In the sea of languages...

A friend posted a link to an interesting post which is relavant in this globalized world. In matters of cost-benefit, which languages are best to learn?

I'll bring the list presented by the article with some comments of my own.

The "top tier" with the "most important" languages are

• English: the major motive is that it is the current international language. Most information available in the planet is presented in the English language (original or translation). Besides US, UK and Australia, many cities/countries choose that language as a unifying language. Even if US, the major upholder of English as the official international language, loses international influence, English will take some time to fade internationally. (French, the previous international language, is still popular)


• Spanish: more important in the Western hemisphere basically because of the large number of Spanish speaking countries in Latin America. Besides, some jokes say it will become the main language of some areas of the US as the "latino invasion" continues.


• Chinese: some say it is the "language of the future" as China grows more and more in the international scenario. Projections say it will take Japan's position as the 2nd world economy in this year (2009) or the next. The Chinese huge population makes makets salivate for all that customer potential. Besides, there's the Chinese diaspora all around the world. Basically all major cities in the world have some sort of "Chinatown". People just shouldn't forget the differences inside of what many Westeners consider "Chinese language". Even though most are able to speak Mandarin, variations like Cantonese and Taiwanese may be considered different languages.


• French: Two years ago I'd be reluctant of agreeing with French among the top languages. But after then I realized the large number of countries that speak French, even though in many cases it's not only French (like Swiss and Belgium). Also, the prestige of a former international language doesn't fade so fast...


• Russian: I'm slightly reluctant to agree with this one. I'll concede since I agree with the author of the original article when he says it remains the language of intercultural communication in most countries that were under the USSR wing during the Cold War. I also agree that it may not stay in the top for long.

Next, the second tier with languages that may not have the same range of the first, but are still useful in a handful of situations.

• Arabic: especially because of oil, Arabic is an important language. The main reasons it not reaching the top ranks is that not so many people speak the language, especially as native language. And in many important Arabic areas other languages may suffice. Doha and Abu Dhabi are good examples.


• Portuguese: yay! My mother language is here! Well, I have to admit that Brazil - with its large population and increasing economic relevance - gives most of the importance Portuguese language has. (Sorry Portugal people, but even you will have to agree here.) Lack of more important countries and even unity in grammar matters (it is not uncommon for a book to be translated from Portugal Portuguese to Brazilian Portuguese or vice-versa) prevent this language from reaching the top.


• Japanese: although it is the native language of only one country, that one country is the second largest economy in the planet (for now): Japan. Also, Japanese tourists all around the world also put incentives to develop services in Japanese. That is remarkably true for Eastern Asian countries like Korea, China or Singapore, but I saw tours in Japanese and even signs in Japanese as far as in Europe. The importance of Japanese is being shadowed by the increasing influence of China, but Japan stayed on top long enough to solidify the language in some sectors around the globe, so it's not going away so easily (even because not so many Japanese are fluent in English or other languages. Therefore, as long as Japan remains "important"...).

Then comes other tiers that are used in some cross-boarder regions. Later are probably those not much useful internationally.

The absence of German surprised me at first, but then I remembered that German is important basically because of Germany, which is not doing exceptionally fine lately. And other countries which speak German are mostly European (if not all). Still, I would have given it an importance close to Japanese... or am I being naive?

... On second though, it might just be my engineer side. After all, Germany is still attractive for engineers. Well, sort of.

Of course, the setting also varies depending on where one lives. This list is just an average. In general, languages important in a certain region are the official languages (of course) and languages spoken by neighbor countries - especially economically relevant countries. The top tiers are made by languages spoken by internationally powerful countries or spoken as a native language by a large part of the world's population.

Still, in last analysis, learning a language involves interest in that language and the culture(s) associated with it (especially to understand some nuances). So, more than cost-benefit, one's own interest should direct which languages to learn. Even though knowing languages in the "top tier" has more chances to "pay off", knowing less internationally important languages, but those who one really wishes to learn, may give unexpected opportunities as well - and with few competition.

Shirahama (白浜) revisited

Summer. Hot and humid. What that all calls for?

That's right. Beaches.

So, like two years ago, the Brazilian group in Kyoto - myself included - left to Shirahama in Wakayama Prefecture from August 14th to August 17th.


This time, though, we decided to have a little more comfort during the trip. No more Seishun 18 Kippu. We took a "highway bus" (高速バス) to Shirahama instead. It's just a couple of hundred yen more expensive, and it stops just beside the main beach, while Shirahama Station is kilometers away.

The only setback is that since we went during Obon. That meant crowded roads that delayed our bus by more than one hour and a half... And since I am such an airhead, I also forgot my "beach supplies" inside the bus as we arrived in Shirahama. Fortunately, I was able to recover it the next day thanks to the lady at the ticket shop.

Like we did two years ago, this year we also stayed at the university beach house: Shirahama Umi no Ie (白浜海の家). This time the place went through reforms (it's safe to say they rebuilt the whole thing) between 2007 and 2008 and looked brand new.

The obasan was still there, but this time the group figured out how to deal with her. Wake up early, clean your mess and pamper her a little bit and you're good to go. Ah, and don't break the rules.

That being said, the group went all days to the beach. With some other activities around. On the first day, the skies were perfectly clear; an excellent weather to watch some shooting stars.


On the second day, the group hit the main beach Shirarahama and met a group of friends who stayed at the same place, playing at Shirarahama until night, when the traditional fireworks festival was held. And this being during Obon, there were also fire lanterns along the beach giving a deep atmosphere to the event.


Third day. Day to play it slow, enjoy the beaches and getting frustrated again for not being able to take a picture of the sunset at Engetsu Island (円月島)... Damn cloudy weather! To compensate, we did the traditional barbeque, but this time with fish and it was delicious! To close the day, nostalgic music by the veranda... Does anyone remember "Mamonas Assassinas"?


For the fourth day, some people decided to do something a bit different and went some touristic spots: Sensojiki (千畳敷) and Sandanbeki (三段壁). Being to the latter for the second time, this time we decided to explore the cave, even though the entrance fee is quite expensive. It was interesting, but we should have gone during the high tide...

After those four days, I returned to Kyoto. Tired, but relaxed.

And during the trip sometimes I remembered the events of two years ago. The group changed a lot from that time, even though the spirit was kept. Going to some places I've been back then made me finally realize that time flies and my turn is coming. Hope someone keeps the "tradition" next year as I'll graduate...

Daimonji (大文字)

This time, I'll write about one of Kyoto's symbols: Daimonji (大文字).

Daimonji is shaped as the kanji meaning "large" or "great" (大) and is one of the symbols "drawn" on the mountains that surround Kyoto. The other ones are Myou/Hou (妙・法), the characters meaning "excellent law" (referring to Buddhist teachings); Funagata (舟形), the shape of a boat; Hidari Daimonji (左大文字), with the same character as the Daimonji, but slightly smaller; and Toriigata (鳥居形), the shape of a torii.

All those symbols are lit every year on August 16th from 8h pm (local time) at the culmination of obon. The fire has the meaning to guide the ancestors' spirits who are said to return to this world in order to visit relatives during the obon. This has the general name of okuribi (送り火), thus the name of this event in Kyoto being called gozan no okuribi (五山の送り火) - literally, "five mountains' send-off fire" -, although many people call it just daimonji.

Pictures of the lit symbols as well as some more explanation can be found here.

It is also an interesting checkpoint for me during those years in Japan.

In 2005, being in Japan for the first time, I was travelling in Kyoto (also for the first time) with Silvia and a Japanese friend when daimonji was lit. I was able to see some symbols from Sanjo, but didn't take any good pictures.

Returning to Japan in 2007, the Brazilian students in Kyoto gathered for a barbecue at Tati's former house, where we could see about four of the symbols (daimonji, funagata, myou and hou) from the roof. And it was the first time I had the thought of buying a tripod after trying many times to take pictures, but only managing to take passable ones after Kazu lent his tripod for a while.

I guess I've never mentioned that story here before, so I'll upload a picture taken that time.


In August 16th, 2008 I was in Munich on my way back to Brazil, so I obviously didn't see the okuribi. But on October I joined an event from the university student lounge (a.k.a. KI-ZU-NA) where we climbed daimonji. It is not that rough, but I recommend going when insects are not active. It's worth a go, anyway. From there it is possible to see the city of Kyoto from above, and also the places where the fires are lit every August 16th.
That's another event I haven't mentioned before, so I'll upload some pictures, too.



And in 2009? Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I am not in Kyoto again. At this moment I am somewhere else that will result in another post soon.

So why writing about Daimonji? Well, it is one of Kyoto's main symbols; and since I came to Kyoto, it has been basically a part of my everyday life, sice it is possible to see it easily from Kyoto University Yoshida Campus area. This will be my last year as a student in Kyoto and I forgot to write about many occasions related to it, so I thought it was worth a post.

To keep the rate of "one different thing about daimonji every year", I'll try to take a picture of it covered in snow (will have to wait for winter, of course)...

Summer Festivals - 2009 version

Summer has arrived. Very hot and very humid... And summer in Japan calls for hanabi, a.k.a. fireworks.

For those who don't know, fireworks are associated with summer in Japan. For people like me used to see lots of fireworks when the New Year comes, that can be a little disappointing. I say that because I went to Osaka for the countdown... and to my surprise, there were no fireworks nowhere nearby, even though I was in the middle of a crowd gathered for the countdown (Umeda).

(Note to self: in Japan, it may be better to go to a temple instead... at least you hear the bells)

Anyway, after seeing fireworks in Uji, Osaka, Biwako and Shirahama in 2007 and travelling around the world during that season in 2008, I was looking for places to see hanabi this year.

The chosen one was the Naniwa Yodogawa Fireworks Festival (なにわ淀川花火大会) on August 8th. This one is popular in Osaka; and it is one I have never been before. Thus, we (Fang and I) decided to go check it out.

This time, though, having a better camera and a tripod, I was really into taking decent pictures of fireworks. That's something I still hadn't been able to do. So I decided to get some information from Kazu, who's taken great pictures there before. He basically told me to get there early and find the spot right in front of the fireworks.

... I was only able to follow half the advice.

I got there early. More than three hours before the event. There was still plenty of space. But I did the stupid thing of trying to guide myself only by the picture on Kazu's blog, but I was fooled by a second similar bridge nearby and chose the wrong position: far away from the fireworks... I only realised the mistake when the fireworks started, then I was swearing all over and rushing to change the position of the camera in the middle of a sea of people.

Also, to avoid overexposure, I was told that ND filters are a good thing to use. I didn't have one, so I tried to improvise with my CPL filter. Well, the results speak for themselves...

Those are some pictures that turned out more a less all right. Better than those I took two years ago, but there's still that feeling that "I could have done better"...

Do you have a Japanese friend?

Some time ago (June), the author of a blog that I follow and personally like a lot wrote an article about a simple question, that foreigners living in Japan are asked every now and then.

"Do you have a Japanese friend?"

Such a simple question, yet so complicated to answer...

That's because, as Caruso (the author) mentioned, it depends on your referential of what's a "friend", especially when you go between diferent cultures.

His point was that, basically, if you consider a friend from a "Japanese (culture's)" point of view he has Japanese friends, but from the "Brazilian (culture's)" point of view he has not. Nevertheless, it is not a bad thing. He doesn't have the right or even the capacity to turn them into friends according to his native perspective, especially since he is in Japan. One can be good friends with Japanese people if one hold one's expectations closer to the local standard.

What are those diffrerences? For example, even with the closest Japanese friends, the senpai-kouhai system still shows up. If they started with a difference in rankings or age, that difference will probably never disappear doesn't matter how close they become. In Brazil, depending on the occasion it is possible to ask for one's boss (or professor) to go out for a drink just like a regular friend.

In general, Japanese care about politeness and manners even between friends. Brazilians care more about sincerity and loyalty; and have a tendency to get "too close, too fast". I've heard from Japanese and Chinese friends that Brazilians may often hug, kiss and have other liberties in man-woman friendships that make it hard to distinguish if they are a couple or just friends.

A last detail that was mentioned in a comment in the original post that I also noticed: Japanese who leave Japan for a while become more "relaxed" in friendships while in the foreign country, but many resume at least partially the "usual behavior" after returning to Japan.

(Note: of course, as in any country there are different kinds of people, obviously in Japan it is also possible to find someone who adheres more to the "Latin" style of friendship or any other. But those people are unusual inside the society.)

Me? I was lucky enough to have met Japanese friends in Himeji which whom I could be more like myself. In Kyoto, there are also those who are friends a little beyond the meaning in the Japanese (culture) way. That may be because they are still students, or because some are from an international exchange group. There was a time that I avoided people that wanted to be my friends because I'm a foreigner. Now at least I have to admit that, since my Brazilian background is a part of me, there's no reason to rebuff those people right away. I'll do that if our connection keeps based only on that point, though.

Nevertheless, I still have to admit that in general I feel more confortable around other foreign students and the Brazilian group in special. But that's probably because it is a group with more things in common with me, as my background is still essentially Brazilian. Maybe if I stay in a different country for years that might change. More then nationality, the common things you share with people around you define your affinity with them.