|
 |
When some teachers are blunt | ||
Tags: Language Teaching | ||
Share with:
| ||
 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| zerothinking Senior Member Australia Joined 6154 days ago 528 posts - 772 votes  Speaks: English* | Message 17 of 32 15 January 2009 at 4:55am | IP Logged | ||
|
Sounds like she was insecure and on her rags.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Starfallen Groupie United States Joined 5599 days ago 43 posts - 49 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese | Message 18 of 32 15 January 2009 at 9:12am | IP Logged | ||
I'm guessing they probably feel uncomfortable around you for whatever reason. Some teachers are like that, they are just there to do a job and they don't care to socialize or be your friend outside of class. Also if you are too forward, they might feel intimidated by that. I would just let it go, if it were me. Finish up the class, and you can always continue to study more advanced Japanese on your own with other people. I understand you're frustrated because you have worked hard. I'm sure there are people out there who will appreciate your effort. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
 Jiwon Triglot Moderator Korea, South Joined 6218 days ago 1417 posts - 1500 votes Speaks: EnglishC2, Korean*, GermanC1 Studies: Hindi, Spanish Personal Language Map | Message 19 of 32 15 January 2009 at 9:36am | IP Logged | ||
|
@Maximus:
Don't be discouraged by the Japanese native speakers' attitude, because if you do, you'll never be able cope with them. It doesn't only happen to you. Probably, the situation is a lot better for you than for other Asians learning Japanese. I have not experienced this myself, but I know of a story of another Korean speaker who learned Japanese. According to her, whenever she wanted to express her opinion and be "counted" by the Japanese, you should stop using Japanese and switch back to the most eloquent style of English possible. Very different from the French, the Japanese apparently treat you like a second class human being if you DO speak their own language. Apparently, she had a taste of this when she went to the Japanese embassy to see the embassador since her visa application had been denied. The Japanese embassador asked her (in Japanese! and this was in Korea mind you) "Can you speak Japanese?" She felt so disgusted that she replied back in Korean: "Can you speak Korean? No? Then we'll use English." The embassador, obviously not expecting such response, was completely struck by her words. Then she proceeded to speak in the fastest and the most enunciated English she had ever used. After that, she got her visa in 15 minutes. Yeah.. so... I hope this doesn't discourage Japanese learners, but this seems to be the attitude of many Japanese natives. Edited by Jiwon on 15 January 2009 at 9:38am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tricoteuse Pentaglot Senior Member Norway littlang.blogspot.co Joined 6460 days ago 745 posts - 845 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Norwegian, EnglishC1, Russian, French Studies: Ukrainian, Bulgarian | Message 20 of 32 16 January 2009 at 5:26am | IP Logged | ||
|
Amélie Nothomb's "Stupeur et tremblements" comes to mind... I think one of the things she does wrong in that book is to speak perfect Japanese to important Japanese men. Apparently that was an insult.
It was a while since I read the book so I may be mixing things up... It made me never want to learn Japanese though ;) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Maximus Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6531 days ago 417 posts - 427 votes Studies: Spanish, Japanese, Thai | Message 21 of 32 16 January 2009 at 6:06am | IP Logged | ||
|
Yeah Jiwon, I think I know what you mean.
Many Japanese people seem to have some kind of superiority complex, exect for languages, then have some kind of inferiority complex. The truth is, the more I interact with some Japanese people, the more 反日 I become. When I went to Japan I was always polote and respectful towards their customs. The next time I go there, I might just act like the typical agressive and arrogant westerner. I will not be pushed around by them at all. Forget about indirect speach and humbleness, I will just be direct and say exactly what I think, even if some people don't like it. The truth is, it seems that many Japanese people believe that one must have Japanese blood to "own" Japanese or have the right to speak it. According to their logic, what gives them the right to butcher my language? They don't have anglophone blood, as I don't have Japanese blood. In order to expose the flaws in their idea of "ownership" of the Japanguage and who exactly have the right to speak their language, for this very reason I have the adbition to overtake the JRapanese themselves in Kanji knowledge. I have interest in learning way more than merely the Joyo Kanji. Lately, I have been memorising many obscure non-Joyo Kanji which even my Japanese friends and acquintances cannot read. I want to be better at Kanji than the Japanese themselves. And I am going to do it. I will demonstrate that I deserve "to be counted". By the way, I don't think that my Kanji ambition will be all that difficult. I mean, Japanese youths today are terrible at writing Kanji. They seem pathetic will there little electronic dictionaries, looking up so much. Give me a year or two am I will then be able to embarrass Japanese people with my Kanji knowledge. They really don't like it when foreigners (fron countries which don't use Chinese Characters)can "out-wright" them. I am not rying to sound arrogant which my ambition. I just want to prove that I have the "right" and suffiecient evidence to say that I too can use "their" language. At least all Japanese people are not so stupid when it comes to this issue. I found that many 30 years or above ladies enjoy Japanese conversations which foreigners. I can remember talking to two nice ladies in a Kimono shop. They were so impressed and encouraging. However, it is just ashame that many of the Japanese are too "superior" to even look at a foreigner. Well, at least you are right. Certain Asian peoples have it worse when trying to live life in Japan. Those poor Chinese people. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6221 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 22 of 32 16 January 2009 at 6:08am | IP Logged | ||
Yes, you are mixing things up fairly dramatically. She speaks Japanese perfectly (not merely grammatically, but by using extremely culturally-dependent phrases) at a business meeting, where she's supposed to pour tea; the people there were then apparently discomfited, because she was visibly not Japanese. It wasn't an insult, it was simply culturally awkward, because it violated the expected social order. Amélie Nothomb's depictions of Japan are usually striking, and I could see why some could leave a person not wanting to learn Japanese . That said, I think Japanese is a fascinating language, and the culture also has many good points. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| tricoteuse Pentaglot Senior Member Norway littlang.blogspot.co Joined 6460 days ago 745 posts - 845 votes Speaks: Swedish*, Norwegian, EnglishC1, Russian, French Studies: Ukrainian, Bulgarian | Message 23 of 32 16 January 2009 at 6:37am | IP Logged | ||
More or less the same thing for me ;) 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Starfallen Groupie United States Joined 5599 days ago 43 posts - 49 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese | Message 24 of 32 16 January 2009 at 12:42pm | IP Logged | ||
|
I don't know, I have to admit it does feel somewhat awkward to me when someone who is obviously a foreigner and speaking English as a second language tries to mimic an American accent so perfectly as to sound as if they are from Texas or somewhere. It catches me off guard a little, to the point it can sometimes feel slightly pretentious and mocking. I know that's not the intention of most people learning English. Don't get me wrong, it's not that it's "bad" or anything. It just makes you raise an eyebrow because it's unexpected.
But I guess... I'm used to hearing people stereotype Americans in similarly negative ways. That we are loud. That we are ignorant and arrogant. That we think we are the center of the world. That we'll expect you to speak English perfectly (even in your own country!), and yet we'll dismiss your hard work and take it for granted that you do. We'll bend over backwards with our supposed political correctness, and yet we'll still treat you better if you're "one of us" and especially if you're white (and have money). Perhaps there is some truth to these stereotypes, I will admit. But I have to take it with a grain of salt when people generalize and speak of the Japanese in this way, or any culture for that matter. Personally, I'm from a very white populated state in the USA. I don't know how many times I've heard Americans at Asian restaurants make fun of chop sticks, say racist things like "Ching Chang" or speak in mock enrigsh, or act as if they can't understand what they are saying. Or how many can't seem to tell the difference from one Asian to the next (they all look the same didn't you know?). Racism and xenophobia cuts both ways. Look into some of America's old laws regarding Japanese emigration for example. The great thing about learning languages though, is that it really does help to encourage better cultural understanding, I think. I'm appalled at some of Japan's history, but you know what, I'm equally appalled at some of my own. I don't see the point in blaming an entire race or country though. Edited by Starfallen on 16 January 2009 at 12:54pm 4 persons have voted this message useful |
|  | 
Printable version
|
| Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization. |
