Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Way of Thinking, 考え方

It just dawned on me. I just figured out a part of how Japanese thinking (from what I've been told about through their writing style) manifests itself in conversation. Sato-sensei just asked me about how I learned Japanese. I was delighted, as I take pride in the methods I use, as well as how quickly I've advanced. Over the course of the conversation, the target subtly changed from how I learned, to how it applies to the school system here, to how a 7th grader would learn English, and finally ended with how using a Japanese alphabet to produce English sounds can be useful to slow learners. It was then I noticed he was making a worksheet that used a Japanese alphabet to do such a thing for what I can only assume will be used in a 7th grade classroom.
It was quite interested to follow through that mode of thinking and talking. I had been told that Japanese writing followed a similar, flowing path that started off somewhere else, moved toward the target, and then flowed onwards again. To experience it in action was pretty interesting.

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About Me

Hi, I'm Greg, but you can call me by my Japanese name, Gureggu, if you'd like. I'm writing this blog to explain effective ways to do business with Japan and Japanese companies. Why? Japanese companies are notoriously difficult to understand, and doing business in Japan has a unique set of hurdles.

Why I'm qualified to write about Japan: I have worked in Japan for a total of 8 years. I worked sales at a Japanese import/export company (subsidiary of a much larger corporation) as the only foreigner in the company. Before that, I taught for 2 years at High Schools and 3 years teaching elementary and middle school in Aomori Prefecture. I have lived the life of a salaryman and experienced firsthand the institutions that shape Japanese people in their most formative years.