National Language(s)

Posted on July 16th, 2008 in Customary Drivel, Politics, Unsolicited Commentary by Deas

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This was fascinating for me to hear. This clip is Mark Steyn commenting about the nature of dual language countries and his personal confusion over why any country would choose to become such a place. I teach English as a second language in an area of Japan that honestly doesn’t see much value in English. This leads me to sometimes wonder if I’m actually teaching useful language or merely indulging a quasi-fetishistic view of foreign languages. I’m still not really sure one way or the other and I sway from day to day on the topic. Also, as an immigrant here, I’ve learned Japanese to the best of my ability so that I can go about daily life and have adventures and whatnot. I very rarely feel upset when something is not translated into English (which is actually considerably rare in most of urban Japan) - the only recent exception being a survey for foreign people. But that was no big deal, really. For those who aren’t quite sure what Mr. Steyn’s referencing, Senator Obama was taking questions from the crowd in Georgia recently when someone asked about bilingualism in America, implying that they’d like to see the country move in that direction. Here’s Senator Obama’s reply.

I don’t understand when people are going around saying, ‘We need to have English only.’ They want to pass a law ‘We want English only.’ Now I agree that immigrants should learn English. I agree with that. But understand this. Instead of worrying about whether immigrants can learn English. They’ll learn English. You need to make sure your child can speak Spanish. You should be thinking about how can your child become bilingual. We should have every child speaking more than one language. It’s embarrassing when Europeans come over here, they all speak English, they speak French, they speak German. And then we go over to Europe and all we can say is merci beaucoup, right?
(YouTube)

Now, I’m really not attempting to get into a political brawl here, so let’s just leave the presidential politics at the door. Instead, I’m curious about your thoughts on bilingualism. Or rather, a country’s purposeful transition to multiple mainstream languages. (In other words, I know most of you, like me, are totally thrilled with learning new languages, and we see the value in that as individuals. But what’s your take for society as a whole?) This question also leads into topics like immigrant assimilation and involved communities versus linguistically segregated ones. So…thoughts?

Oil Comic

Posted on May 21st, 2008 in Customary Drivel, Politics, Unsolicited Commentary, 日本語 by Deas

When I culled the election themed editorial cartoon, I also noticed this one. I thought I’d toss it up today, for giggles. It’s from the same issue of the newspaper. Awww. Cute kid. And now for the text and translation portion of the program.

地球防衛家のヒトビト
「原油がどんどん高くなっていくなー」
「そのうちなくなるかもしれないものね‥」
「石油ってどうやってできるの？」
「植物が地中で長い時間かけて石油になるんだよ」
「‥‥‥」
「ボクがオトナになるまでに間にあうかなー？」

Earth Defense Family - Hitobito*
“Crude oil is getting more and more expensive, huh?”
“What’s more, it might run out.”
“How is oil made?”
“Plants left in the ground for a long time become oil.”
(Sounds of physical effort.)
“I wonder if it’ll be ready by the time I’m an adult?”

*Hitobito is the name of the comic strip. It means “people.”

I feel like this kid. Ha ha. Only I want at the remaining oil to use while searching for the next big thing. Which isn’t ethanol. Sigh. Ethanol subsidies are a big problem. But I digress.

Election Cartoon

Posted on May 14th, 2008 in Customary Drivel, Media, Photos, Politics, Unsolicited Commentary, 日本語 by Deas

The Asahi Shimbun (major newspaper) published this editorial cartoon about the upcoming American presidential election today. Interesting.


Editorial cartoon from the Asahi Shimbun Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 on page 26.
***

The caption reads: 「ちょいと本選試投をしてみるか」. In English that says something like “Let’s see about throwing a ball for the real election once in a while.” It implies that Hillary’s days are numbered, since it implies that the election in November will be between Obama and McCain. The bottom part says 「クリントンさん　頭越に失礼」or “An overhead slight for Mrs. Clinton.” I’m not really familiar with these kanji, but I think I’ve interpreted correctly.

Another interesting note about the caricatures: Obama has a big, honkin’ Tengu nose. Is it because he’s the foreigner in the foreground? Why not focus on his ears, like many American editorial cartoonists do? He’s sensitive about them and everything… Stylized convention, perhaps? Hmm. I seem to remember some awkward Obama impersonations before…

Also - Alex has some interesting numbers up about media coverage that the candidates are receiving in Japan. Check it out if you have a minute.

EDIT: Alex caught something good here. From the first comment below, “There’s no need for the caricaturist to identify Obama or Clinton, but she had to scrawl マケイン氏 next to McCain’s image, or people would have just been baffled by the old guy standing in the background.”

Japanese Presidential Puns

Posted on April 28th, 2008 in Customary Drivel, Humor, Politics, Unsolicited Commentary, 日本語 by Deas

I was doing some unsupervised surfing through Japanese political message boards, and found something that delighted me. There is an inclination to turn various candidates names into puns. I love it! Here are some that I found.

Hillary Clinton → Hillary → ヒラリ → ひらり
Hirari means “nimbly” or “lightly” according to Rikaichan.

Barack Obama →　Obama → オバマ → 小浜
This is the same old story about the town in Fukui Prefecture called Obama (English).

John McCain →　McCain → マケイン → 負けいん
Makein is a really rough, colloquial way to say “I will not lose!” Lucky match for a candidate, no? Ok, maybe it’s a little shoehorned, but still. Ha ha.

Mitt Romney →　Romney → ロムニー →　ロム兄さん
Yes, I know Romney is out. But the pun was too good. They shortened his name a bit and turned it into Romuniisan or “Older Brother Rom.” (It’s cute in Japanese, because it also sounds like “Mister Romney.” Trust me.)

On a related note, something that bugs me here is that people walk up and ask me, “Hey, who are you voting for, Hillary or Obama?” My response is usually “Those are just the choices for the Democrat nomination at the moment. One of them will run in the general election in November as the Democrat candidate. You do realize that, right?” They’ve usually already glazed over at this point - and who can blame them? Ha ha. Politics. Anyway, I searched around using the katakana approximations of the big three names at the moment, and dredged the bottom of the web. Without further ado, here’s a quote I turned up, which has been altered to remove a reference to women reducing them to their reproductive organs (too common a problem in the scary, roughly-hewn, back room discussion boards I stumbled blindly through, I’m afraid).

2008/03/21(金)
「ぶっちゃけ、米国はまだ黒人と[女]が大統領に指名するほど
成熟した国家ではない。

よってマイケンが当確。

日本のマスゴミは偏向してるから、オバマとヒラリーの
一騎打ちと報じているだけよ。」

March 21, 2008 (Friday)
“Frankly speaking, America is still not a country mature enough to elect a black person or woman as president.

McCain’s got it in the bag.

It’s just that the propensity of the Japanese mass media** is to report on the subject as though it is a one-on-one contest between Hillary and Obama.”

**Pun alert!
マスコミ = Mass Communications (mass media)
マスゴミ = Mass Garbage (mainstream pap and chaff, tabloid journalism)

This fascinates me. I mean, I like the pun, for one thing. I find the depth of the mass media reports to be lacking, for sure. And the result seems to be a misunderstanding that the race is between Obama and Hillary only. However, I completely understand the tendency to report on the Obama and Hillary side of things - it is way more exciting historically speaking even if it is for superficial reasons like race and gender. (Which is not to say that I am putting either of them down due to this; I am simply not inclined to think that they’d do a better job than anyone else because of race or gender. That’s pretty fair, I think.) Also, the anonymous commenter seems to think that America’s not mature enough to elect a black person or a woman. I disagree there, too. I think it’s pretty obvious that America’s ready. And I find it ironic that the tone is (in my poor Japanese reading) slightly condescending or disappointed in America’s supposed lack of maturity while at the same time using a pretty sexist slur. I obviously need to refine my searching skills and find some more reputable sources. But it was kind of interesting.　Also, I prerecorded a phone call for the Dennis Miller Show last Saturday morning about the pun-nicknames - it might air this coming Friday, if you’re interested. :-)

Diversity at University

Posted on February 27th, 2008 in Customary Drivel, Media, Politics, Unsolicited Commentary, Video by Deas

Indoctrinate U Review

Indoctrinate U is a documentary put together by Evan Coyne Maloney, of On the Fence Films. The basic premise of the film is that universities all over the United States have become ideologically and demographically skewed in a way that threatens the campus free speech movement that arose during the 1960s. In the interest of full disclosure, I am partial to this message because I myself experienced some discomfort due to my world view in college. That’s not to say that I felt persecuted or attacked (usually) for my conservative philosophy, but I definitely felt like I was in the minority and learned when to keep my mouth shut, or when I needed to parrot a professor in order to pass a class. So the film reflects my beliefs. In any event, I think that the film has a good, strong message that will be more than merely palatable to anyone who is interested in education reform. Especially in the area of ideological conformity.

Far from functioning as bastions of serious thought and reasoned debate, Maloney found, campuses today operate as mental processing plants, doing more to tell students what to say and think than to teach them to think for themselves.

Some of you may have read my thoughts on diversity earlier. It may have come across that I also dislike the victimhood mentality that is so prevalent in America today. I feel like the emphasis on diversity (meaning certain different belief systems, nationalities, and skin colors) on today’s college campuses has created a bizarre counterintuitive atmosphere where classes and study programs nurture and further the idea of victimhood, and simultaneously act as segregationist havens. This documentary nails that point on the head and hammers it home. Read on for a quick review.

Vote

Posted on January 16th, 2008 in Customary Drivel, Politics, Unsolicited Commentary by Deas

Hey all - just wanted to say that I hope all of you folks out there, Americans as well as those from other countries, vote in your home countries’ elections - if that right is yours. My absentee ballot information has arrived at last, and I will be voting shortly in my home state of South Carolina’s presidential primary election. While I was home over the winter break I also filled out the necessary paperwork for a local government election in summer, and of course the big bad General Election coming up in November. I cannot imagine not having a say in my government, and I urge all of you who have opinions to get educated about things and make a choice - and use this chance to have your voice heard. If you don’t vote, you forfeit your right to whine in my opinion. So, if you’re up to it - make an effort to get in contact with the appropriate authorities, deal with the red tape, and make sure you are counted. And encourage others, too. It’s your right. It’s important. (Having said that, if you are disinterested in politics, ill informed about the candidates, or otherwise suffer from political ennui - a common condition, please don’t vote. Please. The act of voting doesn’t make you a good citizen. The act of voting responsibly and for reasons you strongly believe in does. Make the judgment call for yourself.)

As a side note, I’d like to point out that I was amazed to discover that a ballot arrived in my email inbox. I had no idea that you could have ballots emailed to you when I checked the box on the application form a few weeks ago. I sent a reply message to the lady who sent me my ballot with a few questions. Chief among them: Is there a fraud prevention mechanism in use so that absentee voters can’t just forward copies of their ballots around to their friends and neighbors for extra voting? (If not, I’m bothered by the potential for fraud which seriously degrades the meaning of my vote.) I personally believe that voting should be harder to do than it is at present - it is too important to be lenient with the rules. I support legislation requiring a photo ID for voting, for instance. I want to make sure that my vote is not discounted because of a lousy system.

If you’re able to participate in your home country’s government while living abroad (in Japan), and you’ve got a vested interest in doing so, I really hope you take the time to do it. Ok, I’ve said my piece. :-) Enough, already. I know. Ha ha.

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