Good video. I lived in Germany in the early 1980’s for 3 years in a totally German environment. Learning German was really not an option…not if I wanted to converse and remain sane. 😀 After a very short time, I found that German is a much more related language to English than I would’ve ever thought. Once I got passed the stereo types…it became more and more fun as I learned. Like you, I did find that speaking, reading and writing went hand in hand. Some people just want to talk and I found that really handicaps the learning process. Forty years later, I still practice it and being on Facebook helps to retain what I’ve learned. I also am not fluent, but I could live there again without speaking any english. Learning different languages is fun but my hat is off to you for learning such a tough language to learn. You are far more intelligent than I in that department. Wishing you all a happy weekend. 🙂
I wondered about your Japanese subtitles, why they were there. Now I get it. I lived in Japan for three years either side of three years at Uni (also studying Japanese), but this was waaaay back in the 1980s. In 2017 I took my son there for a visit and at that point hadn't spoken the language (or read it etc) in about 20 years. That trip reignited my love for Japanese, and so I studied up hard and took the JLPT the next December. I passed N1 on my first try - so proud of myself for that. Language learning now is so much easier than it was in the 80s. You've got podcasts, slow news, RU-vid TV series, magazines, blogs - so much interesting material to use to immerse yourself in. I think interest is key - I too would still struggle if I had to talk about politics etc., but ask me about fabric, magic, music, art, and I'm all over it. I moved to Montenegro last year and now I'm studying the local language (a dialect of Serbian) and it's so hard. My brain resists, wishing I was in Japan where we have already grocked this second language business. I'll get there though!. 頑張ろう！
Hi Ruth, this video may have been a little different from the others, but it was very interesting. Language is a strange thing, many people from the UK might lean towards talking louder to the citizens of the foreign countries they visit. When I went to visit online friends Canada I was surprised at the amount of people who couldn't understand my Scottish accent, especially as there are a lot of Scots who moved there.
It does seem that people struggle to understand Scottish accents. When I first moved overseas in 2011, people really struggled to understand me...! I slowed down and changed my choice of words, now I seem to speak like that all time haha!
An idea for a second channel or video, teaching us words and phrases to use when traveling in Japan! Love your channel! Can't wait to see where you'll be traveling next in your cute campervan!
Awww, thank you so much, you always leave the nicest comments! Great idea, maybe once I've got into a rhythm with this channel, I could look at doing a second channel.
I started teaching myself German in 1967. I had finished my apprenticeship and wanted to work in West Germany. In 1969 I got a job in Cologne and after 12 years became fluent in written and spoken German. Eventually I became a technical translator at the company I was working for. I've never forgotten the language. It's rusty now, but as soon as I spend a few days in Germany it all comes back, like riding a bike. To learn German initially I used the book Hugo Teach Yourself German in Three Months, a version of which is still available. I also tuned into West German radio on long wave after dark when reception was better. The first thing I understood was the weather forecast in German, because the same phrases are repeated in nearly every forecast. Don't forget that in 1967 there was no internet!
Very cool! I observe that while learning one's second language, the mechanics of grammar become evident, informing one at a "meta“ level, as to the function of Grammar, writ large. This is like driving an unfamiliar automobile. Understanding cars on a meta level leaves one with an awareness of functions supported by an abstract Automobile, so sitting in an unfamiliar car, one sorts out it's various features, like how to operate the blinkers, shift gears, operate the windshield wipers, etc. and develop a functional concordance explaining how key operations performed in an abstract vehicle are performed in THIS particular vehicle. This vehicle might have distinctive features, such as glow plugs in a diesel-powered vehicle, that leave one with an updated metamodel for Automobile, that is aware of some vehicles having a special preheating procedure by virtue of utilizing a fuel with distinct combustion properties. Learning a third language involves metamodel distinctions such as the directionality of their written form, e.g. right-to-left, usage or absence of articles, etc. I'll share something relevant to German and my German background, later on. Composing on my phone is somewhat fumbly!
hi ruth,wow.....japanese is a very difficult language.....and you learnt it 'DIY-style....you surely are talented"'''''' btw i am binge watching your past vids ....ever since you tube popped up a suggested vid by you....and i hit the subscribe button....and notification bell.....canal boat, stay,ww1 and more.thank you n all the best
In Japan, there is a key phrase "genba hyappen (100 times on site)," which originally means "to find out the facts, you have to check the site 100 times. It is a metaphor. Ruth's experience in Japan was a great one. experience in Japan was a great one.
I'm a native English speaker. I speak reasonable Japanese, learned about 30 years ago. I have lived in Asia for 35 years and also speak Cantonese, some Tagalog and a smattering of Thai. Apart from Tagalog, Japanese is the easiest Asian language to learn, simply because its sounds are easier to master for Europeans. It's also easier to learn Hiragana and Katakana, simply because each character is basically a syllable and you can break down words by syllables and figure the spelling. A lot of expats are really lazy about learning the language of the country they live in, expecting the locals to speak to them in English. That's an attitude I don't really understand! BTW, looks like your tomato plants are thriving! 😂
Wow, you are very talented having learnt all those languages! Perhaps in the bigger cities in Japan it's easier to get into that expat bubble and not have any need to learn Japanese!
A friend of mine learnt Dutch by watching Sesame Street. He'd come back from his nightshift job in Amsterdam, switch on the TV and speak and count along as he was having his breakfast.
The goal of learning language is depend on the person This time I tried to watch your video 0.75 speed, because your speedy English is hard to understand for me Eventually it was quite easier than normal speed 😊 But me personally I don’t want you to forget Japanese language and I want to hear your Japanese again someday 😊
I lived in the city of Yokoska, Japan, for four years from 1970 to 74. I still remember learning the language and still speaking it today. Congratulations, learning a very tough language.
Thanks for sharing! My mother was born Czech in 1941, given up to German foster parents, when her mother fled to Britain as WWII ramped up. We first visited Germany in 1975. I was fascinated by the culture. In 1976, thanks to a genealogist friend, she was reunited with her birth mother, who then lived in Nottingham (Selston), and sounded the part fully. (My letters would come, addressed "Master Eric Adamson" I felt so important! 🥰) I can imagine that lingering animosity lends little charm to the notion of learning German, but of course, my situation was special. It is a highly practical language that lends well to engineering and technical pursuits, moreso perhaps, than the romance languages. I later observed that German is very evident in Old English, i.e.: "Du hast" -> "thou hast" Anyway, thanks again, for sharing!
Adding that the Germans are not a hateful, warlike lot. Parents just wanted to see their children, laugh, play, learn, and one day give them grandchildren. Naziism (which just means nationalism) was a construct of the twisted minds behind the German government, often embraced by it's people, only with self-preservation in mind.
I found you via your Scotland trips in a van, and it was a wee bit of surprise to know that you are a Japanese learner. I have been a Japanese teacher at UK schools. I plan to move to Fife as I like Scotland so much. I am glad that you are interested in Japan and Japanese. I hope you keep on making progress.
Oh wow I didn’t even know you could learn Japanese in UK schools! That’s really nice to hear, is that a recent change?Japan is such a huge part of my life, I was back there a few weeks ago and it was amazing. No videos from Japan this time haha!
@@ruthaisling I started teaching at a state school in England in 2002. A couple of years ago I became qualified to teach in Scotland as well so hopefully I teach at a Scottish school in near future. Scottish government is introducing Japanese and Chinese to primary/secondary schools. Due to the recent AI development the future is uncertain, though.
Hi Ruth, I'm glad I was able to learn a little bit about Ruth's relationship with Japan. Japanese is said to be difficult, but Ms. Ruth's Japanese is so cute that I felt attached to her. Also, please come visit Japan. From Toyama Prefecture. がんばりましょう🙌
Hi Ruth - I am a regular on Italki. I now have 8 working languages and my best are Italian and Spanish, although I learned those by immersion before italki. I've had over 2000 lessons on Italki in several languages now. It looks like you had a good teacher! Were you at the Polyglot Conference in Japan in 2019? I was there and gave a presentation on Scots and Gaelic. I didn't have enough time to learn more than the basics of Japanese before my trip, but luckily I was with other friends who were able to speak some Japanese better than me! Well done on your achievement!
Discussing Scottish Independence is difficult in any language :-D Great vlog - as someone who is terrible at languages (I struggle to understand some English accents) I'm in awe of your bilingual skills! (note about another comment - I used to call Tennants Super 'soup' as it tasted thicker (more viscose) than English lager (it's also a lot stronger!) P. S. if you like real ale, my favourite is Innes & Gunn's Rum finished beer (also called blood red sky and Caribbean Rum Cask) - it's the best Scottish beer by far!
Hi, I started watching your videos because of the campervan and then came across this and learnt that you lived in Japan. I'm from England but I've lived in Japan now for almost 30 years. This year I started car camping and a few months ago bought a converted Japanese ambulance (which is probably similar to the high top postal van that you bought in size) . it's the best thing and I'm going away exploring pretty much any time I can, I look forward to watching the rest of your videos.
Hey, that is so awesome you are living in Japan! Where in Japan are you based? I spent 2-3 years travelling around Japan by campervan, it's so amazing. Made videos about it over on the Bappa Shota channel (you can see them if you scroll back to older videos). Where have you been in your van so far? I love Hokkaido in the summer for van travel!
I'm in Mito Ibaraki. I only got the campervan a few months ago, I've been in Tochigi so far, I usually go away every other weekend for three or four days. My furthest trip was up to Aomori to see the autumn leaves in October. There's a ferry near me from Oarai that goes up to Hokkaido so I'm hoping to do that next summer. I love the fact that it's so easy to stop at a Hotspring here cheaply in the evenings. looking forward to trying to find your other videos.
I think italki may be exactly what I need. I've been trying to learn Korean on my own and I don't feel it's been very successful. Duolingo has no emphasis on speaking, and like you, I want to be able to have a conversation in the language. I've learned a little bit of Hangul and I've picked up a tiny bit of grammar from Duolingo, but nothing's really systematic to me and I'm frustrated. I'll be checking out italki. Thanks, Ruth.
Take my hat off to you. I visited Japan 2019 and hope to return next year, not an easy language at all but Ive tried to learn the basics at least. Great to find this channel. I've always liked Scotland and the Scottish people yet Ive only been to Edinburgh and Glasgow. Great inspiration to see much more :)
Ah yes, a very difficult part of Japanese! I was in Japan for 3 years during covid, it was hard not seeing family and friends so I want to spend this year in Scotland with family & friends and also see my country!
Its not related to Japan at all but I've noticed a house beside me in S. Edinburgh that is called 'Mo Aisling'. For obvious reasons I felt obliged to mention this in case there is some significance...😄
That was really fascinating and extremely interesting! I have only learnt French but surely it must have been, shall we say tricky to learn a completely new way of writing? I think that would be frankly?
Love to visit Japan - sorry for daft Q' - are they big bugs like spiders in Japan and are there plenty of food places that do English food - haven't tried Japanese food.
Not a daft question! There are big spiders in Japan but I don't think they are dangerous. The most dangerous animals are bears and snakes. Bears kill a few people every year. There are some very poisonous snakes called Habu in Okinawa!
@@ruthaisling Hi Ruth, I live just outside a wee town, Maybole in South Ayrshire. I have a DIY Campervan myself although I was driving a Black Freelander on Saturday. For your future travels could I recommend Glen Etieve at Glencoe, it's a dead end road but it is stunning. We camped at the very end one night and with the exception of the dreaded Midges it was great. I look forward to your next episode.. You take care now🙂
@@str0w4er I know Maybole! I spent 2 summers living in Girvan and working at that famous hotel nearby haha. Thanks for the recommendation for the place at Gelncoe, I'd love to get up there in the next few weeks!
Congrats on 20,000 subscribers, your next goal is 30,000 subscribers, and toast your efforts to speak Japanese wish a glass of Scottish Tennents lagar beer, go for it Ruth-san. チャンネル登録者20,000人おめでとう、次の目標はチャンネル登録者30,000人、そして日本語を喋るための努力にスコットランドのテネンツラガービールで乾杯、頑張れルースさん。
