Monday, March 27, 2006

ACQUISITION OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

1) ▼ “A person who can speak two languages fluently is called bilingual. A person who can speak many languages is called multi-bilingual. What do you call a person who can speak only one language?”

2) ▼ It was a riddle asked by an American I met recently while collecting news data. The answer was American. It is a joke to caricaturize American conceit. Some Americans consider that the English language can be available anywhere in the world so that they do not need to learn foreign languages, while Japanese people are relatively enthusiastic to learn foreign languages. At a bookstore, I can find a lot of English language textbooks compiled by NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) at the beginning of new school term.

3) ▼ They are as many as thirteen different kinds in total for both TV and radio programs. I owed a lot to such a program as a student but textbooks have increased greatly in varieties. They are sold even with compact disks attached. Some learners record programs by a timer so that they do not have to wake up early in the morning to listen to a radio program.

4) ▼ Late Ogawa Yoshio, former president of Tokyo University of Foreign Languages, was in charge of an English conversation program on the radio soon after the war. As it was a live broadcasting, he got up at four o’clock in the morning and took the first train to go to the NHK broadcasting studio. It was indeed success or failure for both the lecturer and learners.

5) ▼ Talking of a language genius, Heinrich Schliemann, a German archaeologist, who excavated the ruins of Troy in the 19th century, is famous. He mastered more than ten foreign languages in his life. He did not take longer than six weeks if it was a modern European language. The secret of mastering a foreign language is to spend every spare moment reciting expressions again and again. He parroted a sermon of the Anglican Church to acquire an English pronunciation. Those learners who are surrounded with so many teaching materials might be less blessed.

6) ▼ It is hard to master a foreign language, but it helps to learn mindsets and viewpoints different from Japanese. We should not spare our efforts at a time when globalization is causing cultural confrontations in the world.

Monday, March 13, 2006

ATTRACTIVE PLACES TO VISIT IN SPRING

1) ▼ The balmy weather in spring is tempting me to go on a trip somewhere.

2) ▼ What about visiting the southern Japan Alps in Yamanashi prefecture or budding greenery in Gunma prefecture or the area of Tsugaru plains in Aomori prefecture? Are cherry blossoms ready in Tochigi prefecture? If I go on a hike, I would enjoy walking around Mt. Myoko in Niigata prefecture, the Azumino basin in Nagano prefecture and Hachimantai highlands in Iwate prefecture.

3) ▼ It is also pleasant to go down a river in a boat. I want to enjoy sparkling water to the full at the Chikuma in Nagano prefecture, the Agano in Niigata prefecture, the Shimanto in Kochi prefecture, the Kino-kawa in Wakayama prefecture and the Yoshino-gawa in Tokushima prefecture. If I make a tour of islands, I may visit Awaji Island in Hyogo prefecture, Sado Island in Niigata prefecture, Eda-jima Island in Hiroshima prefecture. I might also like to go around Iki Island, Tsushima Island and Goto Islands in Nagasaki prefecture, and then as far as to Amakusa islands in Kumamoto prefecture, Amami islands in Kagaoshima prefecture and Miyako-jima island in Okinawa prefecture.

4) ▼ If I like to relax, hot springs are the best. Shall I go to Gero spa in Gifu prefecture, Awara spa in Fukui prefecture or Nasu-shiobara spa in Tochigi prefecture? Otherwise, shall I visit Unzen spa in Nagasaki prefecture in Kyushu or Ureshino spa in Saga prefecture? Looking up the dark sky in an outdoor bath, I may have a chance to see the Big Dipper twinkling in Hokkaido.

5) ▼ It may be delightful to spend time at the waterside of Seto-uchi inland sea in Okayama prefecture and join Awa dance festivalovernight in Tokushima prefecture. Children may like to join a Ninja-no-sato (Ninja village) tour at Iga in Mie prefecture and Koga in Shiga prefecture. If I like to eat something delicious, I will taste noodles cooked at Sanuki in Kagawa prefecture and Koshihikari rice produced at Uonuma in Niigata prefecture.

6) ▼Synoecizing cities, towns and villages in large-scale in the period of Heisei will be over this spring. It will be five years by the end of March since it started, during which merged cities have numbered about one hundred. Just by listing those newly born cities, I feel as if I am taking a leisure trip. But if I really go on a trip, I need to take a map with me, because the city of Date exists in Hokkaido and in Fukushima prefecture as well, the city of Yamagata is not in Yamagata prefecture but in Gifu prefecture, and furthermore there are many difficult names to read.