Speaking: On Pitch Accent

[How to Pronounce Japanese | AJATT | All Japanese All The Time] goo.gl/izBTcF “When two or three words sound exactly alike except for pitch accent, context is going to resolve the ambiguity virtually 100 percent of the time. In practical terms, accent is probably the least important aspect of Japanese pronunciation no matter what your…

Gradatim Ferociter: You Are the Death Ray, Space Cowboy!

Think like a fountain, act like a funnel. Think big, unlimited, wild. Exhaustive. Spread your imagination to the ends of the Multiverse and beyond. Let no idea be too sick or crazy or depraved or impractical. Nothing is off limits. Act small, controlled, focussed. Selective. Only the immediately and easily doable is allowed [which sounds…

Why So Hurry, Grasshopper?

Trying to learn a language as fast as possible, so that what? So you can discard it and move on to the next language? Trying to spend as little time as possible on a language, so that what? So you can go back to your “real” life? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say…

The Forever War and The AJATT Way

This entry is part 5 of 17 in the series The Art of War of Learning

This entry is part 5 of 17 in the series The Art of War of LearningThe Forever War is a 1970s military science fiction novel by Joe Haldeman. I actually found out about it in Japanese first, when it was referenced by 岡田斗司夫 (OKADA Toshio) under its Japanese title, 終り無き戦い (おわりなきたたかい, The Endless War /…

The Best Thing You Can Do, The Worst Thing You Can Do

The best thing you can do is show up prepared. The second best thing you can do is show up unprepared. The worst thing you can do is not show up at all, postponing everything until you’re perfectly prepared. Take the middle road. Mediocrity compounded becomes awesomeness. Turds can shine. Two half a$$es make a…