This is my work for another assignment in my short story writing class at UW. It was much more difficult than I had anticipated, but I received a rewarding mark for my work. Excellent. Hope you guys enjoy it!

The prompt:

For this assignment, you’ll write only nine sentences, but they may be the toughest nine you have ever written. That’s because you’ll be dealing with identical material in nine different ways. Here’s the material:

It is Monday morning at the office and everyone has arrived for the weekly staff meeting. Each is preoccupied by thoughts of his or her weekend, yet each wants to appear focused on matters at hand.

My work:

Assignment 4:

1st Person Factual:

I walked into the dimly lit conference room holding a disposable coffee mug, a plastic bound 3 ring binder, and two Bic ballpoint pens.

1st Person Deeply Emotionally Involved

The morning coffee was nearly as bitter as the faces sitting around the long, mahogany conference table; my remaining energy was quickly being sucked through my eyes into their empty, hung over attempts to smile.

1st Person Humorous:

I prayed to the Lord Almighty that Thomas, the pudgy man blinking in and out of sleep across the conference table from me, would dive face first into his uncapped slow-drip coffee and send a fiery tsunami into the lap of our monotonous CEO.

3rd Person Limited Factual:

J hid any trace of exhaustion beneath his perfect posture and $3,000 Armani suit as he confidently stepped into the conference room past fellow employees.

3rd Person Limited Deeply Emotionally Involved:

F practically crawled into the conference room, his face melting with exhaustion, wheeled himself up to the table with the heels of his muddy shoes, and lifted a small black mug to his clearly quivering lips.

3rd Person Limited Humorous:

Eager to appear agreeable, H nodded mindlessly the entire meeting, making perfect eye contact with the Spartan boss; his enthusiasm landed him two weeks of third floor bathroom duty.

3rd Person Omniscient Factual:

Each employee was suited in glistening Calvin Klein shoes, creaseless Ralph Loren slacks, tailored Nordstrom coats, and solid black Dolce and Golbana ties; it was the dress code created enforced by the CEO–he understood that a man who felt good looking would be more willing to work.

3rd Person Omniscient Deeply Emotionally Involved:

Everyone couldn’t help but notice Sharon as she reluctantly passed into the conference room; her normally beautiful face was black and blue, swollen around both eyes, and her once supple, red lips were a purple mess hanging lopsidedly off her crimson nostrils.

3rd Person Omniscient Humorous:

Everyone except Arvie walked into the office wearing professional business attire.

Hello friends, Dogentricks.com here.

The following is a short passage I wrote for my English 284 (short stories) class. The goal of this assignment was to create emotion using only perceptional illustrations of environment. I’m going to cheat a bit here, and include some music (Solitude By Ryuichi Sakamoto, Tony Takitani Soundtrack) that I think suits the writing. Hope you guys enjoy it.

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The boy made his way towards the faded steel ferris wheel that he imagined to be the center of the park. The ear piercing, rhythmic squeal of its grinding gears sent chills down his spine. It spun precariously on its axis as if might pop off anytime—rolling through the park and demolishing everything in its path like a freak hillbilly car show.

He squirmed through the crowd of misfits. A pair of monochrome clowns, black eyeliner streaking down their white faces, slowly clap oversized shoes through the thick mud. A cloud of spicy body odor follows their bent figures through the sea of bodies. To his left, a string of game booths. A noisy young couple, probably out without the permission of their parents, take turns throwing rusty lead darts against a tack wall of under-inflated balloons. The next booth is lined with wooden milk cartons and dirt stained, rubber softballs. The boy’s eyes climb the makeshift, rickety infrastructure of the tent. A group of lifeless, faded stuffed animals are lynched from the ceiling. The moist stink of their moldy fur betray any notion of their existence as ‘prizes.’ Their empty, unblinking eyes follow the boy’s figure, silently pushing him through the mob. 

He trips. His hands dive into the thick, warm mud, fixing themselves like a construction worker fallen into a mass of drying cement. The boy’s breaths become quick and shallow. He is covered in the shadows of strangers and pummeled by a barrage of faceless laughter. He rounds his sweat covered back, drives his heels into the ground, and pulls. Standing, the boy quickly wipes the brown mess against the coarse, dry denim of his jeans. A quick gust dashes through the carnival, snatching whiffs from every vendor. The boy is wrapped in the reek of watered down ketchup, over used honey buckets, and damp trash.

He continues to trek towards the spinning, metal giant. A patchy old horse to his right releases a reluctant cry. The boy, lightheaded and out of breath, locks eyes with the poor creature—a once muscle bound stallion, now confined to a twenty five square meter box of harassment. For a moment, their countenances reflect each other. The boy drops his eyes back to the ticket littered ground, drives his index fingers into his ears, and continues walking.

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 everyone!

I was actually planning to post another entry that I had prepared for today, a recommendation of sorts. I am glad, however, that I waited to post until after I got back from my daily commitments. On the tram home, I had another ‘tiny’ encounter. Hopefully it will make you smile, too.

Late this afternoon, which was several hours ago, I was standing next to a pram. Coming from the pram I could hear the usual chattering of a toddler amusing themselves while Daddy watched on and occasionally joined in. What I didn’t notice was that situated in front of the next set of doors, several rows down, was another pram.

I became aware of this, however, when the toddler apparently heard the other bub’s incoherent musings and decided to call out. The other bub wasted no time in responding and before I knew it, there was a conversation going back and forth, with babbles, squeals and a few enthusiastic bounces mixed into the incomprehensible chatter.

Keep in mind this conversation took place over several rows of seats on the tram. A few moments into the conversation and everyone on my side of the tram were smiling fondly, some softly chuckling, at the toddler in the pram beside me.

Ah, such is the power of a child’s aura, more fatal than a lethal weapon, no? Possibly so that the most rotten person would be left disarmed and a mushy mess? Brilliant, really.

This language they spoke may have been incomprehensible for us, but it seemed to work well for both bubs. It was too damn cute!

While on the topic of ‘uncommon’ languages- a word of advice: when one is able to speak a language that is uncommon to the area they reside in, one usually assumes that no one else can speak the language. Albeit there is a slight chance. This bit of information is especially relevant to when you assume the same of the person you’re speaking of. Because to this blunder, I can definitely relate.

Can anyone say ‘mortifying embarrassment’?

Questions to consider: Have you had any similar run-ins with children before? Have you yourself accidentally spoken about someone(s) or something, not knowing others understood exactly what you said?

I did not get a chance to sleep on this entry so I apologise for any pitfalls.

Comments and criticism are more than welcome. Thank you!

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. A couple people from the forum inquired about the research paper I wrote for my Japanese linguistics class. My presentation is done, the paper is 出した、so I don’t think it’s possible for me to get in trouble putting it on the internet. For those interested, you can find the report here.

Hello friends. My friend Rodger, aka Tokyo Swan, has released the first video in his new series, “Deconstructing Swan” I enjoyed the video very much, and Shinya, a friend of mine from Keio, gave me a shout out in the video. Hope you guys enjoy it. Big things on the way soon, hold in there!

This is a report I wrote for my Japanese Social Linguistics class. It supports most common linguistic hypothesis concerning bilingualism and second language acquisition.

Introduction: The purpose of this project was to determine the attitudes of Japanese-English bilingual speakers towards their own view of bilingualism and code switching. Before starting the interview process it was hypothesized the bilingually raised speakers would have a stronger sense of attachment and appreciation towards their bilingualism as well as the various benefits of being bilingual, when compared to bilingual speakers who were not raised bilingually. Additionally, it was hypothesized all subjects would view bilingualism as positive aspect of their lives. Four subjects were interviewed – all names have been changed.

Shiina is a Japanese native who was born and raised in Oosaka, Japan, until the age of eight. She was then moved by her father’s business to America. Upon moving Shiina attended 3 months of ESL and then was promptly moved into an American elementary school. Shiina returns to Japan every year during winter and summer vacation and stays with her family and works part-time. She is currently a student at the University of Washington and is also a skilled Spanish speaker. Atsushi is a Japanese native who was born and raised in Oita-ken, Japan. He was accepted to the University of Washington after high school and moved here immediately after graduation. He returns to Japan once a year for approximately one month during summer vacation. He is currently a junior at the University of Washington and has been living here for approximately 3 and half years. He also studies Russian. Outside of basic junior high and high school curriculum, Atsushi has had no experience studying English before coming to Seattle.

Yusuke is a Japanese native who was born and raised in Oosaka until junior high. During his teenage years, his mother’s work moved him from Oosaka to Switzerland for approximately 2 years. After attending a private school in Switzerland, Yusuke developed his English significantly. His mother’s job later moved to Michigan where he lived for an additional 2 years. Finally, Yusuke became tired of moving and returned to Japan to live with his father, a professor in Oosaka. He is currently living in Tokyo and working for a major industrial engineering company.

Shinya was born to a Japanese man and America woman in Japan and raised there until the age of three. His parents’ decision to raise Shinya in America led the family back to the United States. He has been living in the Seattle area since the age of four. He speaks Japanese with his father and Japanese relatives, and English with his mother and American relatives. He taught himself over 2000 kanji and considers himself bilingual, though he acknowledges his Japanese is very weak compared to his English. He is currently a student at the University of Washington and is also studying Chinese.

All speakers are bilingual enough in both English and Japanese to be considered fluent for everyday life in both America and Japan. In particular, Shiina and Yusuke speak both languages without audible flaw. Atsushi speaks English slower than his native Japanese and has a limited English vocabulary, as well as a Japanese accent. Shinya is the opposite, speaking his native English perfectly, but speaking Japanese fairly slowly, with a slight American accent and sometimes, he says, “without confidence.”

Methodology: All 4 subjects were asked every question from the developing interview questions sheet, as well as the following two: 1 – “In your own experience, do you believe it is good to be bilingual?” and 2 – “What do you believe are the downsides to bilingualism?” Speakers were asked in a formal one on one environment without distractions. All speakers understood the nature of the interview. Japanese and English were used during the interview process, but all dialogs will be translated into English for this study. Results: Although all interviewees affirmed their belief of bilingualism as a positive part of their lives, there was an unexpectedly wide spectrum of thought on the subject, particularly in respect to the way the subjects were raised.

One particular point of interest is that of the subjects who moved during the early years of their life, especially in the case of Shiina and Yusuke. Shinya, due to lack of memory of his time in Japan, he will not be placed in this category. Shiina and Yusuke both spent many of their most important developmental years switching between countries. As a result of this, their bilingual abilities are astounding. Both Shiina and Yusuke have been assumed to be American natives in conversation and their schoolwork. In Shiina’s words, “I love my language abilities. During my youth I didn’t really appreciate it too much, but now when I see people studying and struggling so fiercely with something I used to take for granted…well it makes me realize how important language can really be. And you know, it just makes me feel so much more versed. I feel like I know a lot about Japanese culture, as well as American culture. Language to me, it’s not just like a way of communication…it’s a way to understand culture. I’m really glad I can speak the way I do.”

Yusuke shares similar views, “When I see Japanese people at work struggling with English it makes me truly appreciate my own abilities. I believe my English skills are one of the reasons I got the job I now have. To me, language is the most important thing, and being able to speak two languages fluently is very valuable. I feel like the way you speak defines who you are, and if you can speak English without an accent, it will make other’s see you as intelligent.

Although these experiences are both blatantly positive, Shiina and Yusuke both also share a somewhat hidden grudge towards their language upbringing. When asked, “What interesting experiences have you had related to code switching?” both subjects unexpectedly tangent jumped into stories of remorse and self-identity.

In Shiina’s words, “Oh, I have a really interesting story. Until college I lived in an area with very few Japanese people [from the time after I moved from Japan], so you know I never had the opportunity to speak Japanese AND English with the same person. It was Japanese at home, and English at school and with friends. Then I met this girl once I got into college who had grown up in South Africa and had a similar upbringing to me. It was the strangest thing, we both used a complete mix of English and Japanese in our speech, and it was like…the first time in my life that I really felt like I was speaking MY language. I can’t say that Japanese is my native language because my English is actually stronger…but then you know I have Japanese nationality, so it felt kind of right to speak Japanese. But we could just use both, so it was like we could really communicate, and I felt like I could really be myself, without splitting myself down the middle…yea I guess I still sort of have a self-identity crisis, I don’t know if I should consider myself Japanese or American – which is kind of hard for me, but also really fun when I meet people who speak both.”

Yusuke had a similarly melancholy response to the question. “Yea, actually when I went back to Japan for job hunting and work, everyone said I had the strangest Japanese. Not like I had an accent or anything, just more like the way I spoke and the things I said…it wasn’t nihonjin-poi (like Japanese). So whenever I met someone that could speak English it made things much easier for me, it was kind of like they wouldn’t judge me or mention anything ‘weird’ about my English, where as Japanese people were always quick to speak…Actually the best thing was when I met other people like myself in Japan, because then it was like we would speak English and Japanese, as opposed to just Japanese. You know English is like part of me
- it’s not just something I speak to show off, which many Japanese people think. So I actually get kind of excluded a lot in Japan, and am not entirely sure why I decided to go to a Japanese company.”

Shinya and Atushi, on the other hand, had much more mundane experiences in relation to code switching.

Shinya’s response to interesting experiences related to code switching: “Code switching…well you know my mom doesn’t speak Japanese very well, so occasionally I translate what my dad says to her. But in general they just speak English to each other, so it’s not really a problem.” I then asked, “what about code switching outside of home?” Shinya replied, “Like how? Friends and stuff? Well I mean I speak English to my friends, because they are all American (laughs)…and then I speak Japanese to my dad’s family. I’m never really in other situations to speak Japanese because I don’t really hang out with the FOB (slang term for Asian immigrants with strong cultural roots and beliefs). Yea, I guess I never really code switch.”

Atsushi answered in similar fashion. “Code switching? Is that like switching between English and Japanese? There’s no reason to! (Laughs) I mean, I never spoke English in Japan, because I didn’t know any. Then I came to America, and I speak English all the time, because the people, well besides exchange students, don’t speak Japanese. So, I speak Japanese to the exchange students, obviously, but that’s it. Well and you. But I never speak both at the same time…” I asked, “never?” He answered, “Actually, (laughs) there was this one time when I was drunk at my house last summer. We had a friend from UW staying at my house and I was translating for him to my parents. So, because I was drunk I kept speaking to my parents in English, and screwing up their translation back at him, only telling him the nice things they said. Does that count?”

To make things particularly interesting, when asked about the “negative aspects of being bilingual,”" the speakers responded in the following way. Shiina, “well the split personality thing is definitely a major one.” Yusuke, “you might end up like me, with no sense of home. (laughs)” Shinya, “none, well besides studying it.” Atushi, “none, right?”

Finally, while Shiina and Yusuke do almost nothing to improve their language abilities, as they use both languages as a part of everyday life, Shinya and Atsushi both work hard to improve their abilities and feel significantly stronger and more comfortable in one language rather than the other. That is, Shinya and Atsushi both said they are occasionally embarrassed by their second language abilities, while Shiina and Yusuke can both take practice for granted.

Conclusion: From the results of this survey, two points can be made. First, subjects with significant exposure to different language and cultural environments often develop native like second language abilities. With this development often comes a split sense of identity. To deal with this hardship, many bilinguals fall back to code switching, a form of communication that incorporates both paths by which the subject was raised. To code switch fluently and freely between more than one language is viewed by these subjects as an ability which they believe to hold limitless value, regardless of their own personal hardships in relation to the matter. Secondly, Japanese subjects with later exposure to a second language often develop language abilities much duller in comparison to their immersed cultural counterparts. But, subjects raised in a single culture hold a strong sense of self-identity, and view second language acquisition as a tool or means of self of improvement.

Thus, in line with the hypothesis of this project, the Japanese bilingually raised speakers have a stronger sense of attachment, appreciation, and especially awareness towards their bilingualism when compared to bilingual speakers who acquired their second language at a later age. However, the results of this survey also revealed this attachment and appreciation comes mentally at a steep price.

Hello friends. I am dogentricks.com and this is my career.

I just finished my Statement of purpose for the JET program and thought it would double as a great blog entry. I haven’t checked for errors, but enjoy!

Hello friends, Dogentricks.com here. This is the story of my life….Is how I start most entries on my personal website, a project that I have been working on feverishly for the past two years. It’s essential to say “friends,” because it lends the audience a sense of warmth. Likewise, it is important to say something bold such as, “This is the story of my life,” to hook the readers’ insatiable thirst for the profound. This is what I’ve learned from blogging, and what I have learned in life: kindness inspires.

Jet Program, my name is Kevin O’Donnell. This is my Statement of Purpose for the ALT position. I have professional work experience in the human resources department of the largest Japanese executive search agency. I restored emotional and financial stability to Phi Delta Theta Fraternity at the University of Washington after two years of record breaking recruitment. I have a two year background in teaching English and mathematics to kids ages three to eighteen, as well as five years in teaching acrobatics and specialized martial arts to teens and adults. I created and operate a website that hundreds of people from all corners of the globe visit everyday. I maintain a strong (3.75) G.P.A, and have received more than 12,000 dollars in scholarships since entering college just over three years ago. I love teaching and interacting with people, and am certainly skilled at it.

These are my qualifications, but not what I believe to clearly distinguish me from my peers and fellow Jet applicants. If there is one thing I can offer more than anyone else, it is a shining sense of hope.

I had the radical experience of befriending the lead singer of “Akiakane” during my study abroad in Japan. This was the same person that more than 7 years ago originally inspired me to study Japanese through her creation of audio harmony. I was touched by her music to the point that I studied everyday for a year, alone in my room. I now speak the language with a better accent than I have ever heard from a non-native. When I reflect on my development of this incredible ability and the singer’s influence on my own life, one thing becomes lucidly clear: there is nothing more important that inspiring others.

This is an ability I believe to posses. Through my fundamental optimistic outlook, command of the English and Japanese language, and innate focus, I can move people. I plan on becoming an author during my lifetime. I plan to create sentences that entertain people, for a living. I plan to do so in English, and in Japanese, and in a high-rise apartment overlooking Minato Mirai, Yokohama. I plan to tear down walls of racism and encourage peace through strings of words. Using the mind, body, and talent I was blessed with, this is the best thing I can do for the world.

But before that happens, I would love to apply myself on a more personal level. I would love to share the words I treasure with a people I love. I would love to teach English in Japan. I would love to show how beautiful America, Japan, and world unison can be. I will make an extraordinary teacher and inspire my students to live in a positive way. Doing so will further refine my language abilities, knowledge of Japan, and propel me forward on the track towards my dreams. It would be an honor to participate in the Jet program.

In closing, I present the same words that changed my life 7 years ago.
With the strength of the heart, extend your kindness
Like a caring mother, into infinity
Higher, higher, soar
A cherry blossom blooming towards the sky