Jeffrey Jones

Mother nature sure knows how to party. Japan being Earthquake central didn’t really register much until recently. I have had a few earthquakes in the past but recently Japan has got a lot more…movey…

There are a number of useful things out there that can help you learn Japanese: Programs, websites, mobile phone apps. Today I am going to talk about one that I ran across a few days ago. The site is called Smart.fm and it is a site mainly dedicated to helping people learn language vocabulary.

Ok so we all know Okazaki isn’t exactly the most vibrant of cities but it does have little gems hidden away. Lets use some Google Map technology to unhide them.

Translation and Interpretation are art as much as a functional exercise. When languages don’t match up totally in terms of vocabulary, grammar, proverbs and whatnot then it is up to the translator to convert not just the words but the meaning behind them.

So into this heady and very intellectual circle I stumble with my first piece of translation work. Mainly as an exercise and to prove to doubters that I am actually learning something.

Where-in our hero dons his Samurai Armour and Katana and heads for the battlefield.

So it is the end of my first term studying Japanese at the Yamasa institute in Okazaki city. Here are my somewhat jumbled impressions.

Ah poetry, simultaneously the best and worst thing about the written word. Today in class we did some Japanese poetry. Read on if you think you are brave enough to read my first attempts.