Different paths for a language

On the previous post, I said that my parents came to Japan to visit (and travel). I also said they can speak Japanese.

We learned Japanese in different ways: I knew very little Japanese (only few words and short sentences known to most Japanese descendents) until high school. Then I studied Japanese in Japanese language schools in Brazil. I continued studying during university, but not nearly as much as in high school until I first went to Japan.

Until that point, my Japanese was mainly focused on grammar while conversational skills were poor. My JLPT 3-kyu score reflects that well: listening was the part I scored less, while I scored high in kanji and grammar.

After arriving in Japan (Himeji), it took some time until I became able to fully understand people around me (in part because of the Kansai dialect) and a while longer to express myself in a satisfactory way. My Japanese level declined after I returned to Brazil, but it didn't take long to recover after I returned to Japan (Kyoto).

From that point, I focused much more on conversation than grammar as my JLPT 2-kyu score suggests: listening became the part I scored higher; kanji and vocabulary became my weak points. And, finally, I started to study "keigo" - Japanese honorifics - more seriously.

My parents went to a Japanese language school for a short time when they were kids. Nevertheless, most of their Japanese ability comes from talking to my grandparents and other Japanese speakers in their neighborhood. (And from reading comics in my mother's case.)

And I was told more than once that my parents sound more "natural" in Japanese than me. They sound more like Japanese people, while I still sound like a foreigner.

Guess our roots still show even after years in Japan: my Japanese is classroom-based; my parents have a basic (in terms of vocabulary and kanji we all agree that currently I'm better) but natural Japanese (with even some expressions that I have never heard Japanese people using).

That difference in method of learning is something I'd like to analyse further...

Aftermatch

Well, so recently I graduated and returned to Brazil. Now it's time to talk about what happened in between.

For most international students who return to their countries from Japan after grad school, the last months are never simple. There are lots of things that must be taken care of: get rid of furniture, ship things, clean the house, say goodbye to all (most) friends...

In addition, students from countries like Brasil, who has little educational treaties with Japan have an additional headache: the diploma can't be directly used in our country of origin. There's a process where a local university must recognize your diploma... Gotta love bureaucracy. There are reasons for demanding that procedure, but I'd rather discuss this further in another post.

In my case, I had another factor that made me glad, but multiplied the number of things I should do during that period:

My parents came to visit.

Yes, after three years in Japan, both my parents decided to pay me a visit. The "tatemae" reason is that they wanted to see my graduation ceremony, despite the number of times I've told them it's not that much worth seeing.

Honestly: that was the perfect excuse for them to visit Japan for the first time. And considering I was living in Kyoto - THE touristic city in Japan - the logistics became a bit simpler.

For me, that was also the perfect excuse to do a bit of sightseeing whenever I could; and to eat Japanese food before I left.

The problem was they were coming at a time when I was extremely busy. As much as or even more than when I was under pressure for my thesis. Fortunately, though, my parents can speak Japanese so it wasn't necessary to be with them all the time. Especially because I can't afford to travel together with people who have JR Rail Pass.

Another factor I miscalculated was the time necessary to pack and clean the house. After leaving Himeji to Brazil once I thought I knew better, but one year at a place where you can leave the furniture when you leave and three years where you should clean the house before returning to Brazil are VERY different.

Because of that, I missed an event my host family in Japan had prepared for my parents. After hearing that my parents like series like Mito Koumon, my host mother arranged a short visit to their studio! And guided my the actor that currently plays the lead character himself (I won't say the names, but they are easy to find)!

For that and for all the support during those three years, I thank deeply my host family in Japan. Hopefully we will meet again.

Back to B

Another month without any entry in this blog... This is becoming dangerously common...

This time I had plenty of reasons, though. I am back to Brazil.

Yes, I graduated and returned to Brazil. And now I am no longer the "world's hope" (student), but a "social problem" (unemployed).

I still have some posts to write about Japan, and the posts in Brazil are piling up as well. I will catch up with all that and then think about what to do with this blog. Meaning, the blog will still run as usual with about one post per week for the time being.

Stay tuned.