A little while back I wrote a guest post over at Raising Adelaide about the struggle that my wife (“zoomz”) and I have in raising our child (“Ash-kun”) in a bilingual household of English and Japanese.

Ash-kun

Obviously there is no better way to learn a second language than hearing it from birth but what happens if you notice a language developmental issue? Is simultaneous acquisition of both languages the cause? Should you abandon one language in order to consolidate the other? Which language should get priority?

We noticed early on what we thought was a language developmental issue with Ash-kun and made the regrettable decision to abandon the Japanese language. To this day we have struggled to reintroduce the second language sequentially.

Below is an extract from my guest post. If the topic is of interest to you head on over, check it out and join the dialogue.

Although we had set out with best intentions to pass on two languages, we had found it more complicated than we had originally assumed. Ash-kun’s competence in each language was slow to develop. By the time Ash-kun was 2 years of age his English vocabulary was noticeably limited compared to other Aussie kids in his day care. In Japanese he was only able to understand basic instruction and was unable to communicate in the language.

Concerned that he was confused as a result of being overloaded with both languages, zoomz made the fateful decision to stop communicating with him in Japanese and to switch exclusively to English. This decision went against all of the advice that we had been given that suggested that Ash-kun’s hindered language developmental progress was natural as there was a view that children who acquire more than one language simultaneously generally experience language delay.

Click here to read more: Battle of the Bilingual Household

This is a guest post by Philip Seyfi from NihongoUp, the online Japanese textbook. You can read more of him at the Japanese blog and Twitter.

Tourists and Japanese language learners often get confused by Japanese names, mostly because of the many misconceptions on the subject…

In this post we’ll look at everything you need to know about Japanese names, from the basics to the more advanced stuff like addressing His Imperial Majesty.

The basics

One of the most common misbeliefs is that there is too little variety with Japanese names, similar to the ignorant complaint that all Japanese are the same.

As regards physical appearances, it’s just a matter of not having enough contact with the Japanese, but in case of names it’s also an entirely false statement, as Japanese family names are in fact extremely varied.

According to estimates, there are over 100,000 different surnames in use today in Japan, compared to just over 200 common family names in Korea.

Common Japanese surnames

As mentioned above, there are quite a few Japanese surnames still in use today, but some of them are much more prevalent than the others.

The ten currently most widespread Japanese family names are Sato, Suzuki, Takahashi, Tanaka, Watanabe, Ito, Yamamoto, Nakamura, Kobayashi, and Kato.

What you may not know is that the written Japanese version of these names can be quite varied, as each family has a particular kanji (Chinese characters) that they employ when they write their name.

This presents difficulty even for native speakers, and is one of the reasons why business cards are still extremely commonplace in Japan, as the preferred characters will often appear with a pronunciation guide.

Honorific suffixes

When addressing, or talking about someone other than yourself, names in Japanese are appended with honorific suffixes. These vary according to a person’s age, and social status relative to the speaker.

Some people mistakenly believe that the suffixes are part of the name, but that is not the case. Thus, a single person may be addressed with a variety of suffixes, and it isn’t used when one is talking about oneself, and a foreigner’s non-Japanese name adapts one as well (ex. Philip-san, フィリプさん).

San

さん is the most common honorific, akin to English Mr, Miss, Mrs and Ms. It can be encountered in both formal and informal contexts, and it’s use is not limited to people’s names; for example, a bookseller is called ‘bookstore’ + san (hon’yasan, 本屋さん) and a bucher ‘butcher shop’ + san (nikuyasan, 肉屋さん).

You may well hear your name suffixed with san, but be sure not to repeat your name with san attached, it’s considered quite impoilite to use san when addressing yourself.

Chan

ちゃん is a diminutive suffix associated with babies, grandparents and young children, but also commonly used towards cute animals, young women, and among lovers & close friends.

Often, the names of young girls are abbreviated and then made more familiar and cuter with chan. For example, Natsumi (なつみ), a girl’s name could become Nachan (なっちゃん).

To avoid embarrassment, it’s worthwhile not making up your own abbreviations and adding chan of your own accord, but rather to wait and hear how the young people you know are addressed, so as to not sound condescending.

Kun

Simply speaking, くん is the male equivalent of ちゃん, and is used for boys and young men up to the age of about 20. However, there is a lot more to it than may be apparent at first sight.

The suffix is frequently used in workplace setting by seniors addressing or referring to their subordinates—whether male or female. It may also be used by females referring to boys or men they’ve known for a long time.

Another interesting place where くん can be encountered is the Diet of Japan, where chairpersons use it to address diet members and ministers.

Sensei

先生 (sen’sē, lit. ‘former-born’) is used for teachers, doctors, politicians, lawyers, and other authority figures. It is also commonly encountered where one would use ‘master’ in English, be it for artists or artisans.

Sensei is not only a suffix but also a noun that can be used by itself, meaning teacher. Just like さん, it’s considered most impolite to refer to yourself as 先生, even if teaching is your profession!

There is a number of other more respectful or specialized suffixes in Japanese, but the above-mentioned four are the only ones you’ll commonly encounter during your visit.

Other things you should know

We may have named all the basics, but there are several that you may want to know before visiting Japan.

For starters, the name of the current Emperor of Japan (tennō, 天皇) is Akihito. Notice the lack of surname. In Japan, the emperor is never referred to by his given name. Instead, depending on context, “His Imperial Majesty the Emperor” or “The Reigning Emperor“ are used.

If that’s not complicated enough, upon his death, H.I.M. Akihito will be renamed “Emperor Heisei,” hence the “Heisei” era which started on 8 January 1989, the first day after the death of the Emperor Hirohito.

When a member of the Imperial family becomes a noble or a commoner, the emperor gives him or her a family name. Conversely, if a noble or a commoner become a member of the Imperial family, his or her family name is lost.

In case you’ll ever have anything to do with law or contracts, the stereotypical Japanese male name equivalent to John Smith is Yamada Tarō (山田太郎), and Jane Smith would be referred to as Yamada Hanako (山田花子).

What is my name in Japanese?

In much the same way that we make foreign names easier to pronounce in our own language by parting with their native pronunciation (think Tokyo vs. Tōkyō how it’s pronounced in Japanese)

When you say your name to a Japanese person, they’ll likely try very hard to repeat your name back to you as you said it, but more likely than not they’ll repeat a name back to you that’s more comfortable to say in Japanese. Lacking an ‘m’ sound, Tom becomes Tomu; lacking an ‘l’ sound, Ollie becomes Ori. Embrace this and consider presenting yourself with this Japanese name.

You’ll also want to be able to write your name, which is done in the Japanese script known as katakana, specifically used for writing foreign names and loan-words. It’s very simple to pick up, and can be learned together with hiragana in just a fortnight.

Nate Jensen, from PinkNihon.com, examines the impact on businesses in Tokyo after the Tohoku earthquake with particular attention to the handcrafted limited service signs displayed in storefronts.

Last year, Jensen independently published The Japanese-English Guide to Sex, Kink and Naughtiness; perhaps one of the most comprehensive books bridging sexual terms between the Japanese and English languages.

I was on the 21st floor of a building in Tokyo at 3pm when the big Tohoku quake hit Japan a couple of weeks ago.  That experience was like none other and shook me up quite a bit.  Public transportation was in disarray from the quake and I ended up having to make a 5 hour trek across Tokyo to get home.

As I wandered across Tokyo, I started taking photos with my iPhone of the damage and other interesting cultural elements.  During the next couple of weeks that followed, I took my DSLR with me most of the time I would be out-of-doors.  One of the interesting patterns in the photos I collected included a variety of signs from shops, restaurants and other establishments explaining revised operating hours and limited menus.

After a day or two of the March 11th quake, makeshift signs started to appear all over the place.  In addition to the more obvious informational signs created, there were other signs encouraging the survivors of the Tohoku Region to hang in there. Other handmade signs would say things to the effect of “this shop’s electric sign is turned off to conserve power for the Tohoku region, but we are still in business.”

Food availability, along with the JIT infrastructure, were interrupted as a result of shifting goods, supplies and available shipping resources to the North.  When supplies became limited and sushi restaurants, McDonalds, convenience stores, karaoke parlors and even on vending machines started to display makeshift signs, it was clear the situation was not business-as-usual in Tokyo.

Despite these setbacks resulting from the most unfortunate Tohoku disaster, these makeshift signs around Tokyo perhaps attest to the resilience of the Kanto people as well as those coping with the more drastic situation further North in the Tohoku region. Gambare, Nippon!

A notice from the Yamazaki Bread company posted on an empty bread shelf

Limited availability of efforts to cooperate in helping [people affected by] the quake. Along with the brownouts and instabilities of infrastructure, ingredients are limited and the “Spring Bread Festival” campaign is suspended as a result. Apologies for any inconveniences. Point stickers that have been collected already can still be used, so please save those until a later date.

A sign in a sushi store shop front

We’re cheering for the places affected by the quake. You need to make sure Number 1 has enough power as a result. Let’s cheer everyone on from Tokyo with heart and soul by eating our inexpensive and delicious sushi.

Big Echo: Karaoke place in Akasaka

Top sign: unnecessary lights are not turned on to conserve energy as a result of the quake. Bottom sign: some menu items may not be available as a result of the quake.

McDonald’s in Shibuya

Closed from 5:30pm on the 17th.

Q-Front in Shibuya

Limited store hours as a result of the quake.

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