Q

I'm three or four days behind on my email, sorry this is late. I wanted to
respond to a few things before I get even further behind!

>> From: bluelotus <bluelotus@...>
>>Subject: Re: Happy New Year, a real self-intro, and some questions

>>Hi Hikaru,

>>Where did you learn Japanese?

I actually majored in Japanese at a certain prestigious university on the
East Coast and studied for a year in an intensive program at a prestigious
university in Tokyo and guess what? Most of what I have learned of Japanese
language and culture is IN SPITE OF what they taught me in class....I
learned through daily contact with Japanese people, and through my own
efforts..... gee does that sound like unschooling, perhaps?

I have a Masters in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages,
the politically correct term for ESL or EFL) and my theory about learning
languages is that anyone can do it, but like any skill it will come easier
for some people than for others.
Japanese isn't a hard language to learn, and I LOVE to tell Japanese people
that I think English is harder, speaking as someone who has taught English
to non-native speakers for
about 15 years. Japanese jaws tend to drop, because it seems to be a matter
of pride that the language is so unique and hard to master. IMO every
language and every culture is unique.


> I enjoy reading about history, but there is a lot I still don't know. I
> was actually startled to read in an article about Trent Lott that when
> Strom Thurmond was running for prez, 1948, NO African-Americans in
> Lott's state of Mississippi were allowed to vote.

>>I always thought that slavery was never legal in Canada. Doing a column
on
>>Canadian black history sites put an end to that notion.
>>Tia


Living in Japan as someone who is immediately, obviously not Japanese, I've
become a bit more aware of how it feels to be a minority. It's been a really
good (and humbling) experience. As for racism, that's a subject I address in
one of my college classes.
We read an interview with Rosa Parks, and
it is very interesting how willing the students are to discuss the Civil
Rights movenent in the U.S., but are not so comfortable talking about
discrimination against Korean, Chinese, and Ainu residents in Japan. Hits a
bit too close to home, I think. Although I did have one student "come out"
as Korean. That was a very brave young woman. I was really proud of her.

>>Betsy wrote:
>>Overall, our culture (in the US) has what feels to me like a nasty,
>schoolmarmish, red-pencil-wielding tone about not knowing the "right"
>>stuff at the "right time". There are certain "important" things that
>>we're all supposed to learn the day before the test. Learning anything
>>after the test doesn't count as learning. Those red marks pointing out
>>ignorance don't go away.

This was very good for me to hear, thank you Betsy. I deal with this all the
time. The Japanese education system is mainly geared toward entrance
examinations and I forget that the U.S. too is overly focused on testing and
error correction, and sets too many students up for failure.

Hikaru, about to go make raisin cookies with my son
Ah the joys of flour all over the kitchen, can't wait!