Through the Open Window: A Manifesto for Approaching Language Study with an Open Mind

(Editor's Note: A Manifesto is 'a written statement declaring publicly the intentions, motives, or views of its issuer(Merriam-Webster)' which means what you're about to read is highly opinionated, more blunt in tone and likely to make you angry. Just a fair bit warning, since it's a bit long and you may not agree with what I'm about to say. And yes, I do expect you not to skimp, silly *laughs*)

The language we're raised with is shaped by grammar, colored by vocabulary & powered by culture, a word strongly tied to the stuffy and snooze-inducing aspects of our world-for example, the guy who turns his nose at those not into musicals or fine wines.

However, as culture can be manifested by a tea ceremony, so can it manifest through Causal Fridays & riding the bike trail to Border's with your friends every Saturday, all 3 a way of doing things cultivated through shared values & beliefs. When grammar, vocabulary & culture work in sync, our thoughts gain life & let us interact with the world how we want to, even if we've never seen it before.

You may be wondering how this relates to learning a language, and to that I say this: In understanding this you not only uncover the key to learning a language, but the key to learning it as your language.

Sowing the Seeds: Daily(or so) Drops of Info about Japan

One of the most important things I've learned about creating content for the online world is this: People(myself included) are given a torrent of new information every single day, and if you're not out there putting your best foot forward as often as you can, prepare to get lost in the tide. For me, this means giving people as constant a stream of valuable insight into the language and culture as I can without watering it down to match the standards everyone sets for their blog. With that, Sowing the Seeds was created, to help plant interesting new ideas about Japan and Japanese language while not bogging the pace down with getting longer form content just so. For your first taste of what's to come, here's an article interviewing Bilingual language teacher Kae Minami(from Japan Times). She discusses a good cross section of points about the country and it's language, including general pointers for those looking to pass their knowledge on(like myself), aspects of the language that make it unique-like the high level of context inherent in speaking it fluently-, and some advice for students/general life pointers. One of my favorites, and certainly full of info to help you on your way to building Your Japanese.

(special thanks to the article author, Judit Kawaguchi and the person who 1st tipped me off to it, Wendy Tokunaga)