ラサール弁護士のＲＥＡＬ英会話

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.16

2007-09-08T13:04:20+09:00

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.16

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English
To say English is an important language in the world is an
understatement. It's the de facto lingua franca of the planet;
the language of trade, science and knowledge in general. Would I
like French to be the international language instead? Of course
I would and I'm sure many Japanese feel the same way about their
mother tongue. But the fact remains that for the foreseeable future,
English will play that role.
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カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.15

2007-04-25T12:49:46+09:00

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.15

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My American Roots

Raising a bilingual kid
What do Tiger Woods, Martina Hingis and my brother and I have in common?
Certainly not a shared talent in sports nor a shared upper bracket income.
My parents did not put a golf club in my hands when I was 5. My mother
was not an ex-Olympic athlete who would whisk her two sons to the tennis
courts as soon as the school bell rang. But if you dig a little deeper,
yo
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カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.14

2007-03-19T14:03:06+09:00

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.14

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Other books

Those who have been in Japan the longest usually are interested
in one particular aspect of Japanese culture such as literature
or history. They are prolific writers and write authoritative
dissertations on Yayoi pottery or Heian poetry. You've probably
never read and never will read any of their work. These men have
dedicated their lives to furthering the understanding of Japanese
culture - a very noble cause that sadly gu
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カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.13

2007-02-08T13:57:33+09:00

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.13

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Now this would all be fine if the writers actually called a cat a cat,
that is if they called their work a "travel book". But these tourists
usually shun words like "travel log", preferring to give their books
semi-authoritative titles such as "an inside look at Japanese society"
or "Japan's changing society". I guess some tourists have an uncanny
ability to understand Japanese society without being bothered by that
mi
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カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.12

2007-01-04T06:30:32+09:00

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.12

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I think I've got a grasp of the process through which someone gets
the "intellectual" urge to write a book about Japan.

The Process:
1-Relatively long stay in Japan.
2-Boredom.
3-Observation of the Japanese.
4-Noticing cultural and behavioral differences with own culture.
5-Sense (more often than not false) that they understand the reason for
the difference in behavior.
6-Sense (more
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カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.11

2006-12-06T14:40:05+09:00

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.11

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Chapter 1-Writing Books about Japan

What about those serious coffee table books?

Bored housewives who come to Japan because of their husband's
work are another group of "long term tourists" who eventually
feel the urge to write. While their diplomat hubby is out
there getting complimented on his ability to use chopsticks
(usually the only type of conversation foreigners can engage
in with their Japanese interlocuto
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カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.10

2006-11-20T11:29:57+09:00

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.10

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Chapter 1-Writing Books about Japan

How long does one need to stay in Japan to write a book about it?

Judging from the books that have been written on Japan, not very
long (at least for the type of books that people actually read).
A two-week trip by an American comedian provided just enough inspiration
for him to write a 200-page best seller. But then again, comedy is a
special category and comedians usually don'
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カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記

2006-10-19T10:31:03+09:00

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.9

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Chapter 1-Writing Books about Japan

Who do you share your stories with?

That's seems like a pretty simple question. An American coming to
Japan will want to share his thoughts with Americans because they
share a common cultural heritage and the similarity of their upbringings
makes relating to one another's experience all the much easier. Right?

Books about Japan

Japan is different enou
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カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.8

2006-09-14T13:26:17+09:00

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.8

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Chapter 1-Writing Books about Japan

Vacation Stories

Many people go to a land that is different from theirs
for an extended period of time and come away from the
experience wanting to share their thoughts. Come to think
of it, even a short vacation abroad can make a storyteller
out of the quietest people. After that trip to an exotic
destination, after seeing the strange eating habits of
certain foreigners
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カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.7

2006-09-05T11:11:00+09:00

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.7

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1.7 Learning Japanese

This was the economic backdrop when, as a 24 year old
young man recently admitted to the bar, I decided to go
back to university in 1992 and continue to learn. For
some, a law degree is a sort of end-all accomplishment,
the kind that should normally make you settle down and
join the fray of life. That's understandable. Being a lawyer
means having professional credentials. To most Japanese, &
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カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.6

2006-08-21T12:42:37+09:00

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.6

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1.6 Learning Japanese

Although I was still young - I was a teenager for most of
the 80s - I had no problem noticing Japan's rise as the
new champion on the block. I'm certainly not claiming I
had any precocious talent for grasping world trends. With
all the ubiquitous brands marked "made in Japan" that were
flooding our stores, roads and airwaves, it didn't take a
particularly sophis
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カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.5

2006-08-09T14:02:29+09:00

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.5

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1.5 Learning Japanese

Back then, Japan's ability to produce anything better
and cheaper than the West was wrecking havoc in the
industrial heartland of almost every western country.
Japan was simply outperforming everyone out there.
Japan's electronics was better; its cars were more
reliable, its workers were better educated and more
productive (many of these observations still hold true
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カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.4

2006-06-22T00:48:14+09:00

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.4

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1.4 Learning Japanese

With the so-called "lost decade" of the 90s still fresh
in the memories of so many Japanese, the word "Japan"
and "domination" might seem odd when mentioned in the
same breath. Images of stagnation rather than domination
seem more fitting don't they? Nowadays, when talking about
economic domination, most people probably think of an emerging
China but back in the 80s, China
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カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.3

2006-06-12T09:05:47+09:00

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.3

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1.3 Learning Japanese

A follow-up question I often get is: "there are many languages
out there, why did you choose Japanese?" My reasons for choosing
Japanese will likely resonate with anyone who was on this planet
back in the 80s. My reasons are decidedly "concrete". In fact,
my reasons are so concrete they're trademarked. Here's a partial
list: SONY, Toshiba, Sanyo, Panasonic, JVC, Toyota, Nissan (I
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カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記その1.2

2006-06-07T12:14:01+09:00

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記　1.2

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1.2 Learning Japanese

I often find myself in a similar situation in Japan and the
people I meet will ask me why I decided to study Japanese.
I have to admit this question makes me a little uncomfortable
because my answer isn't as "cool" as I'd like it to be, and
certainly not as cool as my philosophy-loving friend from
America. My answer is simple: I decided to learn Japanese
because it's a grea
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ラサール弁護士のＲＥＡＬ英会話

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記 1.16

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記 1.15

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記 1.14

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記 1.13

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記 1.12

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記 1.11

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記 1.10

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記 1.8

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記 1.7

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記 1.6

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記 1.5

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記 1.4

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記 1.3

カナダ人の日本１０年滞在記 その1.2