What a Difference Time Makes

It's amazing how much of a difference time makes.Pieces get stronger and diction improves like magic. Well, magic in the form of practice, that is. I first performed つばさ を ください ("Tsubasa wo kudasai" - "Please Give Me Wings") in the Spring of 2011 before I enrolled in Japanese language classes. Considering that my おとうと and I had approximately a week to throw this charity performance together, it didn't go too badly. Musically, I should have sang it in a lower key to fully utilize my chest voice, but whatever.

Here's the performance from the 2011 Calgary Hana matsuri:

We performed it last week at my music studio's winter showcase. Let me tell you, I worked hard on my pronunciation! My hand was forever moving to shape the phrase just as sensei does in class with our sentences. I grilled myself on "tsu" and "hatamekase" ad nauseum. For an additional challenge, I "misplaced" my romaji and typed out the lyrics and chords in Hiragana.

During rehearsals, we experimented with a couple of things. For instance, we knew we still wanted to pay homage to Megumi Hayashibara's version from Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance [Blu-ray]. We also wanted to direct a nod to K-On! from their FUWAFUWA TIME mini-album.

The fun thing about music is that it's organic. We can personalize it and make it our own. The ending was one of those on-the-spot ideas that popped up mid-rehearsal - and it stuck.

Here's the performance. Sure, I repeated a line twice since I blanked out on "とんで ゆきたい よ", but who cares? It didn't lead to a train wreck and still worked out. People enjoyed it and that's all that matters when all's said and done. Oh and I think I can pat myself on the back for improving upon my pronunciation. やった!

Incorporating a New Language into Daily Life

They say that one of the best ways to learn a new language is to completely immerse yourself  into the language and the culture.  I would  love be in Japan for six months to learn Japanese, but I can't. For many of us, it's impractical to drop everything and go live in another country for an extended period of time. The challenge then becomes "How can I immerse myself here?" For me, I've found some success with  writing more "everyday" items in Japanese. First, I started by writing short, simple notes to family and friends who were taking Japanese classes with me. Then, I tried writing my students' names in Katakana on my schedule and planning lists. I've graduated to writing out my "To Do" List and grocery list in Japanese.

The "pièce de résistance " is my waterproof keitai. I labelled all my folders in Japanese.

In Search of Japanese Sesame Street

As a musician, it's only natural that that I'd gravitate towards jingles and songs to help me study Japanese. This had me wondering, "Is there something like Sesame Street in Japanese?" I didn't get far in my search. Once I found GenkiJapan.net last year, I called off my search. These earworms truly stick with you.I'm at the point that I launch into singing "10 Little Samurai" when trying to remember the counters for people and sound like an anime character when rattling off the colours in Japanese.

But don't take my word for it. Check out these free video study aids for yourself:

"10 Little Samurai"

"Colors" ("Colours")

There's plenty more video tutorials on Genki Japan.