blog from japan 2: the meaning of immersion learning

八月十四日２０１１年

2

so as the heat swelters the shelters, the umbrellas, hats and covers

i stand inside this tokyo outskirt apartment and contemplate the meaning of "the best kyokasho [textbook] is no kyokasho."

what if for instance a japanese language teacher brought into the classroom old japanese cellphones and taught a week's lesson using the vocab and grammar (and functions) of the cellphone device?

in fact, presently i am in the situation of learning the "text" of a japanese cellphone. it's quite the challenge actually. but of course it's more rewarding than memorizing a sheet of vocab. and in general i am finding so many words and phrases that were never taught in the classroom/textbook but i am finding frequently on and around the signs and commercials of the texts of real life tokyo. yes i have mastered super simple japanese, but how do i use a rice cooker? and how do i make a phone call or send a text on my new cellphone, which stubbornly only speaks to me in japanese?

the pretext of this text is that the world is a text, in fact, it's the best textbook one could every find for learning a foreign language -- and guess what -- it's free. Well not exactly. No time or space is free anymore it seems. getting to japan from the states will cost you at least a grand, probably more like 12 to 14 hundred. plus, to walk the heat soaked streets of japan in the pangs of summer will cost you frequent trips to the jidohanbaiki [vending machine(s)] that line every street and corner for nice petite can of ice coffee or green tea.

at any rate, i am doing my best to apply the theory "the best textbook is no textbook." in order words, i study my coffee can and my receipt for new vocab words and its logic; i argue with the rice cooker over the meaning of chinese characters. btw, 炊飯 that means cook the rice, as opposed to massage the rice, whisper sweet nothings to the rice, and a dozen other amazing features your average japanese rice cooker will provide. oh, and when in the produce and dairy sections of your local supa [super market] you can look to decipher the origin of goods. note to consumers, probably discriminate against 福島県. probably not a good thing for fukushima, but neither is ingesting radioactive elements in your body.