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| SpongeBob, too, questions my motives from time to time. |
I mean, okay, she didn't drag out her question quite so dramatically, nor did she pose her concerns in English. But I got the point. Practically speaking, there's no reason for me to be taking Japanese. Some students are looking to fulfill Columbia's language requirement, but I placed out of that with Spanish. Other students want to reconnect with their heritage, but I'm Vietnamese, not Japanese. (I also learned Vietnamese for six years, taught it every Sunday for four years, and speak it all the time with my parents and relatives, which is why I'm not taking Vietnamese instead!) Finally, many students profess a deep interest in Japanese culture, but while I indulge in the occasional anime or order of sushi, I'm by no means a Japanophile.
And so the question stands: "Whyyy [am I taking Japanese]?"
Well, to be perfectly honest, I'm just naturally drawn to languages, and of all the ones offered this semester, Japanese happened to fit into my schedule the best! Granted, there's a teeny-tiny compulsory component to my enrollment in this class. Because of my linguistics concentration (I'm majoring in human rights with a double concentration in math and linguistics), I do have to take a language that 1. isn't my native language (sorry, Vietnamese) and 2. isn't a European language (sorry, Spanish). Otherwise, however, my presence in Kent 522B is a product of my love for languages and the coincidental convenience of Matsui-sensei's time slot.
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| The fact that I'm taking Japanese is almost as random as this clip art. |
Despite how arbitrary and uninformed my decision to take Japanese may seem, I'm really enjoying the language so far. The writing system as well as the grammar intimidated me at first, but the progress we've made in a few short weeks has convinced me that nothing's impossible if I put my mind to it. Anyway, I hope to continue learning Japanese at least through the second year, so maybe I'll be seeing y'all around a lot more in days to come!
P.S. Does anyone appreciate my play on words? "Bill" plus "feelings" equals "Beelings"? No? Just me? That's cool.
Dear Bill,
ReplyDeleteありがとうございます for sharing your story *^_^*
I am actually a bit jealous that you are studying so many languages and so early on ^o^!
Speaking Hebrew and English, I didn't think about learning other languages and since I speak Hebrew I already fulfilled my language requirement (without any はたらきます). Thankfully, last summer I finally realized that there's so much to learn out there, and so many places yet explore!
Did you ever travel to Japan? How did your passion for learning languages begin?
And what other languages are you planning on studying?
いつ 日本 へ いきますか ？
じあまたあした。
どういたしまして！
DeleteAt the time, I wasn't really fond of the idea, but looking back, I can't thank my parents enough for sending me to Vietnamese school. I think it helped me immensely to learn early on how to organize my thoughts in another language.
As for Japan, I've never had the chance to visit! I hope to go someday, however, and might even study abroad there depending on how my schedule pans out. Maybe らいねん日本へいきます。My passion for learning languages started because of Vietnamese school. Even though I felt a little stifled at having to spend my Sundays in a classroom, I enjoyed learning about the language and the culture so much that I knew linguistic study was in the cards for me. Right now I have no plans in particular, but I'd love to study French or Korean next.
Agreed with Tin-san, a Human Rights major with math and linguistics is so ambitious! I'd like to study linguistics as well (although it's disappointing we can't major in it).
ReplyDeleteHow are you finding Japanese? Sorry I know nothing about linguistics - are there any similarities between Japanese and Vietnamese? Is one significantly easier or harder to learn?
じゃあ、またね！
こんばんは、ラスキンさん！
DeleteMmm, if by "ambitious" you mean "unemployable," then I'm definitely ambitious! ;) But jokes aside, it really is a shame that we don't have a full-on major in linguistics.
Japanese seems manageable so far, much easier than Vietnamese, but I suspect this is due in large part to how well structured our learning has been. The way I learned Vietnamese felt structureless for the most part, so even today the grammar sometimes trips me up. Once we delve into kanji, I'm sure Japanese will become significantly harder than Vietnamese. Although the latter language does use tons of tones and diacritics, it relies on the much more familiar Roman alphabet. As for similarities, I've noticed that 1. the way questions are formed is almost the same for both languages and 2. the words for student, học sinh and がくせい, have almost the same pronunciation. Aside from that, Japanese and Vietnamese are remarkably different!
Hi Bill,
ReplyDeleteI love the portmanteau play on words! I also thought you were riffing on the Japanese lack of the phoneme for "F" and hence ビーリンス :)
Best,
大牛
ありがとうございます！
DeleteThanks for not only appreciating the portmanteau but also pointing out that extra layer of complexity! If only I were so clever... Alas, my sense of humor is as basic as can be.
OMG, I didn't notice the play on words until the end! This post is so funny! :3
ReplyDeleteWhy did you teach Vietnamese every Sunday? Where did you teach it at? That sounds really awesome. I didn't know you were once a せんせい！
はい、きょうしはでした。
DeleteDid I even conjugate that properly...? Anyhow, I graduated at the top of my class in Vietnamese school, so the board of instructors invited me to join them! I taught six- and seven-year-olds every Sunday at a local high school. SO. MUCH. FUN.
こんにちわ Bill!
ReplyDeleteI really love your post and your play on words! I'm glad that you are enjoying Japanese and I look forward to reading more of your blogs!
ありがとうございます！
DeleteJapanese is the absolute best, and I look forward to reading more of your blog entries as well! :)
こにちは、ニューウェンさん！I really enjoyed reading your post and learning about your decision (or random selection?) of Japanese! Like someone mentioned above, I would be interested to know if you are finding any similarities between Japanese and Vietnamese? Also, I agree with the others about you major in Human Rights with a math an linguistics concentration. What made you want to go into these different fields? And like Tin-san, what are you planning on pursing after college?
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I loved your post and your random clip art picture. And I do appreciate the play on words. How witty of you. :)
Can't wait to read your more of your posts!
こんばんは、ホフメンさん！
DeleteThanks for the kind words, Georgette! Between Japanese and Vietnamese, I've noticed that 1. the way questions are formed is almost the same for both languages and 2. the words for student, học sinh and がくせい, have almost the same pronunciation. Otherwise, knowing Vietnamese (unfortunately) doesn't help me with Japanese at all!
When it comes to my future, things are about as hazy as the midday front of Butler. I'm learning all three subjects out of pure interest, but maybe they'll apply to a career in law? I HAVE NO IDEA!!! Thinking about the adult life makes me feel uneasy, so I like to brush aside the big questions whenever I'm asked. ^__^
こちらこそよろしく！
ReplyDeleteI guess it's kinda hard to understand the play on my first name since we refer to each other by surname all the time in class! Anyway, I have no clue what I'd like to do with my future. At the moment, I'm considering law school, but that could change at the drop of a dime. Have you given any thought to a major?
ビルさん こんにちは。
ReplyDeleteI like your honesty! :) I myself was a linguistic major when I was in college, and learning two different foreign languages helped me understand and analyze linguistic systems of other languages. Hope you will find it helpful to learn a new language too!
がんばってください！
TA:あおき
あおきせんせい、よろしくおねがいします。
DeleteI can't thank you enough for the encouragement! Even though I have no idea what I'm doing with my life, I know I like learning other languages. I can only hope that my linguistic studies will take me somewhere I can be happy.
Yo, yo! はじめまして、Nguyenさん。ルー(Luu)です。どうぞ よろしく。
ReplyDeleteわたしは ノートルダーム大学のよねんせいです。
Ah what a post I have stumbled upon...I'm also Vietnamese, with eight years of Spanish (doesn't necessarily show in my speaking), and am just picking up Japanese.
It's been three years since I last studied Spanish and I miss it like hell. Was going to simultaneously take it with Japanese but that would've been splitting my brain basically four ways...English, Spanish, Japanese, Vietnamese. Have you noticed how the vowel pronunciations are the same in Japanese and Spanish? Japanese speakers have told me it's much easier for them to learn Spanish than English ha
I completely admire your grasp of/depth with the languages though because I can't say my Vietnamese is anywhere near my English. My parents wanted to send me to Saturday language classes but it never happened...
Were you born in Vietnam or in the states? I was born in Saigon then moved here when I was six.
And finally (because this is getting to be a damn long post), your post has inspired me to work harder on Vietnamese. I'm rooming with two international Vietnamese friends with the hopes of picking it up again but alas...we speak not enough of it. We cook a crap ton of Vietnamese food though :)
oh! also, I forgot to ask--any tips on learning Vietnamese? I would like my vocabulary to meet my English vocabulary...it's very very ambitious but hey. I've never learned Vietnamese grammar formally either and I bet this would be really helpful. Would love to hear your thoughts in general on this.
Deleteルーさん、こちらこそよろしく。
Delete(I'm so sorry for the late response. For some reason, I don't get notified when people comment on my blog posts, HAHA.)
Oh, my gosh, it's so exciting to get a comment from someone who goes to another school. And actually, it's even MORE exciting to get a comment from someone who's also Vietnamese! I've met only two other Vietnamese students here, and neither one is fully Vietnamese.
Anyway, on to your questions! I was born in San Jose, California, and I've lived there pretty much my entire life. The city has a huge Vietnamese constituency (something crazy like 20%), so it would've been unusual for me not to pick up on nuances in Vietnamese grammar and vocabulary. However, when it comes to learning Vietnamese, there's no better way than constantly speaking with and listening to my parents.
Right now, I'm feeling incredibly homesick. It's funny because as a first-year I almost never wanted to go home, but the longer I'm away, the more I miss Vietnamese culture. So chill, y'know? You're one lucky guy to be living with Vietnamese friends!!! :D
Also, YESSS to the Spanish observation! Like, the R sound is pretty much the same between Spanish and Japanese, and beyond simple things like that, knowing Spanish has helped me a ton with accurate intonation.