About Communication

Let's Think About Communication:

1. What do you expect to learn from this pod-casting project?

From this project, I expect to learn more not only about my fellow Japanese language students, their interests and reasons for learning Japanese, but also more about myself as a language learner and more about how I can become an independent language learner. When learning a language, there is only so much that a teacher or class can do for you, and part of this podcast project ties to the theme of becoming a more independent language learner.

Additionally, this project is about learning how to effectively communicate a message to an audience consisting of both Japanese language students and Japanese netizens worldwide. By learning how to communicate effectively across cultural borders, the process of language-learning becomes a deeper part of the student's life.

Which leads us to the next question...

2. What does "communication" mean to you?

Communication, although it is a part of every human being's everyday life, is actually an amazing a complicated process. How can one transmit an idea (composed of electrical signals in one's brain) into the mind of someone else? How can we get those electrical signals to fire in a similar manner? The answer is communication--taking the ideas from your brain and transplanting them into someone else's brain. Without it, nothing in the modern world that we take for granted would be possible.

Because the main theme of this podcast is "communication," we have to keep in mind that other people's brains do not necessarily work that same way that ours do. With this in mind, while trying to transmit our message, we have to take into account cultural and social differences, as well as the different temperaments and preconceptions of our viewers. Our podcast has to present our worldview in a way that is both polite and engaging, and in a way that is straightforward enough that the core of our message will not be lost.

I believe that the most effective way to do this is to rely mostly on "showing" our message rather than "telling" our viewers what our opinion is. Although the most effective method of communication is technically short and succinct sentences, we also want to present an entertaining and engaging podcast, so we will mostly rely on "showing" because "telling" would be boring!

頑張ってね！

お名前はマイケル・アードです。コロンビア大学の四年生です。東アジアを勉強しますから、日本語と日本の文化が大好きですよ！どうして東アジアを勉強しますか？とても面白い地方ですから。そして、中国語と韓国語も勉強します。でも、日本の文化は最も興味深い文化です！

こちらは、僕の日本語のブログです！すみませんが、私の日本語はとても悪いです。

Below are a few of the topics I hope to learn about and post about in this blog this semester!

このブログのトピックは：

日本の音楽
　　J-POP! 浜崎あゆみと宇多田ヒカルは声がきれいですね？

日本の芸術
　　アニメと漫画
　　伝統的な芸術
　　現代の芸術

日本の歴史
        日本の中世の歴史(特に徳川幕府/江戸時代）
　　第二次世界
        失われた１０年は何ですか？（失われた２０年ですか？）

浮世と浮世の文化（特に浮世絵と春画）

日本の地理（町、山、お寺、温泉、城）
　　どちらへ行きたいですか？
　　　姫路城、

日本で旅行しましょう！（文化と風俗）
　　温泉文化
　　四国お遍路さんはどうしてお遍路をしますか？

日米関係
日中関係　（経済、歴史、尖閣諸島）

アイデアがたくさんありますね？日本はとても面白いお国ですから、ウェブでこの文化を研究します！