!!!

Thanks for being so motivating and inspiring and-all-those-kinda-praises!!!

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By: Joey Jelasic

Joey Jelasic — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:37:26 +0000

This is so true!

for nanpa its all about the non-verbals anyway ; )

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By: All Japanese All The Time Dot Com: How to learn Japanese. On your own, having fun and to fluency. » If Immersion Works So Well, Then Why Can People Live In a Country For Double-Digit Years And Never Learn The Language?

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:01:36 +0000

[...] my Khatzumoto attempt at an answer. It’s really an extension of ideas previously covered here by me, and here by AntiMoon, and summarized in the words of Kató Lomb as recorded in her Polyglot: How I [...]

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By: My 外人 reconsideration, or what I think of being a foreigner in Japan so far. « leaves no footprints

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 01:15:11 +0000

[...] want to be a second-class novelty any longer than I have to. To be fair, so many people have said this before so I will summarize – how in the world could I expect to thrive in Japan without becoming [...]

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By: Smilax

Smilax — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:05:32 +0000

I think you mean “monbukagakushou” instead of “monbugakusho”.
文部科学省… right? @_@

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By: Pandi

Pandi — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 20:15:04 +0000

Ha, I love this. =D
I agree with 8 and 10. I remember seeing those commercials with that stuff; you can’t get far with only 10 minutes a day. You would lose all that information during the day, and would have to spend another 10 minutes the next day on that same material.

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By: khatzumoto

khatzumoto — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:34:24 +0000

>I’m wondering if it would be good to talk to them in Japanese
It would, if and only iff you have them CORRECT you mercilessly. Tell them, the smallest mistake, awkward pronunciation must be pointed out, even (if they’re cruel people) ridiculed mercilessly. And if you find yourself making too many mistakes, then an input-heavy silent period may be in order. I had to take one of those at one point.

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By: Chelsey

Chelsey — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:11:35 +0000

Hi Khatz,
I have a Japanese roommate and two Japanese conversation partners (none of whom I speak to in Japanese intensively). I’m not that advanced in my speaking, hence the reason we don’t speak in Japanese that often. I’m wondering if it would be good to talk to them in Japanese or if it would damage my skills…I’ve been studying for 4 years, but am just now getting “good” at speaking….

PS: I like your site.

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By: All Japanese All The Time Dot Com: How to Learn Japanese. On your own, having fun and to fluency » One Kanji Poster to Rule them All, One Kanji Poster to Bind Them, One Kanji Poster to View them All, and into the Mind Grind Them

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:15:46 +0000

[...] first such product I have come across. Most kanji posters come in either phonetic order or, worse, scholastic order, and generally only have relatively few characters on [...]

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By: khatzumoto

khatzumoto — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 02:02:43 +0000

It sounds like you answered your own question. If you have your own method and it works…then I’d say keep using it .

I applied the Heisig method to www.zhongwen.com, so I had to made up a lot of my own keyword names.

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By: Haf

Haf — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 00:58:09 +0000

About No. 5, learning the Kanji, I was wondering if there is any other order apart from the village idiot order and the Heisig method in which to learn the kanji best. Is there any material online?

I currently use the village idiot order, as all of my learning material use it. Blargh
But I don’t want to use the Heisig method, since I developed my own method to recognize components and memorize them.

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By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 00:11:52 +0000

Yep, you’re absolutey right about this.

“1. Bad Company”

This one was interesting – I read recently on the BBC website (quoting an American scientific study) that researchers have recently concluded in that study that by far the most important reason that otherwise very talented/intelligent people do not fulfill their potential is the influence of (a less talented/intelligent/ambitious) peer group. Sadly, in spite of a bit of a dig on the BBC webiste (news.bbc.co.uk), I can’t find the story now, but interesting nonetheless.

So, lesson to us all – don’t hang out with losers – that’s people who want to endlessly debate the pros and cons of the various bl**dy useless conventional methods of learning Japanese in this case…

Mark

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By: Brittany

Brittany — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 08:14:03 +0000

“And anything you really can’t do (like go to government offices), your bilingual Japanese girlfriend can help you with.” Haha, this I love

My boyfriend’s dad has been living in Japan for the last 15 years or so and barely speaks a lick of Japanese, but he’s married to a Japanese woman so he doesn’t have very many problems. He’s totally fluent at ordering beer, though, as that’s the one thing his wife won’t do for him

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By: Mark Quinn

Mark Quinn — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:12:20 +0000

Hi Khatz

I especially sympathise with point 4 – my girlfriend is Japanese and, although I wouldn’t say she is condescending, she certainly feels there is a limit to what I can learn in Japanese and also the time period.

She tells me that it is very unlikely that I will be able to speak until AT LEAST 5 YEARS! What?!

It is not nice, but I guess the solution is just to ignore this (albeit unintentional) negativity!

It is also very funny to hear the constant negativity directed towards Heisig from a native speaker – I mean it took her YEARS to learn kanji and she is still very down on this method – I suppose it is too unconvetional “you don’t need to learn that character…blah..blah…..”

Anyway, this just makes me want to try even harder as now I have even more of a point to prove and, like you say, at least I’m moving towards my goal rather than just sitting around thinking about it.

Anyway, thanks for the ongoing inspiration.

Mark

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By: Alec

Alec — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 05:32:47 +0000

Must. Motivate. Self. Finish. Heisig. Before. 2008.

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