Japanese | Japanese
Oct.11.2012
Five foreign languages have I learned in my time, to varying levels of fluency. The first was German, at high school and later at a college in Germany. Then came Korean, because I was living there, working as an English teacher. Then came Japanese, which I learned for the same reason as Korean....
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Oct.05.2012
A Japanophile acquaintance, David, stopped by my office last week, hoping to see the "nerve center" of Joy o' Kanji, as he put it! He brought me three kanji books, as well as Japanese desserts associated with a moon-viewing (月見, つきみ) festival.
Image Credit: N yotarou
Harvest...
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Oct.01.2012
It helped that my traveling partner was a travel agent, of sorts. He was actually a successful banker who dabbled in travel to accentuate the perks he'd already accumulated as a banker and national master's golf champion.
No, not that Master's. He was just a good golfer who won the national...
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Jun.28.2012
Eons ago, I went to hear novelist Rita Mae Brown read. When someone asked for advice on becoming a writer, Brown said, "Learn as many languages as you can. Once you do, you'll understand the roots of words, and you'll make connections. Bells will go off!"
Inspired by this idea, I took up Spanish...
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Apr.13.2012
In the past, when Japanese men proposed marriage, they used an abalone as a betrothal gift! How would you like to receive such a fishy offering?! Here's the word for that present:
長熨斗 (ながのし: dried abalone stretched long and thin (used as a betrothal...
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Jan.20.2012
I've posted a new JOK Notebook on Joy o' Kanji. It's about the despair and "aha" moments that come with studying Japanese.
http://www.joyokanji.com/status-updates/everything-illuminated%E2%80%94s...
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Dec.20.2011
Hello, Friends of Joy o' Kanji (aka JOKers)!
I've embarked on a lifelong project called Joy o' Kanji. And I'm thrilled to report that, as of today, the project has launched! The website that has been under construction for eons is finally ready. Hooray! Hallelujah! Wahoo! Here's the address...
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Nov.01.2011
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In the years preceding America's entry into World War II, a quiet Georgia town called Salty Creek is home to a peculiar and risky romance.
For quite some time, only polite and brief exchanges were ever had between a spinster named Sophie and Miss Anne's courteous and...
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Aug.15.2011
The good thing to say about this book is that I bought it about a week ago and read the whole thing in about three days. So it (mostly) moves swiftly, or I read well and swiftly, or both.
Otherwise it is very disappointing. Not a bad read, exactly, especially for these rainy days;...
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Apr.13.2011
It took a while, but it's finally here -- yay! My e-book, Marriage in Translation: Foreign Wife, Japanese Husband is now available on Kindle! This book showcases interviews with 14 Western women who speak candidly about the challenges in making cross-cultural marriages work, both inside and...
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