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GUIDE TO FLUENCY
How to get more proficient in language learning ~ Nov. 30th, 2023 - Selena (RCP Newspaper)
PHILOSOPHY
In many education systems across the globe, students are advised to learn the languages of other cultures, most popular being: Spanish, French, and Japanese. Whether it be out of necessity, or just a nice skill to have, it is often the most common elective as it makes applying for jobs or post-secondary education easier. Without the pressure of school, though, many people like to learn different languages for the sake of communicating with others and the enjoyment of it. Mr. Fukazawa, a Japanese teacher at Palmer, was interviewed on how he teaches his students.
He explains that his view on proficiency in other languages is a progressive journey with a threshold of fluency. As in, "In [his] head, there's a line, and before that line, you're not fluent," gesturing with his hands to visualize said line. "After that line, you are fluent."
This idea motivates every exercise or project Mr. Fukazawa introduces to his classes, begging the question, "does this pull you closer to the finish line, or not?"
Mr. Fukazawa presents another analogy, "[There are] two ideas. One is difficult, and one is a pain in the butt ... If I give you 200kg and I say, 'lift that over your head,' that's too much weight, it's difficult ... But if I say, 'here's 1kg, lift that over your head 200 times,' you can absolutely do that, even a weak guy could do that, that's just a pain in the butt. Learning Japanese is not difficult, but it is a pain in the butt."
STRATEGIES
While there are a multitude of reasons for why someone would want to learn a language, such as Japanese, for Japanese in particular, a fair amount of motivation comes from the fascination with modern Japanese entertainment such as anime or manga. A large consumption of this media has made people curious if watching or reading things in Japanese would have an effect on learning the language.
"Absolutely yes!" Mr. Fukazawa responds, "It doesn't have to be anime or movies, it can be any kind of exposure you get, that's just media. If you have a next-door neighbour who's Japanese, [stuff like that]."
Mr. Fukazawa also stresses the importance of practising everyday, not too much, but to keep practising so that you can climb your way up to the threshold of fluency.
Of course, this is not a strict guide, but it derives from a person [Mr. Fukazawa] who has been learning Japanese for 30 years of his life, so tips like these definitely should be held with regard. Keeping a positive attitude towards language learning instead of feeling obligated to do it is the best way to maintain a healthy growth to being fluent in the language, and it takes an immense amount of time to grasp, however, it is not impossible. Continue practising the languages you wish to learn!
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