Wednesday, October 24, 2007
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English for Japanese
Yesterday, I wrote about interpreting for Musubichan--protected post: Whonose, you are on my protected list. (If you re a regular reader and a subscriber, leave me a message telling me you want to be added. I think you have to be a Xanga member.)--but I moved the comment here.
I had the chance to hone my interpreting skills. Musubichan had not watched Heroes last season, so we watched a few episodes. Unfortunately, there are no subtitles so I am doing simultaneous translation for three hours straight on Friday and Sunday. I love my wife, but I swear, I am exhausted. Watching TV was not so relaxing.
Well, KENSHIRO commented:
I don't understand -- perhaps I haven't been reading your blog long enough, or I've missed a detail somewhere (probably the latter), but does M understand English? I don't understand why you had to interpret Heroes.
This is a perfectly legitimate comment, I think. Firstly, Kenshiro has been a reader for quite a while--Thanks for being so loyal.
So perhaps you may have missed a detail, but then, maybe I haven't really written about it as it is rarely germaine to my ramblings. Anyway, Musubichan's English is not very good. She tries hard and she can comprehend much more than she used to. But TV shows and movies can be difficult to understand. They speak at regular speed and do not wait for the listener to respond. So I end up interpretting. Now this has nothing to do with M's intelligence or effort. I'm not sure what it is, but many Japanese are simply unable to master English. I know a ton of them. My mother never really mastered English. Nor did most of my relatives who came to the US after they became adults. Of course, this is not for all Japanese. Most Japanese who have gone to school in the US have mastered a level of English, but I've known more than a couple of graduate students who could understand English in their respective fields but significantly less--speaking or listening--in conversations that deviate from their speciatly.
M didn't go to a college in the US and her first extended stay in the US was after she married me, and she was already 40. I don't know what it is. I can't explain it. I know a lot of people who go to foreign lands and master the language to a degree, but for some reason, English for Japanese is a tough nut to crack.
Anybody have a familiar experience? Or know the reason for this?
Keep on keepin' on--this is also from yesterday's protected post
Of course, I also ran some--about 15 miles altogether. A few months ago, I would have thought, Forget it! I'm too busy. But not now. Getting and staying in shape has become a priority, so I make it a point to make time. It is more like eating now, a necessity of life. No matter how busy I am, I have to exercise. It is no longer, I'm too busy, I don't have the time. You make the time, as it is an investment in my future... and my waist line.
0:40, 3.37 mi.
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Comments (9)
To be fair, my Korean is reasonable as well, but I have difficulty watching movies some time. Again, I don't know if its slang, the complexity of the dialogue (which usually runs more difficult than TV), or perhaps all the visual distractions in the film, but I have trouble keeping up with what's going on.
I think maybe it is the pronunciation? Most of my non-native Japanese friends have difficulty curling their tongues, so they can't pronounce "R" and "L" well. From my understanding, that is definitely one frustration for them.
I don't know what it is either, but I would like to share my theories, and if any of it is incorrect, please feel free to correct me.
Perhaps the English language is not studied enough in Japanese schools? I've met many Japanese during my studies in the US, and their English was pretty good. Some even spoke very clearly, without any accent whatsoever.
That being said, when I visited Japan (æ±äº¬) for the first time, earlier this year, I was surprised that not many people could speak English.
My girlfriend, J, was very surprised as well. It was not a problem for us though, since she could read kanji and I could get by w/my 4 semesters of 日本語.
Compare this with Hong Kong -- as you know, prior to 1997, HK
was under British rule. I am no expert on either Japan or HK, but what I'm about to mention about HK comes from my conversations with J.
Classes are conducted in English in HK, so the students have a lot of exposure to English. Also, since it is a very international city, speaking English is almost a necessity. I realize this is not an official scientific study, but when I was in HK, if I asked a question in English, the other person would know how to respond.
So, I think it's just a matter of frequency of use, and the region's attitude on the language. Japan is a very homogeneous county, with very few minorities. English does not seem to be a priority, even though there are English words on clothing and some signs, and English words are often imported into the language. I suppose foreign exchange students can speak it because they have to, if they want to take classes in the US.
The British rule of HK is probably one of the major reasons why English fluency is very high among the HK population.
Again, just my theory...
in my language and culture course i am taking right now we also talked about how the spaces between words in text don't exist in speaking. if you hear a phrase in an unfamiliar language, you have no sense of where words start and end. i think this helps explain the reading/listening difference some folks are talking about.
That's interesting. My parents moved from Taiwan to Brazil some 30 years ago and their Portuguese has never really been fluent. Now we are in the US and I find myself in the same shoes (well, fine, I'm in a better position than they were 30 years ago), and for some odd reason I always have that sometimes not too subtle Portuguese accent.
A lot of Brazilian people (me included) don't really SPEAK English. We try to imitate English sounds by using our basic sound dictionary from the Portuguese language. Now, Portuguese has a lot of different sounds, which is why it's easier for us, but take the Japanese language for instance, which has a lot fewer sounds than English and you have a major big headache trying to remember words that use sounds you never learned to pronounce. (I feel that pain in Chinese, where everybody's name just sounds the same to me)
Don't stop translating! It gives M the chance to realize that, although her English level may not yet be fluent, she can defnitely get there because she is seeing you do it, right in front of her eyes, as if it was nothing. That's what I'm doing for my parents anyway.
Oops, sorry...forgot to introduce myself. I'm a new reader; didn't mean to jump into the fray with such an accusatory opening, but I just got curious.
Dunno, but it is an intruiging thing. I find that these days My Japanese-speaking self and my English-speaking self don't communicate very well anymore. Thinking in Japanese, then trying to revert back to thinking/speaking in English is like having to restart my whole train of thought again.
There are so many different shades of "fluent" that the more proficient I become at Japanese, the more I know what I actually don't know. If I were to just transplant myself and live here forever (Japan), I think I would need my wife to translate things for me, too (even though I could function quite well on my own, as is the case with your wife, it's the juicy drama that kills me). Watching movies and shows is pretty hard, but just chilling with the Eigo-hatin' Nihonjin buds is pretty easy.
It is mysterious indeed.