My Cultural-Language By: Anthony Torres

Intro and Connection Hi, my name is Anthony and I’m studying the Japanese language and culture. I am going to learn this way of language because when I eventually get the chance to go to Japan with friends, I’ll be able to navigate my way through instead of being lost and confused (because who want to spend their vacation like that?). I plan on studying Japanese by using various learning sites on the internet and books you can find in the nearest library. The first thing I will learn is the Japanese alphabet and next Kanjis and their meaning.

Background The Japanese language you hear today had actually started all the way back in the year 300 BCE. as what they referred to as “Early Chinese”. This language had been transferred from clan to clan starting out with the Yamato clan as well as different rulers between every clan there was at the time. Those number of clans grew in abundance with their own way of speaking Japanese intact with their culture. Even though the language was borrowed from the Chinese and made into their own, the Japanese made sure to spread their language and make is known and unique in their own cultural relativity.

Evolution The Kanji we see today actually started in China as their writing system. It was first invented when the people of China wanted to figure out a way to communicate with the Gods. Simply shouting at the sky would be too ridiculous, so they used a live turtle and burned it until the shell cracked. Whatever the crack closely resembled was their sign. Using these symbols the Chinese were able to predict rainfall for crops and other natural disasters. Over the time and through many different Chinese Dynasties, the kanji was transformed and written in various of diverse ways making it more simplistic yet inconsistent.

Evolution cont. Oddly enough, the kanji was never meant to be a form of Japanese writing, for they never had their own writing system to begin with. They Japanese simply adapted to the Chinese kanji since the a number of Chinese people were immigrants to Japan. This adaptation was spread about at an incredibly fast rate among Japan. The Japanese kanjis we see today are in fact still very similar to how it started, just with a few modifications implied to the calligraphy. Non- verbally the Japanese had intended to share their language only amongst themselves as well as the surrounding countries around them, but before they knew it anyone could have access into learning Japanese thanks to foreign immigrants.

Cultural Reactivity The Japanese language is primarily spoken in Japan. A number of the Japanese relatives are most common to share their way of speaking, whose relation is then transferred to language groups particularly in Korea, more so than those who are immigrant to other countries from Japan. Japanese and Korean are most famous for the Mongolic language. There are many benefits, and those who learn the language helps them to understand the culture more deeply. The Japanese language education suffered setbacks during the Great Purge which took the lives of many fluid speakers due to the series of campaigns of political repression.

Global Impact The role of the Japanese language we see here today is most commonly used to do business work and other bilingual requirements for social work in jobs. The most common role for non- work related opportunities such as communication amongst foreign people who are close friends as well as for the sake of independent knowledge for a new language for the sake of learning. Although Japanese is not common in most countries like the USA, it serves its purpose as a cultural way to learn new ways to speak and write. New possible ways to think about its uses are in entertainment in the form of foreign movies and other electronically related purposes.

Personal Reflection What I personally want to achieve after learning is how to write in kanjis that way I can input hidden codes or special meanings in other places of work. I find it convenient to learn Japanese because I always wanted to watch a Japanese show; anime/cartoon/or series: with no subtitles in case the program didn’t input them for those who don’t speak the language. By the end of this, all I can ask really hope to accomplish is to be able to impress my family and friends as well as show how fluent I can be in a language I’ve always wanted to speak with resourcefulness.

APA Citation Page kanji/ se-translation/japanese-language-history/