I had dinner last night with another English language instructor who works for my company. It was a very pleasant evening (despite being alcohol-free since I was driving); we talked about our progress in the Japanese language and strategies for improving. The guy I was talking to, a fellow Canadian from fairly close to Montreal, in fact - has been in Japan for three years and has developed superb language skills. Equal to and perhaps better than mine, though I've been here for nine years. Why?
Natural aptitude for language is of course a factor (I don't have it - even having grown up in Montreal, my French is still broken); but more than that - it's immersion. He functions almost completely in Japanese except when he's teaching. We (Brian and I), on the other hand, function almost completely in English except when performing survival functions, such as ordering a pizza!
I suppose we could speak Japanese to each other, only that would be really weird. I could also speak more Japanese in the office - but the people I work with speak English so well, it's much more time-efficient (and probably less prone to miscommunication) if we just speak English.
So --- I'll just keep going to my private lesson on Thursday evenings, doing my homework, and taking the Nihongo Shiken:-)
1 comment:
And we wonder how it is possible for immigrants to live in a country and not learn the language. We do what makes us the most comfortable. Trying to speak more Japanese even when it is not the most convenient might make a difference.
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