Writing English

It has been four months since I began this blog. In the beginning, I often wondered whether my English was correct. Although I’ve managed to write every post in English, I can’t say my English has improved much.

For many Japanese learners, articles and prepositions are particularly challenging, largely because they don’t exist in the same way in Japanese.

  


My younger daughter took this photo in Shanghai. The Japanese on the sign is a little odd, but perhaps it’s still better than my English.

Writing in English can be frustrating. Yet at the same time, I sometimes feel an indescribable sense of freedom—as if, by writing in English, I’m momentarily released from the Japanese language and culture that shaped me for so many years.


 



Comments

  1. BrookApr 30, 2013, 6:52:00 PM

    I can sympathize with your feeling, plus, I have always “whether-singular-or-plural-problem”.
    I’d say writing something in English is similar to composing Tanka or Haiku.
    There are many restrictions in both cases.
    In English I have great limitation in vocabulary and grammatical knowledge.
    But we can make our shortcomings some advantages, can’t we?
    Not in writing but in speech, some eloquent native speakers use too many, sometimes redundant words, while very smart and intelligent non-native ones use only small amount of words and succeed in expressing their profound ideas.
    I think writing essays in English is a good training to polish up my vague thoughts and express them concisely as much as possible with my poor vocabulary.

    ReplyDelete
  2. BroccoliApr 30, 2013, 6:58:00 PM

    Regarding this post, your English is better than that Japanese above.

    I can understand what you mean about feeling liberated when writing in English - it's actually kind of related to what I just wrote in my own blog.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ＢｒｏｏｋMay 1, 2013, 7:41:00 AM

    Your blog gives me good opportunities to read, think and express myself in English.
    I appreciate it very much.
    I have posted your blog to mine, and I wrote small thank-you-notes to my blog friends including you on April 28.

    ReplyDelete
  4. F HiroshiMay 1, 2013, 1:56:00 PM

    Brook san, I think so too.

    I'm now sorry that I should have studied English earlier.
    I was a bad student when I was young.

    Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. F HiroshiMay 1, 2013, 1:56:00 PM

    Me san, thank you for leaving your comment.

    I often visit your blog, and I'm always impressed your English.
    I'm reading The Reader now. Very good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BroccoliMay 1, 2013, 8:10:00 PM

      Thank you for the compliment Hiroshi-san. I've actually been here a couple of times, but was too shy to comment. You seem to have a good taste in books. I'm glad you're enjoying The Reader!

      Delete
    2. BroccoliMay 1, 2013, 8:12:00 PM

      Oh, by the way, I figured people would find it a bit awkward to call me 'me', so I finally thought of an online nickname.

      Delete

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