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Oct. 28th, 2009 05:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranSo, it's early morning over the east coast of Australia, on the last hour of a transpacific flight. I've given sleeping by now, so I'm listening to Alfred Brendel play Mozart on my QC2s, and flicking through the inflight tv channels for something that might prove distracting. There's a series of visitors' guides for Qantas destinations, and I sit through the Tokyo one with the sound off.
Hmm, that's actually looking quite interesting. There's the bright young host demonstrating how to use a Fare Adjustment Machine, speaking Japanese to various locals (judging by the subtitles), pointing at various restaurant signs written in Kanji and introducing various Tokyo sites.
Intrigued, I turn off Mr Brendel, plug the QC2s into the inflight entertainment socket and start the video from the beginning.
Instantly, the illusion is shattered. I've become so used to knowledgeable videocasts from Japanesepod101.com and NHK World programming, that I've forgotten the way things used to look. This time the smiling host quite clearly doesn't know much about Tokyo. She mispronounces basic words, and the scenes where locals are speaking Japanese to her obviously involve an offscreen interpreter. In the scenes where she's pointing at the kanji, she's describing how to guess what they mean by looking at the pictures behind them. It's a guide for how you can experience Tokyo without ever getting below the surface. Which is not to say that's a bad thing - it's probably perfect for most travellers, and it would have been perfect for me once - but suddenly now it's unsatisfying.
I'm halfway through to the next level now. I'm at the point where even though my Japanese isn't quite good enough to handle every situation a traveller might encounter, I can see myself getting there. It's starting to dawn on me that maybe I *can* read all those signs, or get an explanation in Japanese for something I can't understand. I'm starting to be able to handle situations in Japanese, which is a big step forward. Japanese is becoming a tool rather than an obstacle.
Hmm, that's actually looking quite interesting. There's the bright young host demonstrating how to use a Fare Adjustment Machine, speaking Japanese to various locals (judging by the subtitles), pointing at various restaurant signs written in Kanji and introducing various Tokyo sites.
Intrigued, I turn off Mr Brendel, plug the QC2s into the inflight entertainment socket and start the video from the beginning.
Instantly, the illusion is shattered. I've become so used to knowledgeable videocasts from Japanesepod101.com and NHK World programming, that I've forgotten the way things used to look. This time the smiling host quite clearly doesn't know much about Tokyo. She mispronounces basic words, and the scenes where locals are speaking Japanese to her obviously involve an offscreen interpreter. In the scenes where she's pointing at the kanji, she's describing how to guess what they mean by looking at the pictures behind them. It's a guide for how you can experience Tokyo without ever getting below the surface. Which is not to say that's a bad thing - it's probably perfect for most travellers, and it would have been perfect for me once - but suddenly now it's unsatisfying.
I'm halfway through to the next level now. I'm at the point where even though my Japanese isn't quite good enough to handle every situation a traveller might encounter, I can see myself getting there. It's starting to dawn on me that maybe I *can* read all those signs, or get an explanation in Japanese for something I can't understand. I'm starting to be able to handle situations in Japanese, which is a big step forward. Japanese is becoming a tool rather than an obstacle.
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Date: 2009-10-28 10:10 am (UTC)That must be a very satisfying feeling.
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Date: 2009-10-29 08:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-10-29 10:35 am (UTC)I feel as though I've plateaued with the Welsh. In fact I feel as though I'm trudging across a plateau the size of the Great Plains or the Australian outback.
I'm doing enough that I don't slip back, but not putting in enough effort to make any real forward progress.