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loototherah April 15 2012, 13:02:30 UTC
It honestly looks like you're living in heaven right now! Great pictures, and also (as always), excellent comic! Those dance lessons sound pretty awesome, not gonna lie. Keep us posted!

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ext_1079162 April 25 2012, 05:30:40 UTC
I've had the joy of speaking with your grandmother. I've also had the joy of telling her, in japanese, that "I am a vegetable", after misunderstanding you tell me how to say "I am a vegetarian".

Here's what I've learned from all the language acquisition, bilingualism and cognition classes I've taken throughout my degree: Accents can mean everything. Vocal language-using individuals (as opposed to individuals who use a signing-based language) easily confuse the accuracy of pronunciation with proficiency and fluency in a language. Unfortunately here in America, it is the cause of bias. A lot of ESL (english as second-language) speakers in America may speak English very well indeed, but their accents will ultimately make most Americans assume there is a language barrier where there is none. I would not be surprised if, in a place like Japan where JSL (Japanese as second-language) speakers are even more rare, that many may be impressed simply by your accent.

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mister_daruma April 25 2012, 08:45:28 UTC
Well, there is naturally a bias when a Japanese native is assessing a foreigner. More so than in America (where one would argue that the bias is tremendous ( ... )

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ext_1079162 April 26 2012, 13:33:39 UTC
You'd be surprised! Even though children are masters at picking up accents, adults CAN do it as well, though it takes much more practice. Proficiency in a language is also helped by the fact that you're an educator. You are forced to make conversation with a large number of people daily. Usually introverts find it harder to acquire a second (and even a first) language. I was language-delayed as a child, probably because I was introverted. Lots and lots of different factors can go into it. You interest in the language for what it is, and the fact that you are immersed in it, is why you are so much more eloquent in Japanese than native speakers expect you to be. And that's awesome.

I was just thinking I'd like to go back and play them. I picked em up again a couple years ago and played through, but I want to see all the Portal 2 Easter-eggs they planted into HL2. What do you think of them? Half-Life is easily my favorite series. Don't forget to play HL2 Episodes 1 and 2!

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poison2010 April 28 2012, 15:51:06 UTC
The pictures are definitely awesome! I'm so happy for you, Mike Lemon, and James F. who finally made it over and live the experience.

Now for the badminton game, wish I got to see the elderly play, but they sounded awesome since they played a fierced game. LOL at your grandma's analogy, cute but still funny. Atleast she's trying.

Maintaining the perfect body is a job in itself!

Take care R!!!

-Shanna

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mister_daruma April 28 2012, 21:42:57 UTC
Oh hey Shanna!

How are you?

I haven't spoken to you in a while :) I hope you are well.

Ryan

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poison2010 April 29 2012, 12:59:00 UTC
Hey Ryan!

I'm pretty good, I haven't been on LJ in forever!

Uo-sensei had asked me for your contact information but I don't have it. She's trying to get a hold of you!
Apparently she's doing a seminar in Japan over the summer as well!
But I know she definitely wants to get a hold of you!

I'm glad I found your LJ I remembered seeing it like 3 years ago or so, but I deleted my account by then! Since I won't make it to JP till next year, I will enjoy it through your LJ!

Thanks for sharing!

-Shanna

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stronae April 28 2012, 19:29:52 UTC
Something you should be aware of:

http://www.infiniteunknown.net/2012/04/22/fukushima-is-falling-apart-are-you-ready-for-a-mass-extinction-event/

I'm not sure if/how it's making airplay in the news over there, but I've seen other reports in line with this one. If there's any hope for TEPCO to contain this thing, they have to create it from scratch, since there's nothing we've got right now that can help. Of course, it would make sense for other companies/countries to help this process along as well....

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mister_daruma April 28 2012, 21:41:47 UTC
It's actually not at all. This is surprising to me. The Japanese news programs tend not to broadcast things like this on the news (though I try my hardest not to watch television here).

When you ask someone about the nuclear reactor, they dismiss it quickly and say its nothing to worry about.

Thank you for bringing it to my attention. These are some pretty scary articles.

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pandalamb October 11 2012, 01:52:36 UTC
you must be pretty good at the badminton and jazz dancing by now

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