00:00
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Alright, what do you got for us, Yamachan?
We have got a message from Jamie-san.
Jamie-san!
Hello!
Hello!
Kevin-san, Kake-san, Yamachan-san.
Hello!
Hello!
Hello!
We always enjoy distributing our podcasts.
Thank you!
I was born in CA.
CA?
California?
Canada?
Or cabin attendant, maybe?
Ah, that's it!
Flight attendant.
Yeah.
She was born a flight attendant.
Born a flight attendant.
Yeah.
That's cool.
California?
CA?
California is...
California...
Is it CL?
Oh no.
I forgot.
Is it CA?
Yeah, I forgot.
Okay, what about...
What about...
Carolina?
That's North Carolina.
So NC, maybe?
Carolina...
Yeah.
There's a South and a North Carolina.
Yeah.
Then, what about...
C...
Catherine?
Catherine...
Catherine?
Yeah.
Maybe.
Maybe she was born a Catherine.
Yeah.
Well, anyways...
Same age?
Yep.
It's been 18 years since I came to Japan.
I feel nostalgic that the two languages in the podcast are so similar to me.
As Kevin said before, when I'm in America, my English is not as good as in Japan.
When I come to Japan, I feel it's still difficult to communicate in Japanese.
I always pay attention to the fact that I can talk to them in a straight way.
Even if the English words or phrases I say in English are natural phrases,
when Japanese people hear them, they go "What the hell?"
And for people who know I'm a foreign language teacher, they use English words or say I'm cool,
so I try not to use them.
So, I'm a foreign language teacher.
I want advice on how to make my Japanese more fluent.
03:04
From Jamie.
Jamie!
Yes.
So, the reason why she's not "nobi no being" is because...
"Nobi no being"
It's because if she lets her "native-ness" out, people are going to mock it.
Maybe, yeah.
Oh, cool.
But at the same time, she feels that her Japanese is not on top level.
But at the same time, her English is not on high level.
Because she left California when she was 9, so that's why she's not being "nobi no being".
Having a little flea.
Yeah, I get that too.
I don't feel like my English is top of the game.
I certainly don't feel Japanese, right?
And we just got to accept it.
We just got to accept it for who you are.
You don't have to be on top of the game for any language, right?
You just have to be able to communicate.
So, if you have that mindset, maybe you'd feel better.
It's okay if you can't express something.
It's okay if you stutter.
And if you think about a vocabulary that you can't remember, but you knew what the vocabulary was a few months ago, but now you can't.
But don't be disappointed at that. It's okay.
If you're worried about people judging you, well, let them judge you.
They have no effect on your life.
Yeah, but this, you know,
People who know me as a "returner" will try to imitate my English, so I try not to use it.
Well, if you feel that's natural, then you should do that.
I do that too, a lot of the times.
Like I say it in a katakana way because that feels most natural.
I just feel like it's sometimes a little bit unnatural to say it.
Like, suddenly you say it in an American way.
Like, "I want to eat a hamburger there."
It just feels unnatural in my mouth.
So, when you're speaking Japanese, sometimes it feels more natural to say it in a katakana way.
So, I do that sometimes.
It just feels natural.
If that's the case, then you should just go for it.
And if that's not the case, and if you want to say it in a very American way, then go for it.
Let them.
Let them.
Let them say it.
Cool. So you feel the same.
06:00
I do. I do feel the same.
I'm careful because I'm always careful about how I say things.
Do you feel so?
Well, I... I don't know.
I am careful of how I word things.
And I'm also really careful if someone else feels uncomfortable or not.
I feel like I am extra careful about that.
I don't know if it's because I'm speaking English or I'm that kind of person that thinks like that.
But I feel like I am more careful of it though.
Yeah.
But... yeah.
English words and even if you say it in your natural way, Japanese people will be like "What the hell is that?"
Yeah, that happens a lot.
I think you're feeling it.
Yeah.
Like, during the YouTube videos, I say it in a way that probably won't make sense to Japanese, but I kind of say it.
And Kakuchan is smart, so he can understand it somehow.
I feel like to a lot of people it may not make sense because I'm saying it in a very Japanese, in an American way.
Yeah.
Right?
Yeah, I think that happens sometimes.
Yeah.
That happens to everybody.
That's a natural thing.
So, Jameson doesn't need to...
Yeah.
Nothing to worry about.
Yeah.
But I've never imagined that.
How difficult is that?
Mm-hmm.
You know, they have their own struggle inside.
Oh, yeah.
Not all "kikoku shujou" are like "Ugh!"
Of course.
Not that.
Like that, you know.
Yeah.
Not all "kyokushujou" are cocky and like...
Especially like born in the United States and grow until like nine or ten and move to Japan and maybe move to different countries and "Who am I?"
Yeah, identity crisis happens.
Yeah.
It's a thing.
It's my nationality and it's my culture.
Yeah.
That's something I...
I've never experienced that because I was born and raised in Japan, but I kind of understand that.
09:02
Yeah.
I've never felt more Japanese than other Japanese people.
Never felt more American than other American people.
So, I'm nowhere.
Like I'm somewhere in the middle.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Right?
So, that's...
That's going to cause an identity crisis for sure.
Right?
You know, the reason why I don't feel that is because I can stop thinking about that and I can rely on Japan.
There are so many people who are born... who are like same as me, who were born and raised in Japan.
So, I just don't think... need to think about that and just say I can say same.
You yourself are in Japanese.
Yeah.
You consider yourself as a complete full Japanese.
Yeah.
But, actually, I was born in my parents, which is different from every other parents, and grow in specific environment.
Yeah.
I mean not special.
Yeah.
Simply, it's not the same actually.
Yeah.
So, the things are different.
So, everybody is actually different.
Yeah.
You know, my house, you know, there's a hippo city or there.
Right, right, right, right.
And so many foreign people were coming to my house and did homestays and every, you know, everything is...
In every family, it's different.
So, you know, everybody is different actually.
I understand.
But, it's really easy for people like me to say and stop thinking about that and I'm Japanese and...
Agreed.
Yeah.
Like people like you need to have like...
You need to be strong to believe, you know, for those past and...
Right, right, right.
Right.
Yeah.
You don't have to try so hard to try to fit in, but you need to stay tough to be yourself.
Yeah.
Right.
It's much more tough.
It's good.
Yeah.
But actually, you know, we're all different and we're all kind of same.
So, you don't need to worry about those.
Sure.
You should really wrap your head around it, right?
That makes sense.
All right.
Hope that helps, Jamie.
Yeah, Jamie-san.
Thank you.
And bye-bye.
Someone's playing the opera.
I hear it.
Yeah.
Opera singer.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
All right.
