Indeed, in no way would I want to forget or give up my own cultural background, but then I don’t think I could even if I wanted to! ^^ As Khatzs writes elsewhere in his blog however, part of becoming good at a language is a willingness to closely observe, and to imitate. It could help to think of it as method acting. Good method actors find a way to empathize with their subject, and by doing so are better able to pretend to be that person. Certainly, I think this is a very good attitude to take when it comes to working on your pronunciation, choice of words, etc.
There is another sense in which he means we should try and ‘be’ Japanese however, which is a lot more straightforward. If we want to learn to speak and understand good Japanese, all we need to do is live the kind of life Japanese people do, nothing more. In other words, Japanese people just so happen to be very good at Japanese because they are listening to it, reading it, and speaking it all day, every day. It’s as simple as that. The language learner doesn’t need to be anxious about their ‘natural abilities’ or stress about classes, tests and textbooks in order to become ‘used to’ the language. They simply need to ‘become Japanese’, insomuch as that means putting themselves in an environment where they are listening, reading and - eventually - speaking the language as much as possible. Hence, all Japanese all the Time (or mostly Japanese all the time, or all Japanese some of the time depending on what else is taking up your time).
People who spend years and years studying Japanese at university and -still- can’t hold an adult conversation or understand TV (and I was one of these people) are not in that situation because Japanese is hard. Although, certainly, getting used to Japanese takes more time for a European than getting used to another European language. Such students are having difficulty because they are not allowing themselves enough raw contact with the language. Perhaps this is because they have not developed the important attitude, which Steve discusses, of being comfortable with uncertainly, with lack of clarity, with not knowing. This is not their fault, but rather the fault of traditional language learning methods, where attempts at being ‘rigorous’ often end up being counter productive because they are the equivalent of asking students to run (indeed to do back flips) before they can walk.
Lots and lots and -lots- of fun, interesting reading and listening every day in a low-stress environment, with minimal interference from people trying to grade you will get you there.
Remember the language learning trinity, Attitude, Time with the language, and Attentiveness, or the ability to notice what is happening in the language.
Seeing yourself as a Japanese, or wanting to be a member of the target language community is just a game, but it is a very effective attitude to develop. It does not mean that you abandon who you are. However, if you do not want, to some degree, want to belong to this new language in-group, it will be harder to learn.
I have done it many times. I am not conscious of being an outsider when I speak other languages. I consider myself Japanese, French, Chinese, Russian whatever, and the more comfortably I can feel that way, the faster I learn. Of course I know that I am not one of them, and probably they see me as an outsider, but I imagine that I am an insider.
If you are concerned about defending your identity, this will slow you down. I think this cultural weightlessness is a condition of effective language learning. But it does not mean abandoning who you are.
Daniel, Ill have to think this one through a little more. My problem isnt not living as the Japanese do. I live in a small town away from other foreigners and with no foreign shops around so I shop at the same shops, cook the same food, wear the same clothes, go to the same PTA meetings and town events, do my neighborhood service responsibilities since Im a home owner, I even got to vote in the town election, and I deal with the same family issues as other Japanese housewives. In fact, some Japanese women have asked me how in the world is it that I can so well understand a Japanese womans life, and I tell them I basically live it. My family is Japanese so Ive taken care of my mother-in-law just like other traditional first sons wives. Ive had to take on lots of first son wives responsibilities for the larger family. Therefore, the Japanese womans life, I know very well so in a sense I can now relate more to a Japanese housewife than to an American career woman or even an American housewife, and I think Japanese women generally have very good lives so I have nothing against being a Japanese woman, but because I did have some really bad experiences I guess I drew a mental line in the sand and decided I can live this life but that does not mean I`m giving up who I am, but maybe it is time for me to reconsider this. Maybe my problem is just an overall resistence, and I need to let that go and as you said then things will flow naturally without having to try to be anything including myself.
Steve, thank you so much for your response. I think the main thing I must change is my attitude. Time is no problem because Japanese is all around me, much more so than English so it is really my willful resistance to the language that has held me back. As for attentiveness, I tune in and out to my discretion, but I generally choose to tune out unless I find someone interesting and I really want to understand them then I become very attentive. But I think your statement of “wanting to be a member of the target language community” is what I needed to hear. I can see being a part of the community without having to change who I am. But for me this isn`t a game. For me, Japan is my home so I have been isolating myself from my community. It IS my community. But for a long time, I did not want to be a part of the community because the community I was in was rather mean, but now those people are gone, and I find myself now wanting to be a part of the community and to contribute more to it because now I am around very nice people. I still have a little fear, but I think I have to put that behind me. I also think you are right that defending my identity will only slow me down. I need to just let go of that as well. I am who I am and being a part of the community and enjoying people in my community in Japanese is not going to change who I am.
Thank you Steve and Daniel, I think I have sorted out those feelings now with the help of both of you!!! I feel much better and even more encouraged to rejoin MY community.
Imyirtseshem, personally I don`t think I would avoid a language because everyone else is studying it. I mean “the more the merrier”! The more people who know a language, the more people you can communicate with and have more opportunities to use the language you have put so much time into learning. It also opens more doors to material you can easily get your hands on in the target language. So if you are interested in Japanese, you might reconsider your reasons for not studying it. You might be like me, resisting the language for a bad reason!!!
Don’t worry PJT, that was just a little joke from me. hehehe
I would love to learn Japanese, and it’s certainly one I will learn. The thing is that I’ve got so many languages I can say that about and there are at least half a dozen priority languages. (Dutch, Yiddish, French then Hebrew, Mandarin and Polish…Turkish…etc) I’ll get around to it…
Wow, Imyirtseshem, if you`ve got that many languages and more languages lined up, then you definitely are not like me “a language resister”. You sound more like a language pro so in that case I have no doubt you will learn Japanese when you get around to it and perhaps you will learn it with ease!
That’s only the beginning of my list PJT! I’m a resister of language in the sense that if I could study them all now, I certainly would. So, I’ve got to resist the temptation rather strongly. haha
Imyirtseshem, that sounds like a good problem to have!
Well, I made a giant leap for myself today. I sat down with my husband and intently watched the Japanese news. Always before I just purposely tuned out so I understood nothing. If something interested me, I didnt try to tune in, I just asked my husband what they said and he told me, but tonight when I purposely listened I realized I understood the entire program (content) but word for word only 80-85%. I cant speak that fluently, but I realized tonight that everything I thought I flushed out of my mind I had not. It is still there somewhere if I choose to not block it out. So that is what I have to work on, not blocking things out and to start building from where I left off.
