ケビン先生は仕事が終わって帰ったら、いつも何をしてるんですか？と、生徒の一人に書かれた僕は

小説を書く。

と、答えた。すると、その子が「ほんとに？」とびっくりした。
「ほんとだよ」と僕。
「私もいつか書いてみたいな」
「やってみたら？」
「あたし何かできないよ、そんな」
「やってみないと分かんないじゃん」

二日後、その子が英語のノートにこう書いた。
「私自身ないけど小説を書いてみます！！アドバイスあれば是非教えてください！」

僕はそれを読むと、本当に感心した。そこで、彼女に書くことについて一生懸命教えてあげようと決めた。これは僕が昨日初めて彼女にあげた、小説のアドバイスだ（本名が違う）。これから書くアドバイスも、全てこのサイトにアップしようと思っている。

理沙、

これから週一、二回くらい小説の書き方について理沙に説明していきたいと思う。なるべき面白く書いていきたいと思うけど、この文書をほとんど夜遅く書いているから間違いとか、あれ？何これ？さっぱり訳分からんけど。というところがあれば、出来るだけ無視してください。眠いから。

まず一番大事なことを言っておくね。小説を読め（もう十分に読んでいるようだけど）！５年間くらいも毎日一生懸命に書いているけど、僕は（まだ）夏目漱石とか芥川とかに比べ物にならないんだ。それに熱心に日本語で書いているのはまだ半年しか経っていない。したがって、僕は小説の書き方についていくら詳しく知っていても、間違いなく僕は理沙に日本語を教えてあげられない。英語なら少しは出来るけど、理沙が日本語で小説を書きたいだろうと思うので、日本の名作もたくさん読まないとこれはほとんど意味がない。意味がなければ、こっちは寝るべきだ。眠いから。

さあ、始めよう。

僕は何を書いても、頑張って真面目に書くんだ。だからこの文ですら何回も頭の中で繰り返し、何回も編集した。それでも下手か。日本語が母語じゃないからか。そんなこと言うなよ、テンション下がるわ。まぁ、英語でも同じように書くよ。もう書いた文、今も書いている文、まだ書いていない文、僕は全て常に考えている。これがライターと一般人の違いだ。

これは非常に大切なのでもう一回言わせてもらう。ライターと一般人の違いはライターは編集するんだ。一般人は文を書き終わったら、筆を置く。だから一般人はいくら書いても、成長しない。ライターは自分の文を分析するから成長する。

だから二つの文を書く時間があれば、一つだけ書いてそれを改訂するんだ。三つの文を書く時間もあれば、一つだけ書いて、それを二回も改訂するんだ。分かったかな？だから５つの文を書く時間もあればどうすればいい？そう、寝ればいい。眠いから。

今、僕は小説を二冊書いている。（小説を書いていると言っても出版していないからまだ趣味か。笑）。それぞれの話を書く度に、今まで書いた文を必ず全て読む。つまり話は３７ページがあるとすれば、３８ページを書き始める前に、１ページから３７ページまでの文を全部読む。それから３９ページを書く時、１ページから３８ページまでもう一度読む。そう、とても疲れる手順だ。既に眠いし。

とにかく、こうするとまだ気づいていないリズムの問題とかを一応書き直したりして、それが終わるまで絶対にストーリを進めない。この順番で行けば１００ページの小説を完成した時、自分の作品を１００回以上読んでいて、１００回以上編集していただろう。

まず編集。まず編集。まず編集。例外がたくさんあると思うが、ストーリの流れを決めてから小説を完成するまでは、話の内容がそんなに変わらないだろう。だからいつも編集に集中するべきだ。ちゃんと編集すれば、あー、これでいいかなっていう段落が、これやっべー！超良い！となるから。

ああ、本当に眠くなってきた。笑。少し早く終わるね。今日のポイントと言えば、

今日の一番大切なことと言えば
本日の最も大事なところと言うと
僕は理沙に覚えて欲しいのは

編集編集編集。編集、つまり書き直すこと、しないと成長出来ない。才能を磨くんだよ。

小説家というのは、オリジナルストーリの文を何回も磨く人のことだ。

おすすめの練習：今読んでいる小説の中から好きな文を５つ選ぶ。そして、その文をさらに上手く書いてみて。真面目にやれば約三十分くらいはかかるだろう。時間がなけれあば、３つくらいはやってみて。

このプリントを新しいファイルにしてね。それから理沙が書いたこともそれに入れてね。アドバイスを一応全部パソコンに保存するつもりだからなくしたら言ってね。

んじゃ、また木曜日。

Hello friends, Dogentricks.com here.

This is the last blog entry I will ever write in the United States of America.

Today, on my way back from the embassy, I swung by my apartment and watched some TV with friends. We sat together on our green leather couch and watched 3 second season episodes of ‘Coupling,’ the same way we did in high school five years ago. We laughed at the same jokes—nearly doubling over at captain subtext. But today, when I stood up from the couch, instead of retreating to my room and throwing a ‘g’night guys’ over my right shoulder, I slowly tied my shoes and walked towards the door. I turned to face my friends, and told them goodbye. “I’m moving to Japan tomorrow; thanks for the times we’ve had.” This is what I said to my best friend Rob, a guy I went to elementary school, middle school, high school, and college with. His house was never more than a few minutes bike ride, and this year, his room never more than a few steps walk. “Thanks for the times we’ve had,” is what I said to him, because I knew if I said, “I’m going to miss you to death—you’ve been the best friend I could ever imagine, and helped me through so much,” that I would have undoubtedly started to cry.

The same events will unfold tomorrow morning when I say goodbye to my parents at Sea-Tac International Airport. I’ll look at both of them, give them both hugs, and say to them, “I’ll talk to you soon. Love you too. Bye.” I’ll say it in the same way I have for 14 years when I woke up and went to school. The only difference this time is that I am moving to Japan, alone.

My friends aren’t moving to Japan, and neither is my family. It hit me hard today on the drive home—I pulled into the parking lot of my elementary school and listened to Supercar’s Karma, trying to wrap myself around the reality of tomorrow. At 2:15 PM I will leave everything I know, all of my friends, and all of my family. Although I love Seattle and its people to death, I was born to do this, and it wouldn’t be right for me to stay. I was meant to go to Japan, to become a teacher and a writer, and to inspire others to study language the same way I did 8 years ago. This is my path and something I’ve known I must do for the past decade.

This is not my dream coming true; this is fate.

Tomorrow will be the most significant day of my life. Thank you for your support.

Train hard.

Hello friends, Dogentricks.com here.

This is my analysis of な vs. ね in Japanese colloquial speech. Its a bit stuffy, but I encourage those with an interest in 日本語 to check it out. This will mostly likely be the last major paper I write as a student.

Train hard.

Though there is a significant amount of research in regards to sentence final particles and their role in Japanese, there is a noticeable lack of information surrounding the informal particle な. The purpose of this paper is to expose the role of な in Japanese, especially in comparison to sentence final particle ね. This will be done through comparing documented research on the particles ね and な with their occurrence in several native speaker dialogues. In his paper, な refers explicitly to the sentence final particle. Thus, it should not be confused with the various other functions of な, particularly the negative command form, V(Plain)+な, or the な adjective.

Todd and Erika Geers (1988) indicate な as the male equivalent to the sentence final particle ね, as expressed through several clear examples. Geers (p. 18) translates the English phrase, ‘That’s right!’ as そうだね, usable by both males and females. そうだな, on the other hand, is a form, according to Geers, usable only by males. Another straightforward example of this phenomenon is found in a translation of the English, ‘Maybe.’ Geers (p. 20) again indicates たぶんね as a gender free phrase, while たぶんな is markedly male. These phrases are significant because the only distinction that keeps them from being identical is the sentence final particle. That is to say, it is specifically な that makes the phrase markedly masculine. A particularly interesting phenomenon occurs in the translation of the English phrase, ‘That was good.’ While ね is often thought to be gender free, in the instance of 良かったね, The phrase becomes markedly female, in contrast to the male counterpart, 良かったな (Geers, page 23). Similarily, ‘Definitely!’ is be translated as 本当にそうよね, a marked female form, while 本当にそうだよな is another, according to Geers (p. 19), male form. Constantine affirms the use of な as a masculine sentence final particle with several implicit examples, such as: 俺 は てっきり あの ちいんちぇんでは この辺 のこと知ってると思ったんだがなあ (Constantine, 1994, p. 22). 俺, in this example, makes it clear this is a phrase used by males. In his 1992 work, Constantine provides a definition of な in relation to ね. な and なー are “the rough and masculine sounding version of ね and ねー” (Constantine, 1992, p. xxi). Thus, based on the research presented, な is defined as the masculine equivalent to the female particle ね.

Using this definition, the functionality and conditions for using な will now be analyzed through direct analysis of particle ね. Lee’s 2007 study explores the use of ね and よ in Japanese as tools of involvement. His abstract states, “the particles commonly share the function of signaling the speaker’s attitude in order to invite the involvement of the conversation partner” (p. 363). To be specific, Lee explains, “ね invites the partner’s involvement in an ‘incorporative’ manner, by which the speaker is committed to align with the partner with respect to the contents and feeling conveyed in the utterance” (p. 363). Therefore, な can be explained as male only instance of the sentence final particle ね; な is a tool by which male speakers encourage the partner’s participation in an incorporative way. In terms of conditions, Lee explains ね in the following manner:

“Provided that ね indicates the speaker’s attitude of inviting the involvement of the other party, the use of the particle is crucial if the following two conditions are fulfilled: (i) The main concern of the speaker is to align himself with the partner in respect to the utterance contents. (ii) The speaker assumes that the partner will also fully understand the content and feeling of the utterance. Condition (i) is essential; if this condition is met, while condition (ii) is not satisfied, the use of ne is optional” (Lee, 2007, p. 373).

Using Constantine’s 1992 definition of な as a masculine version of ね, Lee’s conditions for ね are thus also applicable to な, albeit restricted to use only by men.

The use of な will now be analyzed through several native speaker conversations, as transcribed by Ohta’s 2009 Japanese 443 class. In my analysis of the conversation ‘Keitai1.mov,’ (CALPER, 2009) な is used in the following way: 41: T: a mata meeru ga kichatta hayai na henshin. T, in an unmarked, spontaneous utterance, reflects on the speed of which his message was replied. It should be noted that な here is also used as defined by Lee (2007), as T is seemingly inviting group involvement. This is clear, as T’s mention of the reply is a direct extension of his earlier statement: 22: T: ara meeru ga kichatta. T’s use of Ara, in addition to his leaning towards the group and raising of his cell phone, appears to be a means of getting the group’s attention. T seemingly wants to create humor, which he succeeds in doing, by making a satirical joke commenting on the use of cell phones, while the group discusses cell phones. Subsequently, な, as used in 41, can be interpreted as T’s way of attempting to prolong the joke and encouraging group involvement and laughter, as he smiles and jokes about the speed of the reply. Another interesting example comes in line 57: T: ma daichi tegami toka kakane mon na, 60: S: zettai kakane ne, and 61:T: kakane yo //na. T’s use of な elicits S’s aligned response in line 60 and thus supports Lee’s (2007) theory of involvement. Furthermore, this is a prime example of Geer’s (1994) classification of な as a sentence final particle that makes the phrase distinctly masculine. Though S, in line 60, also applies the ね ending to her verb 書く, she distinctly produces the ね sentence-ending particle to finish her phrase. T, on the other hand, uses な in both instances. The phrases are nearly identical except for the use of な vs ね. This supports the evidence noted earlier; な is essentially adding a masculine tone to the ね particle; their functionality is indistinguishable.

In Javier’s analysis of ‘GiftA.mov,’ (CALPER, 2009) there are two examples of な being used in alignment with conditions listed above. The first example comes in line 45: K: [giri choko tte no wa na:[: (uttered by male speaker), and again in line 112: K: [nodoame de howaito dei tte sugoi na (same speaker). However, also in Javier’s analysis is an example of a female using な, as shown in line 108 and 109: Y: a zutto mattetan dakedo nodoame demo ii no ni na::[ to omottetan dakedo ((while smiling and making a cute, joking gesture with her hands)). This is the only point in this dialogue, or any of the dialogues for that matter, that な is used by a female speaker as a sentence final particle. It is important to note Y uses ね throughout the rest of the dialogue, for example in lines 22 : Y: [giri choko to ka sa ne, 44: Y: un:: giri choko [ne:!, and 46 [kaisugi da yo ne:.

Is Y’s use of な an exception? Before analyzing this instance of な、it is necessary to review Cook’s 1996 report on the spontaneous and disciplined modes of self. Cook explains the existence of two self-speech modes. Spontaneous speech is unmarked, natural, and typically expressed through the plain form Japanese (Cook, 1996). The disciplined form is marked, controlled, and usually expressed with the です／ます form (Cook, 1996). Though this instance of な does not perfectly coincide with Cook’s explanation of disciplined speech corresponding to the です／ます form, the articulation and context of lines 108 and 109, in addition to the physical gestures, suggest な in this instance is a marked, non-spontaneous speech act.

Y’s utterance: 108: a zutto mattetan dakedo nodoame demo ii no ni na::[ to omottetan dakedo, translates to ‘Though I waited forever, I would have been happy with just cough drops!’ which is said in response to her male counterpart’s utterance: 106: K: wasurechatta ((grins)), translated as, “Oops, I forgot to give you something.” Apparently, K has forgotten to return Y’s chocolate, or he simply did not prioritize it as something important or necessary, as is amplified by his grin. Y’s comment, ‘I would have been happy with just cough drops!’ in addition to a smile and cute hand gesture, creates a markedly humorous atmosphere that seems to indicate her lack of any actual anger or disappointment. The statement thus comes across as a joke, as most women would certainly be disappointed in receiving such a gift on White Day. K’s spontaneous laughter in line 110 further supports Y’s statement as being a blatant joke. な, thus, can also be interpreted as part of the joke, making it an explicitly marked form. That is to say, had Y truly been angry at K for not giving anything to her on valentines day, it is likely she would have not made a joke about cough drops, or utilized the particle な. It is then な itself that makes it more obvious her statement is, in fact, a joke. This is Y’s only use of な in the dialogue, and stands out against her unmarked, frequent use of ね, providing further evidence of な as a marked form in line 109.

From the information available, there was only one instance of a woman using the な sentence final particle. In this case, な came in the form of a joke and appears to be a marked statement. Thus, though there may be instances of woman using な as a sentence final particle that exist outside the data of this paper, based on the dialogues available, な coincides with the previous research presented. That is, な is a sentence final particle usable by men in natural, unmarked statements to encourage partner involvement. The CALPER dialogues used in Ohta’s 2009 Japan 443 class support this information.

References
CALPER’s Learning through Listening Japanese Materials Bank (2009). Available from CALPER’s Learning through Listening website: http://calper.la.psu.edu/learningthroughlistening/index.php
Cook, H. M. (1996) Japanese Language Socialization: Indexing the Modes of Self. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.
Constantine, P. (1994) Japanese Slang Uncensored. Tokyo: Yenbooks.
Constantine, P. (1992) Japanese Street Slang. New York: Tengu Books.
Geers, E., Geers T. (1988) Making out in Japanese. Tokyo: Yenbooks.
Lee, D.Y. (2006) Involvement and the Japanese particles ne and yo. Journal of Pragmatics, 39, 363-388.
Yonekawa, A. (1992) Beyond Polite Japanese. Tokyo: Kondansha International.

Hello friends, Dogentricks.com here. I just finished my JET interview. ナイス！

When I signed in to the Japanese consulate, the receptionist quickly asked me,
“are you the one with the website?”

A bit surprised, I modestly responded, “Haha, yea!” Though I really wanted to say, “Why yes, I am Dogentricks.com!”

I nearly exploded with laughter just thinking about saying something so ridiculous. I bit my tongue and suppressed the hypothetical humor into an inaudible stomach implosion. I took out the required forms and smoothly passed them across the table, earnestly trying to display my professionalism.

She continued, “Yea, we were wondering about that…the essay you wrote on your website and the essay you turned in are completely different.”

Oh noes. After having one of my fantastic professors proofread my original essay (the one posted on the website), I ended up rewriting almost the entire thing. “This essay is interesting and creative, but not what a few Japanese people sitting in Washington are going to want to read; it’s too abstract.” With that in mind, I completely redid my essay. It didn’t occur to me the incongruity of reality and the world wide wealtiy might come back to bite me in the rear.

Well, it did. But it was a nice bite – like the kind of bite you have when you’re chomping into a pancake with just the perfect balance of butter, hot maple syrup, and just cooked batter. I ended up talking with the kind receptionist for about 15 minutes, and eventually even showed her some tricking videos. Two other people waiting to be interviewed nudged over and began watching as well. “I’ve always wanted to learn this stuff!” one of them said. “What is this site again?” At that point I realized,

“This is the second major job interview I’ve had in which I watched Quad Tricks VI” I shook my inner mind in disbelief while ginning from ear to ear.

Finally, the time came. “Kevin,” said the receptionist, “they are waiting for you in Room A.”

Anxious to get things started I walked straight into the room, completely forgetting everything I had learned in Japan. The receptionist literally laughed out loud and in a classic whispering to your friend across the classroom voice, stopped me. “Knock!!” I quickly jumped back outside the room and pulled the door shut. Then, I knocked. Unable to hear anything from on the other side and now slightly out of my groove, I waited breathlessly for 4 seconds and then once more entered the room.

Overall the interview went smoothly and turned out to be a great experience. I actually love the high energy and tension of a serious job interview – it’s the one place where you really see your strengths and faults. I thank the Seattle JET desk for providing me with an incredible opportunity, and everyone else who has supported me thus far; hopefully I’ve have good news for everyone this April!

Train hard.

悟りとは何じゃ

ただひたすら座ります。

Hello friends, Dogentricks.com here.

My character was shaped by a man who lived 800 years ago. His teachings showed how me to appreciate life, how to treat others, and how to live without regrets.

His name was Dogen Zenji, and this is a film dedicated to his life.

It will be shown at the University of Washington later this month; to say that I am excited would be an understatement.

Hello friends, dogentricks.com here.

Sorry for creating such an awesome graphic; it’s my way of celebrating. I passed the first stage of the JET Program.

I will be having my final interview on February 17th or 18th of this month, in Japan. If things go well, I’ll be returning to Japan at the beginning of July, smack dab in the middle of the sweat-your-skin-off summer. As a man raised in the chilly fog of Seattle, I will most likely melt upon arrival. Great!

Wish me luck and train hard!

Hello friends, Dogentricks.com here. Today, the World is Yours.

Last September I discovered a band called Mass of the Fermenting Dregs. Their concise, 6 track self-titled debut was without doubt my favorite album of 2008. Half of songs are already in my all time top 25 most played list, despite their fairly recent discovery. Listening to the album is like a bullet crashing towards you through 6 sheets of stained glass. Loud, flashy, and fast.

If I had to make a comparison, I’d characterize Mass of the Fermenting Dregs as the Japanese indie female counterpart to the fantastic American band Saosin. I give the center stage to Mass however, with their creativity and hypnotizing instrumentals.

Sometimes I feel as if this band was made specifically for me. Then, I list off all their attributes and realize, “well of course they were!”

1. Incredible song variety with a healthy balance of instrumentals and vocally driven songs.
2. Haunting female vocals
3. Ridiculously distorted guitar
4. Ridiculously distored bass
5. Shakers.
6. Walls of percussion

That being said, I was rather excited when I finally got my hands on their new album “The World is Yours”. Today I listened to the album with a pair of amped Shure 530s, and cried.

I am happy to say their new album is absolutely incredible. In describing the sound to a friend, I explained it as ‘spacial.’ But it’s more than just spacial, this album is a massive tunnel echoing with emotion. No, it’s more like lying in a planetarium and watching the big bang occur in hyperspeed – countless beautiful explosions in space and time. It’s everything I expect from Mass of the Fermenting Dregs, and everything I can’t explain with words – just damn good.

The World is Yours! Check it out.

Hello friends. Updates still in progress. I found the PV for Mass of the Fermenting Dregs new song, このスピードの先ヘ、which basically translates to beyond this speed. It’s a fantastic song and gives me high expectations for their new album which goes on sale the 21st of this month! Enjoy.

Update in progress. Dogentricks.com will be in update purgatory for the next week or so, as I’m currently taking care of my beloved 晋也くん in the midsts of the overhaul. Small changes should occur daily, but I’ll make another announcement when things are completely done. Feel free to leave a comment right here on the main page – one of the excellent new functions. Thanks for the support!

For the time being, check out the new sampler: