I went into this book with absolutely no expectations. In fact, I didn’t even seek the book out to read. I just saw it in the library and decided to check it out since there weren’t many books dealing with Japan to choose from. What a pleasant surprise this turned out to be!

Although the author is uneducated, she is able to tell a great story and couldn’t be called unintelligent. Unlike the very popular Memoirs of a Geisha, which was also a great book (and pretty mediocre movie unfortunately done with many non-Japanese actors), this is a true story. I got the feeling that Arthur Golden borrowed some material from Autobiography of a Geisha to create his fictional account.

Autobiography of a Geisha is a rich story of the human predicament exploring what it means to be alive. The author’s life is actually very inspiring at times. She overcomes so much adversity along the way that if you are looking for a good “pick-me-up” type book that isn’t candy coated and sappy from cover to cover then you should find Autobiography of a Geisha and enjoy this page-turning, real adventure.

Posted on May 21st, 2008 under Japan. Tags: book review, G. G. Rowley, geisha, Nagano, Sayo Masuda, Tokyo, 増田小夜, 芸者: 苦闘の半生涯. Comments: 1

I’m a teacher by profession, and one thing I try to get across to my students is that it is difficult to learn something merely by reading about it once or twice. Reading a textbook isn’t all that effective; nor is it enjoyable. To really learn something for the long term, one has to do more than read. Tackling your target from many angles, or in other words, doing, and doing in different ways, seems to be most effective for long-term comprehension and retention. So I encourage my students to read, practice using one method (maybe practice quizzes), practice using another method (maybe doing problems and then checking answers), practice using another method (maybe flashcards), practice using another method (maybe tutoring someone else), etc.

So why should I do any different in my quest to improve my Japanese language abilities? Unfortunately, I don’t have a Japanese tutor or even anyone that I can speak Japanese to and/or hear Japanese from on a daily basis. I’ll have to save that method for when I’m in Japan next year. I do have a wide variety of ways that I’m studying Japanese though. I’ll list them here in no particular order. On a good day I’ll do at least 15 minutes of each.

1. Practice reading and writing kanji with Nazotte Oboeru Otona no Kanji Renshu (なぞっておぼえる大人の漢字練習) for the Nintendo DS. I look up any unknown phrases or words as I go so I learn new vocabulary in addition to kanji.

2. Read Nihongo Journal （日本語ジャーナル）including taking all practice JLPT tests included. I also listen to the tapes or CDs for the issues in which I own the accompanying audio. I have about 50 issues and that should keep me busy for the next year.

3. Read Mangajin （漫画人）. This is easier and more enjoyable than the above two. You can read Mangajin online, but I’ve found the scan quality to be pretty poor so I’ve purchased about 50 issues and prefer to read them in hard copy format.

4. Read other Japanese books in Japanese. I’m currently reading Harry Potter in Japanese–ハリー・ポッターと秘密の部屋 to be more specific. While reading I look up any unknown words in my Canon Wordtank V90 electronic dictionary. The reading is actually pretty easy because furigana are placed next to most kanji.

5. Subscribe to various email lists that send a different kanji, word, or grammar via email each day. These are available through the links in yesterday’s post–specifically the kanji-a-day and yokooso sites.

Posted on May 20th, 2008 under Japan. Tags: japanese language, Japanese Language Study Methods, mangajin, Nazotte Oboeru Otona no Kanji Renshuu. Comments: 2

First of all, I should give you a bit of background. In 1987 I found out I was going to be living in Japan for almost two years. At that point I knew nothing about Japan or the Japanese language. On my own I learned hiragana, katakana, and a few dozen words. Then I had two months of intensive language training before going to Japan. While in Japan I studied and spoke everyday. I learned 3 kanji a day while there as well. By the end of 1989 I had pretty decent Japanese and knew about 2,000 kanji (although I probably only knew about 1,000 of them well).

After returning to the states I minored in Japanese and worked off and on as a tour guide for Japanese tourists for a total of about 9 or 10 months. From 1992 until 2007 I did nothing with respect to my Japanese language skills–no oral practice, no studying, no reading in Japanese, nothing.

I was a bit surprised then when on my first return to Japan in 2007 I could still get by pretty well. I could still read many things, and understanding and saying things wasn’t really a problem. Sure, I wasn’t as fluent as I once was, but I wasn’t back to square one either.

Now here I am in 2008 with plans to go back and live in Japan for a year. I want to get my Japanese back to where it was and then continue to improve. So for the past couple of months I’ve been using a multifaceted approach to achieving this goal.

First, I’ll share with you some of the sites that I’ve found useful. Tomorrow I’ll discuss the various simultaneous methods I’m using to try to improve my Japanese.

http://www.kanji-a-day.com/ Four Kanji to learn a day–one at each of the JLPT levels. This site also includes a decent dictionary.

http://www.thespectrum.net/features/mangajin/ Mangajin online. Not all issues are here. I found them too difficult to read online so I purchased them in hardcopy instead.

http://naruhodojapan.blogspot.com/ There is some good stuff here. Too bad they don’t update it more often.

http://homepage3.nifty.com/funahashi/game/ Online games for Japanese kids. Very little Japanese knowledge is required to do the easier ones.

http://www.kanjiclinic.com/preart.htm I learned Kanji very differently than this site suggests, but there is some useful and interesting items here.

http://www.learn-hiragana-katakana.com/review-play-hiragana-game/ There are lots of sites out there for learning hiragana and katakana. My kids haven’t found any of them to be that interesting. They are learning hiragana and katakana via the DS; more on that in tomorrow’s post.

http://www.yookoso.com/ Another site with some good study tools.

http://www.declan-software.com/japanese/index.htm I use the free Gadget for Vista (not available on this link so far as I could see) from Declan Software that produces a different Japanese word in a Gadget box on my desktop each day. The word of the day also includes audio and furigana.

Japan in Motion Blogs

Top Sites – Japan

What links am I missing? Let me know by posting a comment.

Posted on May 19th, 2008 under Japan. Tags: japanese language, Japanese Language Study Methods, japanese links. Comments: 1

I’m going to be out of town the next few days so I thought I’d post about a book I just finished before heading out. Manga! Manga! by Frederik L. Schodt (and with a foreward by the famous Osamu Tezuka 手塚治虫) was an interesting read. The contents are very dated now, and it wasn’t as fun to read as Mangajin, but I still found it hard to put down.

I’m currently reading Autobiography of a Geisha (along with about ten other things), and it is even more of a page turner.

My kids’ blog is now up here. Hopefully, they will use it so you can read about our adventures through their eyes.

Posted on May 14th, 2008 under Japan. Tags: book review, books, Japan, Japanese Manga, recommendations, reviews. Comments Off on Manga! Manga!