General Japanese Culture Thread

Yes, but they do not use it. While they might get the grammar and rules of the language and mannerisms, they have no actual ability to communicate with it. It's practically a meme between foreign students and other gaijin.

Most Finns get taught Swedish, but very few of them actually have any reason to use it. Since we speak English to each other.

Hey, here in Korea we also learn English as a part of required education. In fact, it's one of the big three subjects.

And let me tell you, 99% of people probably can't use this site.

"Do you remember any Spanish you learned in school?"

Touché.

Anyone who can actually speak it well is treated as a genius in works.

Its pretty much why Yukari in Azumanga Daioh is treated as smart but an idiot.

and then there is this.

that's French, bro

I do like the engrish jokes you get from time to time. Like the infamous Azumanga Daioh "crap, it's a foreigner" moment. The video for which seems to have been deleted...

edited 18th Nov '15 10:56:12 AM by Ogodei

It's no different from how the US treat Latin.

There are many pitfalls to actually teaching English in Japan, though. I can't find the video on the subject anymore, but I remember it saying that English teaching as a profession is not taken very seriously there.

That's because the positions are pretty much open to anyone who knows even a little bit of it. Although this is changing, which means you'll get proper professionals in that language.

The only ones that I know who tend to learn it really quickly are housewives and single ladies who frequent English lessons in neighbourhood clubs. That might just be the handsome foreigner in some cases though. Which helps socialising for sure.

My host mom (J-mom?) figured out basic Finnish in a few months though, by herself. That was...interesting.

edited 18th Nov '15 11:30:53 AM by TerminusEst

Latin is not spoken as a first language by half the planet.

There's an online personality, Holden of Holden Reviews and one of the major guys from the podcast Podtaku and who isn't at all Japanese in the slightest, who recently moved to Japan in the past year to teach English and with a dream of working in anime! He never shows any signs of stress and seems to be adjusting to the new life perfectly. He is only in his 20's!

edited 18th Nov '15 11:55:47 AM by kyun

Wait, you mean I could become an english teacher in Japan?

Yes. You'd need a TEFL certificate and a visa. Getting started is a lot easier than you think.

And not just Japan ? Other countries, like Estonia ?

Err, no. Estonia is a different country with different laws.

I knew at least one dude who did that online. (Not Estonia, but just in general teaching English as a foreign language by a TEFL certification) For real money.

Do some googling on "ESL teaching jobs abroad" or something like that. That should give you the answers.

edited 18th Nov '15 12:06:55 PM by Luminosity

I did it online (with a Japanese company) for some pocket money at one point. Still have about $40 US in Yen in my Paypal account (since they'd charge me to convert it, i'm waiting to use it to commission some fan art from a foreign artist).

It was a decent job that paid a piece rate either for correcting "worksheets" (digitally entered), and required you to do at least one skype call per week with a student, 15 mins to go over a lesson and then have some free chat.

Damned if i can't remember what it was called, though.

That's a popular way for an American to get acclimated into Japan- they teach English language in schools.

And even animators from other countries are getting their work into anime these days too. Many of them work from their own countries remotely. Although it requires overly-demanding hours, of course.

edited 18th Nov '15 1:54:48 PM by kyun

Azumanga Daioh clip: It's still available, but where do copyright claims by King Records not apply? I could link the episode with the clip, but I suspect that would be against the rules.

I'm barely able to converse in Malay and Cantonese myself, although only the former was learned in school. Granted, even then they were more interested in whether you could write an essay in Malay instead of whether you could talk to someone in Malay. I suppose the same situation happens in Japanese schools?

I guess 'know another language, you must be hot shit' is universal?

Basically. as a brazilian, i wish my fluent language would be more helpful in finding me employment, but it's very good for impressing people.

I reckon that may depend on how the Chinese-speaking fad goes over.

Here in Malaysia, everyone is nominally multilingual, making knowing more than one language less of a deal, although many choose to only speak in their mother tongue (Chinese/Malay/Hindi/Tamil/anything else that applies) most of the time out of pride in one's own culture and wind up neglecting proficiency in other languages. I find myself capable of expressing myself best in English though, probably because "fuck" is pretty versatile.

Here in the Netherlands, practically everyone speaks English in addition to our native Dutch. People on the eastern border will probably speak German as well. And people that actually paid attention in school know French too.

No seriously, our standard curriculum includes three foreign languages, plus Latin and Classic Greek for those that really want to go above and beyond.

(I, myself, speak Dutch and English, can pretend to speak German, and forgot absolutely everything about French, but I blame my terrible teachers for that last one.)

I came across an EEDAR report and was quite shocked that the Japanese spend a lot on mobile gaming purchases. I know that mobile gaming is a big thing, just not how big that is.

Then, I read another news which claimed that Puzzle & Dragons and Monster Strike dominates the country's mobile gaming share up to, according to another news, 70 percent! PAD's dominance is understandable, but Monster Strike's popularity is beyond me.

Is there any explanation on such phenomenon other than "cramp space and portability allows small devices to be played anytime, anywhere"?

The only other explanation besides the tiny spaces and portability thing is that Japan is very busy.

People don't usually have the opportunity to sit down and do nothing for a few hours at a time.

Because living in Japan is suffering.

That explains its popularity, but not quite the spending.

Well, once you got a captive audience, it's probably pretty easy to convince them to give you money.