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Who am I? Posted by eriko1 on Oct 15, 2020
This week, my students are trying to write their names in Katakana. As I was helping one student write his name, I asked him “have you thought about your name – how it sounds before?” He laughed as he had never thought about it. What Japanese native speakers hear is very different from what non-native…
I am not really OK with “daijoubu” (だいじょうぶ） Posted by eriko1 on Sep 24, 2020
As a former student of sociolinguistics, I am naturally drawn to anything related to (〜関係する) language and society (社会). Recently, I read a tweet from Salam Namaste, a Napali –Indian restaurant in Japan. だいじょうぶ は ネパールじんにぜんぜんだいじょうぶじゃない しゃかいじんとおなじぜんぜんわからないにほんごになった…🙏 pic.twitter.com/2UlIY4mAv0 — 本格ネパール・インド料理サラムナマステ🇳🇵 (@salamnamaste01) July 25, 2020 1) Napali “Can you eat another nan?” Japanese “Daijobu” Does the “daijobu” mean Yes or No?…
Intercultural Presence of a Refrigerator 冷蔵庫の異文化間存在 Posted by eriko1 on Sep 12, 2020
I have been in charge of homestay programs for Japanese university partners in the ESL section of a U.S. university. Japanese universities want their students to immerse themselves in English and learn the local culture by staying with local families. The most important thing that I tell students at an online pre-departure orientation is “please…