Keith speaks with Steve Kaufmann

I had a conversation with Steve Kaufmann in Japanese. This is the first time I have ever spoken directly to Steve and we did it face-to-face. Well, it was through the help of our webcams and Skype. For those of you who don't know, Steve Kaufmann is a super-polyglot.

I mentioned in my previous post that I was going to record myself speaking Japanese as a record of my Japanese level before the up and coming self-improvements. This is that video of me speaking Japanese. I will make some more but I don't know if anybody wants to be alerted to them. If you do, you could just subscribe to my YouTube channel.

The video is in 2 parts. The total time is 16 minutes. You can watch the video below if you want and when it finishes I'm sure you will be able to choose the 2nd part. Else, you may go to my YouTube channel. Oh, and I must say. The microphone on my headset is really bad. Sorry about that, but the sound on my side is not clear. Steve's side is very clear. I'm going to have to breakdown and buy a microphone if I can find one or else buy a new headset.

A few comments about my Japanese speaking ability. As you will be able to see in the video, I almost always need to think about how I want to complete a sentence. So many options come to mind while I'm speaking that I just get overwhelmed with what I should do to finish my sentence. I just want to get to where I know what I want to say and I just say it straight through without stopping or pausing. Another critique about my Japanese is that I do not know how to say everything that I need to say. I don't know all of the grammar. I think I will be able to discover a lot by watching TV.

And last but not least, I do want to improve my pronunciation. This has mostly to do with vowel sounds but also with intonation as well. I would like to sound the same as a Japanese person. I want to be indistinguishable. And why not? I live in Japan so it would be to my advantage. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to improve my pronunciation or not but we'll see.

I would like to speak with some more people in Japanese and record it and put it on YouTube. Even if you don't have a webcam, but you have a microphone and Skype and a good connection, we can still record me in the picture with our conversation. If we have a noisey connection then it won't be worth recording and putting up on YouTube. Anybody who can speak Japanese. You don't have to be a native speaker. Just contact me via email. You can find my address in my blogger profile.

手話入門２

This week we had the 2nd class in the introductory JSL course. We reviewed the previous signs we had learned and then got a lesson in pantomiming. Basically, it's OK to act out what you are trying to convey because the deaf person will be able to understand which is better than giving up and leaving them in silence. So we had some deaf people and JSL Circle members doing some charades and then the students also got a chance. At first some volunteered, but then later volunteers were drafted. I ended up having to do "rabbit." After that, we all learned the Japanese syllabary in finger-spelling followed by numbers. It hurts holding your hands in those shapes. Here is a picture from the actual class in a blog post.

今週、日本手話入門コース第二回目のクラスが行われました。以前習った手話を復習し、身振りのレッスンを貰いました。基本的には、身振りはオーケーです。なぜかというと、聾者は身振りから意味が分かれるので無言より身振りが良いですね。聾者と手話サークルのメンバーが身振りの例をあげてくれまして、生徒も身振りをやる機会がありました。最初に数少ないがボランティアしましたが後はボランティアが選ばれました。私が「うさぎ」の身振りをさせました。その後、皆さんが文字指と数字を教わりました。手でその形を長い時間でやると痛くなります。このブログ記事に実のクラスからの写真が見えます。

手話入門

Today was the first of three classes in Japanese Sign Language. First we heard from the deaf people. They cannot talk but the volunteers translated. We heard about the difficulties they face. Then we learned to sign Good Morning, Good Day, Good Evening, Nice to meet you, Thank you, and Please. Then in smaller groups we learned to introduce ourselves. My name is... Nice to meet you. Next week they will teach the hand signs and What is your name?

今日は日本手話入門コースの三回の一回目です。先ず、ろう者を聞きました。ろう者は話せないけどボランティアが通訳してくれました。ろう者の辛いを了解させて貰いました。そして、次の手話を習いました。おはよう、こんにちは、こんばんわ、はじめまして、よろしく、おねがいします、ありがとう。そして、グループに分けて白己紹介を習いました。私は何何です。よろしくおねがいします。来週は指文字や「あなたの名前は何ですか」を習います。

手話

Today I attended, for the first time, a meeting of the 手話 (shuwa) Circle. 手話 is Japanese sign language. Everybody practiced by doing 紙芝居 (kami shibai). That is where a story is told by a person holding big picture cards and the story is read on the back. There were 2 deaf people (聴覚障害者) there who gave feedback at the end of the performance. 紙 means paper and 芝居 means performance.

Next week, an introductory (入門) 3-lesson course will begin and I have signed up for it. After the meeting, I went to the 図書館 (library) and checked out a book on 手話. From the handbook, I have learned 挨拶 (greeting). Morning + 挨拶 (aisatsu) = Good Morning. Day Time + 挨拶 = Good Day. Night + 挨拶 = Good Evening. Sleep + 挨拶 = Good Night.

今日、初めて手話サークルの会に見学しました。日本手話は英語で「Japanese sign language」と言います。皆さんが紙芝居で練習しました。紙芝居は大きい紙を持ちながら、裏面から物語を読んで います。聴覚障害者二人が居て、芝居が終わった後にフィードバックを上げました。

来週、三回の入門コースが始まり、私がもう登録しました。会の後、図書館に行って、手話ハンドブックを貸し出ししました。その本から挨拶を教わりました。朝＋挨拶＝おはよう。昼＋挨拶＝こんにちは。夜＋挨拶＝こんばんわ。寝る＋挨拶＝おやすみ。

Can you recommend me a Kanji book?

Is there a book that teaches Kanji? I mean, really teaches it. Some provide background information and educate you on Kanji, but all books that I have found so far, provide you with no effective way to learn Kanji. What you generally find in the books on Kanji is just information. You can look up a character and get the information you need but as for learning the Japanese written characters, all books rely on the user to memorize. Even Heisig's famous method requires you to memorize your own made-up stories. So that series is no different.

漢字を教える本はありますか？本当に教えていますか？背景を説明して漢字の知識を仕込む本はありますが、今までの見付かった本は効果的な漢字学習方法はありません。漢字を学ぶ本の中に、一般的な見付ける内容は情報だけです。字を引いて欲しい情報を取ることが出来ますが日本の漢字を習うという方法は、全ての本は学習者が暗記するのを頼りにします。ヘイシグ先生の有名な方法も自分が作ったストリーを暗記する必要があります。だからその本も違いません。

Mobile is cool

It's kind of cool to look at my vox blog from my PDA. But it's even cooler
to write in Japanese from my PDA!

ほら！これは手書きです！スタイラスを使って、本当に文字を書いているのよ。日本
語をキーボードで打っていないよ。これは本当にいい練習です。

秘密

この記事を読まないでください。内容は秘密です。特定した人だけが読んでもいいです。ほかの人がこの記事を読むのが許しません。許可をもらったら、読むことです。質問はありますか。


じゃあ、続きましょう。会社について、秘密の資料がありますね。あ、ちょっと待って。許可をもらっていない人がまだ読んでいます。その人は記事の最初の文 章をもう一度読みなさい。これは関係者だけが読めます。秘密ってわかりますか。秘密は内緒ということなんです。だから、秘密を読まないでね。ほかのところ を読んで構いませんけれども、この記事の中の秘密を見たら、目を外してくださいますようにお願い致します。じゃ、それが明確に言ったから、今後は問題ない でしょう。問題じゃなければ、続きましょう。

会社の資料は一番大切なものですね。従業員より会社の資料は最も価値のある。。。なんとなく、許可されていない人はまだいるでしょう。それはなぜでしょうか。なんで二回も警告したのに、その人はこの記事を読むのが止められませんか。じゃあ、次回に続きます。