I've been leading a "single" life for the past ten days. My wife's been in Nagoya, her hometown. It's not that we have marital problems, of course.

When we got engaged and decided to move to my hometown, which is in a remote place from Nagoya, I promised her mother - her father passed away when she was in junior high - that I would let her come home to see her at least once a year. And I've kept the promise ever since. Together at times, not together at most other times.

She'll be back this afternoon. It's chotto tereru to say this, but I re-realize how much she means to me in those periods. And hopefully she does too.

Today is our wedding anniversary.

Posted by Kiyo at 10:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Though it was quite an accident that I came into the English-teaching business, I should say it's great to earn a living doing something related to what I like -- the English language. Teaching itself is not necessarily (seems like I've mastered the spelling) what I like to do. I'm not the type who can explain things well. I'm not the type who can handle children well. But experience seems to make you something different. I'm sometimes amused at myself while teaching.

Though having taught English to kids and adults for years, I myself had not necessarily (practice makes perfect) been a dedicated English learner for that period - until this February. I'd been so busy with my teaching work that I'd had little time to study for myself. -- No, that's an excuse. If you will, you can study in any ways. I ain't nothing but a mikka boze.

So I'd been looking for something that would force myself to keep learning English. And I think I've found a good one. Yes, it's this journal. Writing is a good way to maintain and improve your language skills. Also, reading other blogs inspires and teaches me a lot. Reading and writing -- I think that's the key to bring you to the higher stage of language learning.

Posted by Kiyo at 11:26 AM | Permalink

Studying for at least 6 years at junior and senior high school, why can't they speak English? Oh yes, it's the typical remark on the English ability of Japanese people heard from inside and outside of the country. The answer is simple: In Japan, students study English to pass the tests, pass the entrance exams, not necessarily (oh, I spelled it right) to acquire good communicative skills -- at least on the face of it so far.

Aside from my views on it, that's the reality. Students aren't to blame.

But wait. Is this phenomenon (oh, I did it right again), I mean, not being able to speak the certain foreign language in spite of the years-long studies at school, peculiar to the Japanese school scenes? Studying French at school made you a good communicator in the language? Greek is no more Greek to you?

Now, let me say, acquiring a good command of a foreign language depends greatly on your motivation and dedication. That's not what you should expect schools to give you.

I was inspired to write this entry after reading M Sinclair Stevens' post on nipponDAZE. The difference of "studying" and "learning" -- that's worth giving a serious thought.

"People studying without learning" -- English in Japan.

Posted by Kiyo at 10:38 AM | Permalink

A first grade boy's remark in class yesterday:

"Nobody knows their fate."

Hm. You may be right, George. But where in the world did you learn that?

Posted by Kiyo at 9:52 AM | Permalink

Eri of Cronica di Eri wonders if she can link to other blog sites without permission. I understand her, because it's generally been considered to be polite, at least among Japanese sites, to ask for permission before linking to other websites from yours. I'm not talking about Japanese blog sites in Japan -- I don't know how much they have gained ground.

So I'm very comfortable with the free linking practices granted in the blogging world. You can even "deep link" to other blog sites by using archive links. Considering the nature of blogs, those practices can be in the natural course of events. I always feel flattered when I find my site linked to from other blogs. The fact that someone comes to read my blog at all is a great thing for me, much more being linked!

What I don't (wanna) understand is the attitude especially taken by newspaper websites. They generally require you to ask for permission by submitting "the name of your website, its content, the purpose of your link, your full name and address" before linking, only for linking. They may have their commercial reasons or something, but, to me, they look hoity-toity.

Posted by Kiyo at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Domo arigato for the useful info regarding "swan song". As a non-native English speaker, how the words and phrases I haven't seen very often actually sound to native speakers is an intriguing yet hard-to-learn-by-myself matter. I very much appreciate your help.

This morning, I noticed a paperback that I bought many years ago but have left unread -- "GET TO THE ROOTS - A Dictionary of Words & Phrase Origins" (Martin Manser, Avon Books). I looked up "swan song", and sure there was! Here let me quote:

The expression derives from the belief - found in writings of the ancient Greeks and the poetry of Shakespeare and Coleridge - that a swan sings a beautiful sweet song just before it dies. The belief is in fact mistaken, but nevertheless the expression lingers.

Interesting, even though it isn't the case, the expression sounds somewhat persuasive.

It's always fun for me to get to know new words and phrases.

Posted by Kiyo at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I have my school website which I haven't updated very often. Oh, the site is written in Japanese. Yesterday, a visitor posted this question: Is the phrase "swan song", which means one's last work, commonly used by native English speakers?

I'm not familiar with the expression. So let me ask you for your opinion. Do you often hear this phrase? How does it sound to you?

Posted by Kiyo at 11:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Do you know Gumby? I liked to watch the clay animation very much when I was a kid -- I was a kid anyway, but it was so long time ago that I cannot recollect when that was. Actually, I even forgot the title of the animation. So I wrote about it in my blog this April, and Jennifer told me it's Gumby. Wow!

I talked about my memories of Gumby to a class one day, then two of the students brought some Gumby stationery to class -- a Gumby memopad and a Gumby mechanical pencil. I was glad to know the character was still alive and popular.

A while after that, I was browsing amazon.co.jp when I took a whim to type "Gumby" in the search box. To my surprise and excitement and joy, there appeared Gumby videos! I found myself ordering two of them in another moment.

Watching them was like digging up a time capsule. All right! I'll watch them again now.

Posted by Kiyo at 2:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

Totally Off The Record is a website collecting off-the-record stories by occupation (the link found via 100SHIKI). Being a kind of teacher, my interest goes to the stories by school teachers, and I found this Japan-related one:

I teach English in Japan to Junior High and Elementary school students. On many occasions, certain students--especially in Elementary school--think it's funny to give me a "Kancho."

Kancho is Japanese for enema, and it's also a "game" that boys like to play, where they put their hands together in the shape of a gun, say "kancho!" and quickly jab the index fingers in their friend's rectum.

These kids have done this to me on several occasions. As if it weren't bad enough that children would even consider doing this to a teacher, once in a while I find another teacher who acts as if it's no big deal, or even worse laughs about it.

What a story. I think "kancho" kids began appearing back in my junior high days, possibly affected by some manga. There are still those kids? I'm glad I've never been kanchoed in my life.

Posted by Kiyo at 12:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Seems like I've been learning a lot about the English language these couple of days. Thanks folks.

I got up at 6:20 this morning -- I'm an amazingly early bird for a juku teacher. I've had coffee, so I'm all ready to write now, well, maybe. ;)

Now, I have to reveal the "correct" answer for the question. ...Um, folks, are you ready for this? The answer shown in the textbook was:

You (shall)(have) this book as a birthday present.

......well, are you all right? This is no bullshit. No time warp. And the test-maker won't accept other answers. That's what so-called Japan's "(Entrance) Exam English" is about.

From my experience of English learning, I can say I'm a firm believer of the importance of grammar in learning a foreign language. But it should not be like "grammar for grammar's sake."

Incidentally, my students answered, "You (will)(get) this this book as a birthday present." I told them that it sounds way better than the "correct" answer. Am I correct?

Posted by Kiyo at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

While teaching high school seniors yesterday, I came across this exam question in a textbook. It is one of the typical types of questions for English exams here -- that you have to fill in the blanks so that the two sentences will have almost the same meaning. Try it for fun. ;)

I will give you this book as a birthday present. = You (   )(   ) this book as a birthday present.

Posted by Kiyo at 2:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Yashiko has blogged (September 17th entry - Yashiko, your archive feature doesn't work!) about kanji (Chinese characters). Nice read. I usually don't think much about the meaning of each kanji in "compound" kanji words, but sometimes getting to know the etymology, I have "aha!" moments. That's kind of fun. It must be a lot helpful for Japanese learners to have time to study the original meaning and composition of each kanji.

In the same way, learning about prefixes, roots, and suffixes can be very helpful in learning English words. I was very excited when I first knew about this in high school -- not from English teachers, unfortunately, but from an English reference book for college entrance exams. But, as might be expected, I grew tired of them when I started reading another thick book full of those explanations. Modesty could be the name of the game.

And shortly after I started my English school, I came across this great vocabulary builder -- Word Power Made Easy. If you know a good up-to-date book similar to this, please let me know. I think I'll order it along with Bill Bryson's "The Mother Tongue" that Kurt recommended. ;)

By the way, I think I have talked about it on one of my entries, but I feel my kanji writing ability has been weakening ever since I started using computers. Aargh! Oh, but let me say, in high school, I was (fairly/rather/pretty/very -- choose whichever you like) good at kanji. If I say "quite" good, where, in your opinion, does it fall on among the words in the brackets?

Posted by Kiyo at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yashiko has blogged (September 17th entry - Yashiko, your archive feature doesn't work!) about kanji (Chinese characters). Nice read. I usually don't think much about the meaning of each kanji in "compound" kanji words, but sometimes getting to know the etymology, I have "aha!" moments. That's kind of fun. It must be a lot helpful for Japanese learners to have time to study the original meaning and composition of each kanji.

In the same way, learning about prefixes, roots, and suffixes can be very helpful in learning English words. I was very excited when I first knew about this in high school -- not from English teachers, unfortunately, but from an English reference book for college entrance exams. But, as might be expected, I grew tired of them when I started reading another thick book full of those explanations. Modesty could be the name of the game.

And shortly after I started my English school, I came across this great vocabulary builder -- Word Power Made Easy. If you know a good up-to-date book similar to this, please let me know. I think I'll order it along with Bill Bryson's "The Mother Tongue" that Kurt recommended. ;)

By the way, I think I have talked about it on one of my entries, but I feel my kanji writing ability has been weakening ever since I started using computers. Aargh! Oh, but let me say, in high school, I was (fairly/rather/pretty/very -- choose whichever you like) good at kanji. If I say "quite" good, where, in your opinion, does it fall on among the words in the brackets?

Posted by Kiyo at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)

I think "quite" is quite a confusing word for Japanese learners of English. This is, for one thing, due to the traditional way of teaching the meaning at school. This word is generally taught at high school and the definition given there is almost always "mattaku" only. Mattaku means "completely, perfectly." Thus, students take "quite good" as "perfectly good." Look up the word in an any given English-Japanese dictionary, and you'll find "mattaku" as the first definition. Students tend to not "read" dictionaries, so they blindly believe it is the meaning. So do most Japanese teachers of English, I guess.

What makes "quite" even more confusing is that the word has significantly different meanings depending on the word it modifies and also there seem to be regional differences in connotations the word makes. It's quite right to say "You're quite wrong" for the meaning of "completely wrong." Right? Then, what about "Your blog is quite good"? Will you be glad to hear that?

....."Quite" is quite a word.

Posted by Kiyo at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Today is a substitute holiday for Respect-for-the-Aged Day that happened to fall on Sunday.

I usually decide what to write for the day's entry after I sit in front of the computer, check my mail and browse the blogs I visit daily. I do it mostly in the morning. There are days when nothing special comes to my mind. Today is the day. Maybe my thinking is in the holiday mode. ;) It's 11:50 a.m. I guess many of the visitors are spending Sunday night now. Time differences are interesting. If you post a comment, you'll know what time it is in Japan.

Oh, it's about time for lunch.

Posted by Kiyo at 11:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I was watching a talk-variety-nonsense program on TV yesterday afternoon. They were doing an English conversation quiz. A (supposedly) native English speaker gave some how-to-say-that-in-English questions to a couple of terebi tarento (TV personalities -- I'm not happy with this translation. Do you have any better idea?). One of the questions was "Chakku ga aite imasu (Your fly is open)." Haha, do you remember my "fly" entry? Violet likes it very much and talks about it every time in class. Come on! Ah-oh, well, so a tarento answered "Your zipper is open." The (supposedly) native speaker regarded it as a wrong answer, saying "You can't say 'zipper' for the fly of your pants. Zipper is a word used for other clothes." -- Hey, that's news to me. Isn't the zipper-like thing on your pants a zipper (or a zip in British English)? What do you think? I don't know her nationality, but from her accent, it's certain she's not an American.

Incidentally, it's a shame that she didn't teach "Your barn door's open." ;)

Posted by Kiyo at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)

About four months ago, I wrote about an American guy named Trevor who had once stayed in my town as an AET (Assistant English Teacher). He was a very impressive person. We got along with each other and talked about everything from how to write his name in katakana to politics. Although I told him to call me Kiyo, he would keep addressing me "Hatano-sensei" right from around the time we first met. He was such a courteous (and a bit stubborn) guy. However, after he left my town, we lost in touch.

So you could guess how I was surprised to stumble upon the name "Trevor Hill" on the Net. On a blog site I came across, the author's name was just that. I skimmed some of his entries and found he actually used to be in Japan, which made me believe instantly that he was the guy. So I posted a comment, saying "Are you the Trevor Hill that I know?" ...Yes, call me a rude and impulsive guy. He was not the Trevor that I know.

There are at least two Trevor Hills that have stayed in Japan, having remarkable insight into the Japanese culture and language.

Now I think I was really lucky to find a wonderful blog site -- glome by Trevor Hill.

Posted by Kiyo at 1:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Another English blog by a Japanese living in Japan was born! My friend Eri-san has started a blog "Cronica di Eri." She, like me, teaches English at her own after-school school type of English school, which has gained much popularity among local students. She says she'd like to blog from a working mother's point of view. In fact, she leads a very busy and productive life as an English teacher and homemaker. Without doubt, she has wonderful taste in language -- she was an Italian major. I'm sure you'll enjoy reading her blog.

She's already blogged about an interesting topic on sneakers. Go visit her!

Posted by Kiyo at 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Posted by Kiyo at 9:22 AM | Permalink

A friend of mine is now trying to start a blog. The struggle began when I recommended her to use MovableType. I believe it is the best tool to maintain one's blog. After some trials and errors (caused largely by my inefficient advice), she installed the program on the server space provided by her ISP and posted a couple of entries. I posted a comment and it was successful too. All seemed to go well and she was moving on to the blog design...but only yesterday when she loaded the mt.cgi, she got hit with those nasty 500 Internal Server Errors. What the heck is this? Nothing is wrong with her settings, I believe. In fact, the CGI had worked without any problems at least until yesterday.

Now she is thinking of getting a domain name and placing her blog on a more reliable server as a choice. If so, do you folks have any good registrars to recommend? The thing is, I registered my domain name with the one that seems to have a very bad reputation in the blogging world. So I don't think I can recommend it to her.

Posted by Kiyo at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

If you ask a Japanese if s/he likes to soak in onsen (Japanese hot springs), it's likely that you'll get the answer "Yes!" Onsen is a byword for relaxation and healing. There are a lot of famous onsen resorts all around Japan.

In spite of the (psychological) popularity, onsen resorts seem to have had a hard time attracting sufficient tourists in recent years. Onneyu, which we visited last weekend, can be one of those spots that have seen better days. Now there are only two major hotels there. Along the onsen street, you can see a couple of abandoned hotels, creating a gloomy and eerie atmosphere around the area. Fortunately, the two big hotels seem to be in good shape and stable enough to provide excellent service.

On the way to Onneyu lies a town where I lived from 3rd through 8th grade. We dropped into the town to buy some cold medicine, because I felt like I was catching a cold (Again!). At the first drugstore, I couldn't find the type of medicine I wanted -- I have never seen a drugstore that has such a little selection... At the second, they had just what I was looking for. Good or bad, the store had an old-fashioned air. Because of the popularity of out-of-town types of stores, which have large parking areas, many conventional stores as in a shopping district near the train station are having a difficult time surviving. I felt the main street was very narrow. I felt the downtown was aging.

Posted by Kiyo at 2:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

We've just been to a hot spring resort, Onneyu, about 120 km (74.5 miles) away from my town. We go there about this time every year and stay in our favorite ryokan (a Japanese-style hotel). Why this time of year? - To wash out the summer sweat. Makes no sense? Never mind, this is how Japanese goes.

Feeling elegant in a classy tatami room, enjoying a variety of Japanese cuisines, and soaking in the relaxing hot springs -- Yeah! Er, but usually we come home a little tired. There is no place like home. Hahaha!

Well, the calendar shows I haven't blogged on a daily basis this month. That's not good. I swore that I would blog every day on April Fools' Day this year.

Posted by Kiyo at 5:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

When I was in high school, there was a popular piece of manga (Japanese comics) called "Toiretto Hakase" (Dr. Toilet). As the name suggests, it was a gag strip full of toilet-related funny nonsense. No, no, I don't want to be a Dr. Toilet.

My generation, as well as younger ones, has been influenced by manga in many ways. Manga has formed a kind of culture in Japan. When I was a kid, reading manga was one of the most enjoyable moments, and on weekday evenings and Sunday mornings, I would sit in front of the TV set to watch popular anime serials. In high school, I would share several weekly manga magazines with my friends at school. It was often said that foreigners were surprised to find a lot of salarymen reading manga magazines on the commuter train. I don't know if it's the case even now as well.

I haven't read manga for about 20 years now. Where has the frenzy gone? My students often tell me about today's manga or anime. It's natural that things around manga will change as time goes by. I feel like reading the silly "Toiretto Hakase" again.

Posted by Kiyo at 10:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Did you enjoy the Labor Day holiday? We do have Labor Day, or May Day, on May 1, but it's not a holiday in Japan. Oh yeah, but we'll have two consecutive Mondays off this month -- on 16th for Respect-for-senior-citizens Day and on 23rd for Autumnal Equinox Day.

Now, another toilet story. I've found an interesting and funny website that deals in a unique toilet product (via 100SHIKI). They did a questionnaire survey to females of all ages on "three things males do to blight their lives." Hey, the top two were toilet-related things! Really? According to them, 49 % of those questioned answered "mis-aiming at the toilet," and 43 % "leaving the toilet seat up." So they recommend their product, "Toilet Nanny," a small device that is to be sticked under the toilet seat, and when you raise the seat, it will tell you to aim correctly and put the seat down when done. Haha....

I once read in a local newspaper that many wives in Japan these days ask (or order?) their husbands to sit on the seat even when doing their small business. Ah, not my wife. :)

Posted by Kiyo at 11:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)

It's September. Time flies. It is often said that the older you get, the faster you feel time goes by. What about you? Um, it's supposed to be autumn in Hokkaido, Japan. A beautiful season. The air temperature today is over 30 C (86 F). Huh? It's a fairly usual temperature in other regions in Japan, to be sure, but NOT in Hokkaido! We've had a terrible, cold summer over here this year, but what the heck is this hot weather now? Summer should be hot, and fall should be cool. Even though I like hot summer, I don't want hot fall. My mind is not set that way. Something is wrong, isn't it?

Posted by Kiyo at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Sorry to say, Violet won't be able to write her diary for a certain period of time. She is in 9th grade and thus in preparation for the high-school entrance exams next March. And she has three important achievement tests ahead of her to take at school. To my eyes, being an excellent student, Violet has no problem to get through the entrance exam of the school of her first choice. She, however, seems to be nervous. I know. That's what entrance examinees are about in Japan, whose test-centered education system is often described ironically as "Examination Hell." Even my town, situated in the country, is no exception. Though the students' choice of schools is limited to only a few and there is no stiff competition as compared to the students in big cities, and so the results are greatly foreseeable before actually taking exams, most of them go to Gakushu Juku (cram schools) to get supplementary or extra learning after school. My school could be one of such schools, though I don't think it is.

I hope she will get confidence in herself (especially social studies, she says. English is not a problem at all for her, of course ;)), and start keeping her diary in due course. Gambare, Violet!

Posted by Kiyo at 9:47 AM | Permalink