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Author Archives: J Sensei
Defragmenting the Human Mind
More Efficient Thinking and Learning Language education, and many other kinds, fill the mind with all manner of trivia, from which the word trivial is derived. This information is like specs of information on a hard drive, fragmented and difficult … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Languages
Tagged defragmenting, efficient, English, human, Japanese, learning, mind
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Abstract vs. Tangible Learning in Japanese
There’s More Than One “Learning” One of the largest annoyances in trying to teach Japanese is that many words have differences that dictionaries will not tell you about. Some differences ought to only matter to ex-translators, like me; but not … Continue reading
Culture Gap: Students Cleaning Toilets
Different Strokes I was reading this story about an American teacher placed on administrative leave for having an unwritten rule requiring students to clean the classroom toilet with paper towels and bleach. Well, there’s definitely a serious culture gap here.
Posted in Culture, Japan
Tagged cleaning, controversy, culture, culture gap, Japan, schools, students, toilets
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Japanese Gaming: Half-Breaking the World
A Recurring Cultural Theme One issue continually revisited by Japanese video games, and the writing and storytelling culture that infuses it, is the idea that the world is corrupt in many ways, and it must be changed – but breaking … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Japan, video games
Tagged change, culture, fantasy, final fantasy, heroes, Japan, RPG, storytelling, Tales of Vesperia, video games, villains, writing
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The Language of Shinto: “Kami”
Kami Large and Small In reading up on Shinto at Wikipedia (link here), I read it stated that Shinto scholars think translating “kami” as “god” or “deity” can cause a misunderstanding of the term. I mulled this over. If there … Continue reading
Sensei’s Corner, May 22 2011
Just My Opinion The biggest dilemma for a blog like this is trying to say something useful without trying to come off as an absolute authority, which seems to be the cause of most flame wars. I know a few … Continue reading
Posted in Blog News, Sensei's Corner
Tagged blog, blogging, corner, culture, Japan, Jeremiah Bourque, opinion, particles, sensei
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Cool Japan: Amphibious Snake Robot
This One Won’t Bite You’ll want to click on the video above and see this amazing robot in action. It’s meant to emulate how a snake moves on ground – and in water, the latter being quite remarkable as a … Continue reading
Posted in Japan, Weird Stuff
Tagged amphibious, cool stuff, Diginfo, Japan, robot, snake
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Japanese: Making Things Clear (Hakkiri)
はっきり So you want to spell things out in simple terms? To say it straight? To make things crystal clear? In Japanese, this is being hakkiri (はっきり) about it. There is no kanji for “hakkiri”; it is a native Japanese-ism … Continue reading
Hatsune Miku Promoting Toyota Corolla
Hatsune Miku + Corolla = ? Hatsune Miku is a “vocaloid,” which means, rather than synthetic music, she is a synthetic singer with an unnaturally high pitched voice through the use of a computer program. Being a product from the … Continue reading