Joecoolyo

I've no idea where you are in your travels after all this time, my friend, but I do hope my impression of your Empire of the Rising Sun in Multipolar Politics will do the original justice!

Are you still there?

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2016/09/26/language/lesson-not-bakari-ka-emphasis-also-bakari-ni-concern/

Japan times can be great!

A seal. Called inkan (印鑑).

Have you made yourself your personal chop out of a square of ivory yet?

Reddit? A wretched hive of scum and villainy. Almost as bad as CFC.

Oh… nasty. My computer went down last year and it was a freaking pain -and I had no smartphone. >_<

Hmm, yes, but if you have a laptop you can leave ChatZilla or IceChat running quietly on the side and you check every now and then while you work on other stuff. It's what I do. :)

Wanna vent on le fiftychat?

Hey, Joe, I've just had a question come up. Do Japanese use letters to number things? We Wesuterunu gai-jin use Arabic numbers, our own letters and Roman numerals to refer to people.

What do they use? It's not in my Jap-Eng dictionary. :/

This should prove interesting

How long do you intend to stay there?

I'll take the lottery and skip the part about being hanged.

Or get a job in Japan, even though my prospects currently lie elsewhere.

It tends to happen with learning a new language. You reach plateaux and then you climb on. As long as you're not falling back at speed you're doing OK.

The pronunciation issue seems to me to be that people subconsciously try to (mis-)pronounce things as in the language of their interlocutor.

As for my going to Japan… I'd first have to start learning Japanese in a systematic way instead of picking it up from anime and forums. Or win the lottery.

One thing for me is that I usually ‘bungle’ the pronunciation of loanwords in Japanese by pronouncing them as in the original language. E.g. ‘test’ instead of ‘tessuto’. I tend to do that often in other languages as well, but in Japanese it stands out more.

The same pic, but one in which the place on Earth where you are is actually visible. ;)

What have you been blasting?

Maybe you could update your profile pic… ;)

Guudo raku in Nippon, tensai Jō-san! Gambaru!

Sugoi desu ne?

Wakamono Joe to the rescue!

Either everyone's being incredibly polite or you've found a niche into which you can fit. Well, it is Japan…

Watch Lucky Start for real! It's available in Japanese, subtitled in English.

I hope Japan is kawaii.