English is hard.

To get my education endorsement in ESL during college I had to take Structure and Development of the English Language. I was somewhat interested in and very mind-boggled by the details of English grammar. Now that I'm actually working as an English teacher for people learning English as a foreign language, I realize more and more how complicated some parts of English are. Students, Japanese English teachers, and friends ask me all kinds of questions that I have no idea about...because I've never thought about them...because as native speakers we just use grammar without thinking about it. Even if I do know what's correct and why, it's really hard to clearly explain in simple English the difference in how to use "Who smokes in class?" and "Who smokes in the class?" How about this...why is it okay to say, "People from all over the world...", but not okay to say, "People in all over the world..."?? Is there a difference in how we use, "She couldn't have said that," and "She can't have said that"? Though there's only one small word different, there is a very big difference in the meanings of, "I met her at college", and "I met her at the college". aaah! I actually feel really bad for people learning English.

The News

I always have so many things I want to write about...but not enough time or energy. Lately I've been putting off writing, because I think people are expecting me to say something about the earthquake and everything that ensued-- and is continuing-- but I don't have much to say, really. I mean, I could describe situations that I was in as a result of the earthquake, but they don't seem that interesting to write about. And I don't really know what's going on up north. BUT I have heard conditions are still really, really awful..."worse than what you see on the news"...and that many evacuation centers are being run by the Yakuza (Japanese mafia) who are confiscating donated items and then trying to sell them to victims at astronomical prices. Please continue to pray for Japan and find ways to help the victims. [See CRASH and Asian Access.] Other than these bits of info, the other thing that really stands out to me now about this experience is that I've lost almost all trust in the American media. I don't trust the Japanese government to report the truth either. It's a scary feeling to NEED accurate, potentially life-saving, information and not be able to find it anywhere or know it if you have found it. In the most uncertain days of the aftermath I didn't know who I could believe. Are there any trustworthy, non-hyped, non-secretive media sources??!!

Japanese [Life] Lessons

Some Japanese words I learn because they're grouped together in my textbook, and I study them systematically, saying them to myself again and again and coming up with mnemonic devices to remember them.
This week I studied:
tablespoon
teaspoon
cutting board
kitchen knife
seasoning
chop ingredients
cut in 3cm pieces

I'm not sure when I'll ever use these...but hopefully I'll have a chance to.


Some Japanese words I learn because I'm in a situation where I need them or where I hear them again and again.
Recently I've learned:
ゆれてる (It's shaking.)
ゆれてる? (Is it shaking?)
よしん (aftershock)
計画停電 (scheduled power outage)
放射能 (radiation)
ヨウ素 (iodine)
核の専門家 (nuclear expert)
非難する (evacuate)
じんましん (hives)

These are words I never anticipated learning...but I've learned them without much memorization effort at all, because they've been much more a part of my life than "tablespoon" and "chop ingredients".