Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Japanese lifestyle ~63~ language lessons on radio and TV

  What kind of languages are learned on radio or TV in Japan?
In Japan, we have radio or TV program of English, Chinese, Korean,
French, German, Russian, Spanish, Arabic and Italian.
  I have listened to the radio program of English when I go to my
workplace in my car. Some Japanese businessmen have interest
on business English. So, there are some kinds of English radio program.
And recently, Chinese learners are getting more and more.
I sometimes learn Chinese. There is a Chinese restaurant in front of my
house. So, I sometimes go there and learn some words or phrases
from the owner.
 

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Listening comprehension is important and radio is a rather good way to obtain that.
When I start studying a language I usually tune in to a local radio station, that nonstop broadcasts news - same thing over and over Again - helps getting used to the "mellody" of the language, too.
I have been searching the web for a "radio" station in Japanese that broadcasts news - over the web, of course :) Internet is a lovely thing :)

marimari said...

Shantal ForSD

I want to ask:
Do you think Japanese language
doesn't have big intonation
like English?
Students can't pronounce
with intonation.I guess that's because Japanese doesn't have
intonation so much.

Unknown said...

Um, I am surprised by what you say about Japanese - I actually think that the intonation is much stronger in Japanese then in English. But again, you are right that in English often one can use intonation to convey certain meaning - that can be hard to get used to.
To me, what makes it harder to understand Japanese speakers is that they often use "katakana pronounciation" - they insert vowels between consonants in an English word. This often makes the word unrecognisable to me. May be that is the reason I don't like reading katakana words - I often cannot recognize the word at all when there are so many vowels inserten in it.
But again: I've met some Japanese people that speak amazing English, so with practice everything can be achieved. Furthermore, I think that the English that the Japanese use is much richer - using larger vocabulary then an European would. Example: I would never hear in a regular conversation words like "paragon" and "paramount" if it is an European that speaks, while Japanese would use such "non-standard" words. To me this means that the Japanese language is much richer and that makes Japanese people learn more words in English. Admirable, really.

marimari said...

Shantal ForSD

That's interesting.
There are many words from abroad.
And sometimes, Japanese people
make words by katakana.
I'll write about it on this blog.