Partying, cross-dressing, chanting, gift-giving, and this one common phrase repeated over and over — ええじゃないか (ee ja nai ka)? Rough translation — “why not?”
And why not indeed?
Hello, readers!
I’ve been so busy lately with my day job and writing, but I’m excited to share my new article for the Japan news website Unseen Japan.
You’re deep in conversation with a friend, a co-worker, or maybe a kaiju. You understand everything being said, nodding along and doing the good ol’ aizuchi. A brilliant response or comment is forming in your mind. You open your mouth to speak…and fumble, stammer, get flustered. What comes out is nothing at all like you imagined. As a result, the kaiju grows bored and promptly decides to eat you. Your last thought is, I should’ve practiced more with those Shadowing: Let’s Speak Japanese! books.
Sometimes we know exactly what we want to say, but don’t know when or how to say it.
Hello all!
My first article for the conscious living and Eastern spirituality blog Sivana East is live!
I don’t speak as well as I write. My inability to speak in a clear and eloquent manner derives from my social anxiety. My blunders are spurred on by intense fear to say something, anything, if only to take the weight of social responsibility off my shoulders. In friendships, in work settings, in college, I have failed the spoken English language.
Then I started learning Japanese, and I gained a whole new perspective on my anxieties.
