Michael- A Little Bit of LEXology

A Little Bit of LEXology

One of the projects I have been working on a lot recently is assisting with the translation of the Yo Sakakibara's book into English (the working English title is Sing the Sounds, Children). Pretty much I serve as a native-English, university-educated reader who helps suggest the proper words, with proper connotations based on the LEX philosophy. The translator does an amazing job, but when there are such complex ideas written in a traditional Japanese matter (with added poetic or vague style), it can be hard to know exactly what the philosophy is. We work to make it applicaple to the potential U.S. reader.

I also 'attempted' to assist the chairman, Kenshi Suzuki, with a speech at one of our older youth workshops. I say attempted because I don't think I was really much help. His voice was weak that day and we had many international guests so he wanted to whisper to me what he wanted to say and I would use my voice to tell the workshop. It was quite hard!

Anyways, I have been swarming in LEXology recently. I continue to be amazed by and in agreement with what I have encountered. One of the things I got really excited about was the Flower Model of language acquisition from Chapter 7. Really simplified, there is a universial basic structure (UBS) to all language. Multilingual people are able to embrace this structure (the circle in the middle) and keep pedals for the differences that exist between languages (pronuncation, grammar). The more languages, the more reinforcement for the UBS and the better the language ability. Traditional foreign language focuses too much on the differences and not enough on the similarities! But that's just the tip of the iceberg! You'll just have to read to find out all the rest...

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Daniel- こにちわ！！

こにちわ！！　(Daniel) Hello,こにちわ, bonjour, Привет ! My name is Daniel Panasenko, and I am the 2012-2013 LEX intern in the Hippo office in Tokyo. I am from Sacramento, California, although originally from Dnipropetrovs'k, Ukraine. I first came across LEX and Hippo when I came to Japan with People to People in 2009. I was hosted by members of the Hippo Family Club for four days, and I enjoyed the experience so much, that I came back to work for Hippo as an intern. Although I am fairly new to Hippo, I have been received warmly and welcomed into the Hippo family. Everyone at the office and at the family clubs are very kind, supportive, and incredibly patient as I unintentionally butcher their language. As the year progresses, I will blog about my experiences in Japan as well as my insights into the language and culture. Although I am a bit overwhelmed by the novelty of the lifestyle and language, but I am more than happy to be here, making fascinating new discoveri...

Dannielle- Setsubun

Setsubun In February, there is a holiday in Japan called Setsubun. In celebration of the special day, I ventured out to Nagatacho (close to my work here in Shibuya) and visited the Hie Temple. It was so beautiful and peaceful up on a small hill, and oddly placed among the city life of Tokyo. It was crowded with people (but not too crowded, hence why I chose Nagatacho over Asakusa) standing in front of the temple "stage", within which we could hear some music and see some people inside dancing and preparing for the event. Because I got there earlier, I had to wait a bit, and so I talked with the older couple that stood next to me. Turns out, the husband and wife had been to the US before and lived in New Orleans about 10 years ago, so we eased into some great conversation. Very sweet people. When the event started, I witnessed a person dressed as an oni (demon) emerging from inside the temple, being drawn out by the priests who threw beans at him and shou...

LEX American Intern: Brittany

LEX American Intern: Brittany Introduction and First Impressions: On LEX Hippo, and living in 日本 for a week Greetings and Salutations, my full name is Brittany Esther Gautier, but you can call me び [/bi/: BEE], or Brit, or びじ[BEE-GEE], or my official title Japanese resident registration ぶりとに[literally, "bu-RI-to-ni], or Britney Spears, or Brit-Brit, or ぶりぶり, or Estee. Or like a few of my previous Spanish speaking co-workers you can just call me Shakira. I am a year-long intern for LEX Hippo America. I speak English, understand a good amount of Spanish, and am focusing on learning Portuguese, and Japanese. I'm so excited to have been chosen for this wonderful program, and I'm overwhelmingly grateful for this opportunity to travel, learn, and expand my worldview in such an authentic and meaningful way. Background As I said before, I'm Brittany. I'm 22 years old, but on October 8th, I will be 23. Soy de Estados Unidos en California. Mi familia se com...

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