00:01
What's up guys, this is IYASASA RADIO by Akane and Minami.
In this radio, we are going to talk about random topics in Okinawan, Japanese and English.
こんにちは。Iyasasa Radioです。ここでは、宇治南イントネーションと英語で2人のインテリスティングなトピックスを紹介します。
Yay!
Yay!
Today is...
Today is still Minami's turn.
That's right.
But it's the fifth time, right?
It's the fourth time.
It's the fourth time, huh.
Yeah.
Okay, so...
The last time we talked about her life and her work style.
Yeah.
And...
Yeah.
Something else.
It was all about work at the end.
It was all about work.
And also...
Today, I'm going to talk about how I improved my English skills.
I want to ask her about it as well.
Okay.
So...
Before, I heard about her story about studying abroad in Seattle.
That was so interesting.
That's why I want to ask you about it again.
Yes.
That's very first, my overseas experience.
Yeah.
I guess you could say that.
How old were you?
I was 14.
14 is...
12.
12?
Yeah.
That's amazing.
Yeah, 12.
That was the first time.
And I started starting English since when I was 5th grade.
Ah, okay.
How did you start studying?
So...
At my elementary school, I became a friend with Yutosei.
By accident.
By accident?
Because I didn't have many friends.
There were two Yutosei friends of mine.
It's not exaggerating.
I think they changed my life.
Wow.
At that point.
If I go and look back, what changed me to this English world?
I was always interested in going overseas.
Became a big international woman and whatnot.
But I didn't know how to do it.
What made you feel like that?
I don't know.
Like a movie?
Do you have a favorite singer?
I don't know.
This is kind of a cliché.
But I was kind of culture shocked when I listened to Eminem.
Eminem?
Eminem.
When I was 10.
It sounds like M&M.
It's M&M, right?
03:00
I always don't know which one.
Eminem.
I used to listen to western music and movies.
Eminem's song was really shocking.
A song called Without Me.
It was so shocking that I felt like lightning struck.
Then I got more deeper into hip-hop songs, rap, reggae.
Most of Okinawan young people have culture shocked by hip-hop culture, right?
At that time, I think the popular rapper was Snoop Dogg or Lil Jon or the Marion or You Got Served.
The movie.
But I didn't like some rap songs.
I didn't like the noisy songs like Lil Jon or Sousuke.
Eminem was a bit specific.
When Eminem released his first album, Encore, I was so shocked.
I was so crazy about him.
I was like, what's going on?
It's different from the hip-hop I've heard so far.
It's not because of English.
I'm always curious about something overseas.
I grew up in Okinawa.
I was really introverted.
I didn't like everyone.
They don't understand me.
My personality and people around me didn't fit at all.
That's why I was interested in something outside of Okinawa.
I didn't care about hip-hop.
I wanted to get out of Okinawa.
I wanted to go to a different world.
Then I became an international person.
Sounds good.
So I went to Okinawa casually.
I came back to Okinawa.
Two of my friends from Utah became friends accidentally.
They asked me to join their English school.
A lot of people started from English school.
I was behind from the beginning.
Half a year.
But I needed to start with ABCDEFC alone.
With the same class.
06:02
I couldn't catch up for a long time.
Maybe a couple of years.
Because how they make the class is...
A level.
There is a 5th grade class.
4th grade class.
If you pass the test, you can go to the next level.
So you basically started studying A level?
A level.
I think A level only.
What about conversations?
They had a foreigner or native speaker teacher once in a week.
Listening and speaking...
I think mostly listening.
Because they never taught me.
Maybe I just don't remember how to pronounce things.
They didn't really care about it.
Because my focus was writing and reading.
For A level.
A level doesn't have speaking until 2nd grade.
I see.
So I wasn't focused at all.
So that's the starting point.
I started to study English.
And...
Wait.
I don't know how to explain myself.
I was such a loser at my school.
I don't know how to explain myself.
I don't know how to describe myself at that school.
But I was the lowest.
Always.
Because my friends are really smart.
They put a really good effort for studying.
But I was really lazy.
And I wasn't that good.
So I started to make a difference.
But the good thing was you didn't give up on it.
The reason I couldn't give up was...
I was in peer pressure for a long time.
And I was embarrassed myself to quit or...
I don't know, for everything.
And I also was sorry for my parents who paid me for the tuition.
I don't know how to say it in English.
Fee?
Juku fee?
There was a fee.
And I wasn't good at anything besides...
Besides...
English.
I wasn't good at it at first, but when I became junior high...
I was good.
In my class.
In my class only.
Because my other yuto-sei friend was the number one.
Gakuno.
So I could be...
They're such a yuto-sei.
I was the best student.
Really.
09:00
Number one and number two.
And average person.
So...
I think this is the only way to be a better educated person.
By sticking with them.
And I was kind of in pressure.
Nobody was pressuring me, but...
If I don't get good at this, I won't be able to open my nose anywhere.
I was suffering.
Why did you feel so pressured on it?
I've never had that kind of environment before.
So it was interesting.
I wonder why.
I don't know.
It's your personality.
I have a personality.
Because I was really introvert.
And I was so cold.
Introvert means really shy.
But she is not like that right now.
So I can't imagine it.
I think I changed when I became high school.
I became a more outgoing person after high school.
Until then, I didn't want to make a lot of friends.
I always wanted to be alone.
I always wanted to draw pictures in my room.
Like an artist.
Actually, I was drawing every day.
I didn't talk much, but I drew every day.
Manga.
I was really into comics.
Like shoujo manga.
Soccer or baseball manga.
I love Doraemon.
I was drawing a lot by myself.
My mom was so worried about me.
I didn't have any friends.
Maybe I had one or two, but I didn't care.
Because at that time, I thought everyone was stupid.
And not good enough to have the same level of conversation with me.
Because I had a bad personality.
You were smart.
I wasn't smart when I was studying.
I think I really didn't trust people.
There are a lot of stories about that.
I have eczema.
Atopy.
When I was a teenager, it was really bad.
I sometimes skipped school for a week.
I didn't go to school.
And I talked to my teacher.
Did you have an allergy?
I have an allergy for everything.
Now, too.
When I was a kid, I had a really bad time.
Because we grew up in Okinawa.
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But I couldn't go to school when it was really bad all over my body.
I didn't want to show my face.
It was a long time.
While I was going to school,
I was like,
At that time, I only thought about skin.
I was like that.
That's why I was like that.
I started learning English because I thought I had to be good at something to be okay.
I was a strict person.
I was strict to myself and others.
English was your hero.
I thought I didn't have the right to say my anger and feelings.
It's still the same now.
That's why I was pushing myself.
That's the reason I couldn't quit.
So you keep studying English.
And when you joined high school,
When you were in junior high school,
you had an experience to go to the States for a month.
Where was it?
Seattle.
That was the first time.
For 30 days.
It was a program in Okinawa prefecture.
They pay us.
I was there for 30 days.
I stayed with an American family.
It was a rural area.
I don't know why I went there.
Ordinary people might have enjoyed it.
15:09
You were already homesick.
But I couldn't really cry because my house mom was next to me.
But my mom knew that I was crying.
She stirs sounds like she was crying too.
Because she's really overprotecting.
Because she's a super protective person.
She was like,
She was like,
Are you okay?
I was like,
I'm not okay.
She was like,
I'm not okay.
I was like,
I'm not okay.
I'm cold.
I was like,
I'm not okay.
I'm cold.
I was like,
I'm not okay.
When was it?
It was winter.
That was summer.
But Seattle is a bit cold.
Up to California.
Even in the summer,
I wore a hoodie and jeans.
And it was so rural.
So rural?
So rural.
I was like,
And I was away from all my friends.
We were a group of 20 people
to go to the same neighborhood.
So all of them went to Seattle.
I don't remember how many people,
but 20 people as one team.
And we go to the same venue,
not school.
Like some homeschooling stuff every day.
The first day,
I go to the host family's house, right?
And I become alone.
It's been hard for me.
It's been hard for me.
I've been studying English for,
how do you say,
for years.
At that time.
But,
I should've or I could've had,
say,
a daily conversation
if I really learned
and embody
in the practice
that what I learned, actually.
But I was so fucking shy.
I couldn't say anything
besides yes or no.
If I say yes or no,
the conversation ends.
That's my lifeline.
But my host family was really nice.
And they,
like,
second day,
we went to our supermarket
to choose the lunch meal
because they gave me a lunchbox,
thanks.
And,
but like,
the American supermarket is so huge.
And I didn't know what I want.
18:02
Because we've been eating kyushoku shit.
I've never thought about it.
Like I have my own choice.
For lunch.
At school.
Yeah.
My house sister asked me,
do you like noodle or sandwich?
Maybe I could listen only noodle.
I like noodle
because I could only listen.
Okay, let's go to noodle section.
And they show me like there is a beef or chicken
or a veggie or something like that.
But everything,
yeah,
everything looks exactly the same.
Because it's cup noodle.
Ah, okay, maybe this.
Beef, beef.
It became everyday's lunch.
Everyday.
I think it's really typical story for homestays
at United States.
Because they eat same thing everyday.
I've experienced same thing in Australia
when I was 10 or 9 or 10.
Yes, no question.
I was depressed.
Being homesick.
I didn't have any appetite for two days.
In the morning.
Only the first two days.
I was so depressed.
So,
I didn't have a breakfast
when they asked me to have some.
Because I was sick.
Then, they considered as me,
as a person,
don't need any breakfast.
So, I didn't have breakfast for 30 days
as a 14 years girl.
You are the person with no breakfast.
Yes, yes, yes.
They labeled me as a person who doesn't eat breakfast.
But I was too shy
to say,
maybe I'm hungry from today.
I didn't have that kind of humor at that time.
I was trapped in my shell.
At that time, I thought
it's better not to eat
than to say my opinion.
So, I didn't have breakfast.
That's why
you were so proud
that you decided to go to the States.
Yes, I regretted it.
I wanted to go back.
You went beyond the country.
There was a friend from Okinawa
to work as a team
for 20 people.
21:01
So, I took a break
on weekdays.
Because I could talk to them in Japanese
and how I think
or what I struggle with.
One of the most memorable stories I had
is
when in maybe 5 days
there was a load.
I needed to do my laundry.
I didn't know how the American family
do the laundry thing.
They don't dry it.
They use dryer only.
You didn't know how exactly to do it.
But I couldn't ask my house mom
how to do the laundry.
I asked my Yuto-sensei friend
at there.
What?
You just gotta search on dictionary.
Just say laundry only.
You don't need to make a sentence.
Just say laundry.
I can understand what I think at the time
but I was that kind of person.
I couldn't say anything.
I couldn't say anything
beyond my embarrassing feelings.
I couldn't say anything.
When you say it, speak out it.
I wasn't confident at all.
I asked her to ask my house mom
about laundry.
She was like,
OK, you can do it tonight.
Laundry...
How did you say it?
You just said laundry?
24:00
She asked me.
My friend asked my house mom
in front of me.
She was like,
OK, OK, you can do it.
Your house mom realized it
what you want.
You end like one second.
Let's do it when we go back home.
And it was all done.
I couldn't even say such a simple thing.
But you know,
if you don't understand English at all,
it would be the same as Minami at that time.
If you are a bright person,
you can speak a foreign language.
But if you are a quiet person,
it would be difficult.
That's true.
It's difficult to speak out even in Japanese.
If you are shy.
Right?
If it's a different mental issue,
some people can't say they are thirsty.
Even in your mother language.
Plus,
if it's a different language,
it would be too difficult to speak.
You would tremble.
And you speak CRO all of a sudden.
I think that helped me to change my personality stronger, too.
That's funny.
It's full of bad things.
I had a lot of bad experiences.
We had some dance party at the park.
Like a big park.
We were like 14 or something.
14 to 15.
But there were a lot of kids.
Like 8 or 7.
But they were playing really freely.
And they put music.
I still remember they put Usher.
It was an elementary school party.
Usher's Yeah was playing.
I still remember it.
I was so scared.
I thought it was cool.
I was so scared.
It was an elementary school party.
Usher was playing.
I thought it was cool.
You were so mature.
I thought it was cool.
I was sitting on the bench.
My host sister came.
How old was she?
I think she was 2 or 3 years older than me.
She was in high school.
She grabbed my hands and tried to take me to the crowd.
27:04
I was so embarrassed.
I rejected 100%.
No, don't make me to bring that.
I don't want to dance.
I wanted to listen music.
I wanted to see people dancing.
But I didn't want to dance.
I was so scared.
At that moment, I was like,
Oh my god, what the fuck am I doing?
Why I came to the United States for spending money and having a new experience
and don't join to the new experience.
There was really contradiction and conflict in myself.
But I didn't want to do it.
Because I couldn't do it.
I knew it was better to do it.
But I didn't want to do it.
I was so embarrassed.
Laundry shit, noodle shit.
All kids are like that.
When I was 11 or 12,
when I went to Hawaii with my family,
my cousin was a Hawaiian dancer.
When I went to Hawaii,
there was a stage called Luau.
Everyone was dancing on the stage.
There were about 100 people.
She tried me to go up to the stage.
And we were dancing together.
That was so embarrassing experience.
But American kids don't care.
That's the cultural difference.
I think so.
But you were especially a quiet kid.
So I think there was a big difference.
I think so.
It was like a fear experience.
It's funny.
I can't believe what I am now.
But it's the opposite.
The base is the same.
You grew up.
The food, the laundry, the dancing.
Everything was like a trauma.
What do you mean?
Studying abroad?
I didn't know.
I didn't know why I went to language school
because I was fluent enough already.
I didn't want to study at the university.
How did you become fluent after high school?
30:01
I want to say this.
I was at the English school.
With surrounding Yuto-sensei friends.
And I thought I need to find something I am good at.
Or better at than them.
So I liked American entertainment things more than them, I think.
So if I can't speak well, I can't be cool.
I didn't want to be a person who can study.
I just wanted to be cool.
Cool person can speak English.
Okay, maybe speaking.
Japanese school system is too focused on writing and reading.
They really don't teach us speaking and listening.
Japanese people should study listening and speaking.
Because teachers can't even speak English.
So I watched a lot of TV shows.
From high school?
Maybe from high school.
I watched movies but not for studying.
I just liked watching movies.
But I started watching TV shows and doing shadow things.
From movie and show, you learn not only the language but their culture and their reaction.
Body language.
If you started in high school, it's earlier than other people.
You improve a lot better than them.
I didn't watch any American TV show when I was in high school.
Oh, I see.
I was just in an English school.
I was busy with club activities.
I started to do more after I started college.
I worked as a bass player.
I see.
Maybe it was earlier.
But when I was in English school, I had to do speaking.
There is a sentence like, describe this picture.
After reading this sentence, describe this picture.
Part of the opinion.
2 or 3 points.
It's really easy.
You can just say, the girl in the picture is playing baseball.
The man at the supermarket is buying some groceries.
That's all you need to get a perfect score.
33:00
But I wasn't trained to do that.
And I had to read the sentence below.
When I was a trainee, I was able to speak a little bit.
But when I practiced,
I was really shocked.
She said to me like,
You don't have any intonation.
She said to me like that.
Like an accent.
She said I have no intonation.
But I couldn't understand what she said.
I was like, what?
I don't have any intonation when I speak in Japanese.
Japanese?
Even Japanese.
I don't have any intonation when I speak in Japanese.
I don't have any intonation when I speak in Japanese.
I need to act.
When I speak in English.
I cannot act like an ALT teacher.
They are super hyper.
But if they are acting, it's not natural.
I was like, what should I do?
She said I don't have any intonation.
I was frustrated.
So I watched more dramas.
I stopped what she said.
Always frustrated feeling motivates you.
Right.
But when I was frustrated,
I had motivation.
Before that, I didn't have any motivation.
But when I was frustrated,
It's good to find something my inner motivation.
Like what really I want to accomplish.
If you are not frustrated, it means you are not interested.
So intonation.
Intonation shocking day.
I was even more shocked.
I started to practice more.
And I...
What?
I did...
I said it in red.
I think talking to myself is the best.
Because no one talks to me.
It's hard to make friends.
Even if I talk to my parents, they don't understand.
So I do it by myself.
Or I talk to the mirror.
Like, hi, hi.
Just saying, how are you,
I practiced a lot.
You should start with acting
when you learn English.
It's not your culture.
It's not your language.
Same as became a different person.
Imitate and make person.
I found it's really interesting
learning a new language is
acting, too.
It helps me to find
a new version of myself.
Because English wasn't taught by my parents.
And I had like 100% free will
to what accent,
what kind of pronunciation,
what kind of style of English
36:00
I will speak.
There are a lot in American English,
and a lot in English.
And I can choose.
Because I started from the scratch.
So when I was studying,
I was thinking,
if it's Japanese,
You think a lot, don't you?
This is really important, so I want you to listen.
I was born in Okinawa.
I was surrounded by Okinawan parents.
That's why I speak like this.
I didn't choose.
This is just my destiny.
Because I can't choose my parents.
And I didn't choose my Okinawan personality.
Half of it.
That's a good thing.
I like my laid-back personality as an Okinawan.
But I should be grateful to the people around me.
It's not my original,
but English made me choose everything.
That's why I liked hip-hop.
And...
It feels like you make your new character with the language.
That's why,
more than TV shows,
I watch a lot of interviews
of my favorite actors and singers.
And I try to mimic them.
How they speak.
I try to mimic how they speak.
I try to mimic how they speak.
I try to mimic how they speak.
And I try to mimic how they speak.
Because everyone is different.
Everyone speaks differently.
I realized there are so many types of Americans.
It's natural.
So,
how you speak language
which influenced by
where you raise
or the parents
It's not like that.
You actually can create from scratch.
You can do everything from scratch.
You can become a new person.
And
we talked about laid-back.
I didn't like myself.
So, I wanted to change.
So, you could change your personality with the language.
Yes, I used it.
With the language.
I understand it.
My parents don't understand English.
My dad speaks a little bit.
His English doesn't have his personality
inside of the language.
39:01
So, it helps me to keep my motivation.
I realized it in the middle.
I was more sensitive
before I speak English.
Really.
A little bit.
A little bit.
When I started speaking English,
I really don't care about the details.
I go my way.
I don't care about them
when people say some negative things.
Because I decided
that's how I think
after I learned English.
Then, I knew that
it's more important to speak out
and communicate with people
and then tell my opinions.
That's how they understand me.
So,
I was more quiet before.
Now, I'm more
not annoying but
talkative person.
When I go to study abroad,
I communicate with the English speakers.
Because I can't communicate
without giving my opinions.
When you speak Japanese,
when you do it,
people think like
you are such a
talkative person.
When I speak Japanese,
I'm more quiet.
I listen to people a lot.
But when I speak English,
I talk more than listening.
I think so.
I think so, too.
It depends on how you use it.
We have different personalities.
But wait,
I just remembered
the most.
I still remember everything.
I didn't have any experience.
I had a lot of success
in university.
42:01
But everyone thought
I was the best.
No one decided I was the best.
But everyone thought
I was the best.
They gave me a lot of opinions.
They raised their hands at every moment.
Because it's your life.
Do they actually
allow them to be like this?
I thought
this is what they allow in America.
Because they call you by your name.
They don't call you by your last name.
Because people are equal.
Right.
That's how I behave
in any kind of environment
or society.
And I could turn into a Japanese version, too.
I could learn from that
and apply it
to my Japanese version.
It's like a hobby
to find a balance.
When I speak Japanese,
I think like this.
And I need to be polite
at the same time.
In English,
even though
they allow you to be assertive,
you cannot be aggressive.
You need to study
the balance,
the vocabulary,
the expression.
And for the first time,
when I speak in English,
the way I think
in Japanese
and the way I speak
have the same personality.
The way I express
is different from
straightforward.
It's like the same people
speak in different languages.
Do you understand?
I'm thinking.
That's right.
You can study because you don't think.
I don't really think
about that much.
You only think about that.
I'm a researcher.
You study Japanese.
It's interesting to think about that.
When you study
a new language,
you need to...
You should be
an English teacher.
Because you really
care about English.
45:01
Wait.
I don't care about English.
I don't care about English.
I just happen to be English.
You're like a language specialist.
I like communication things.
That's right.
I'm still thinking about that.
How I put this word
more polite
or more confident
or more professional.
I try to mimic
different people.
But when I do that,
I don't put my personality in it.
I use it many times.
If it doesn't fit me,
I don't use it anymore.
Same with Japanese.
I research Japanese a lot
to see if it fits me.
I don't use it because
a young person uses it.
I use it because
I researched it
and it fits me.
I'm learning Japanese too.
I search everyday.
Maybe it's because
you're writing.
I'm more interested
in writing.
I'm sorry.
I'm not speaking Japanese.
I started writing.
You care about it more than before.
Not only speaking,
but writing too.
But it doesn't mean
I want to use
proper language.
I want to be myself.
Yeah.
If you don't have
a feeling in your heart,
for example,
there's a word called dokidoki.
If you don't have a word
called dokidoki,
how would you feel?
Chimuwasawasa?
That's not the point.
Chimuwasawasa
and dokidoki
don't exist.
But your heart
has a weird feeling.
But sometimes you don't know
how to express it.
You don't know if it's right or wrong.
You don't know if it's dokidoki.
You feel like
dots are connected.
You say dokidoki.
Like that.
That kind of
indescribable feelings
into an actual language.
Express with one word.
It doesn't have to be
one word.
If there is a right expression.
The same goes for the name of a disease.
For example,
there's a lot of people
with ADHD.
Now it's a hot topic,
so people say
that's the symptom.
48:00
That's the solution.
But let's say
this disease wasn't discovered.
Then people say
this disease is crazy.
That's it.
But it's the same
as finding a concept
or an idea
that can save people.
It's the same with words.
You have to put
what exists into a concept.
That's why words exist.
I like to think about that
little by little.
Do you have a catchphrase?
I want to be
good at
thinking about catchphrases.
So
I always ask myself
what I really want to say.
I always ask myself
what I really want to say.
I want to know
what other people
are thinking.
I want to know
what other people
are thinking.
But I'm
developed.
Still being developed.
Still
improving yourself.
I think
that's something
I want to brush up
besides language.
Something related with language.
I'm interested in
language more than
English.
I wouldn't be interested
if I didn't study English.
Minami thinks
language expression
is important.
Minami
should learn
body language.
Minami
cares about expression.
Minami
That can
save you.
Eventually.
That's true.
If you have a lot of thoughts
on your mind,
then you need to study.
If you don't
think about anything,
you don't need to learn.
It depends on your personality.
Minami is like that.
If you don't
know something,
if you don't know something,
if you don't know something,
it becomes painful.
What is this feeling?
If you find the right word
or the right expression,
you can be relieved.
Like,
this is it.
Did you get it?
Does it make sense?
Yes.
It's not about studying English.
You are a
language researcher.
I'm not smart
to do research.
51:01
I do research
as much as I need.
So,
I like listening to Japanese people.
Like,
why is this person using this word?
This person is good at Japanese.
He is Japanese.
That's right.
It's not about
learning English.
I want to listen to Japanese people.
I want to listen to
the expressions of people
I don't connect with.
Because I don't know
the words of 2channel.
That's why Minami
is improving his language skills.
Yes.
His language skills overall.
Like,
expression and communication skills.
So, she started with the
Seattle experiences.
And then,
she went to
San Francisco.
I don't talk about San Francisco at all,
but that's enough for today.
She studied abroad.
She started a writing job.
Part of my job
is writing.
Then,
she is now into
language stuff.
Even Japanese too.
It's getting too long,
so we finish it up.
We should sleep.
It's late.
That's all for today.
Bye-bye!
