So what kinds of little domestic things do you do, non-Japanese residents, to help immerse yourself and practice Japanese?

One thing I thought of was, before going to buy groceries, make my grocery list in Japanese, and just bring that to the store.

I like to look at it as a sort of "what do I do normally?" then take all those things and change them to be in Japanese.

Example:
I installed Japanese OS because I use the computer so damn much.
I deleted all my English bookmarks for places I go to (penny-arcade, slashdot, etc.) and found a bunch of cool Japanese sites and blogs.
I like to read books, so I found a bunch of books in Japanese that looked good (note, this took a couple of months to find good reading material)
I got rid of my tv subscription and movies and found a bunch of cool Japanese movies/shows to watch.
When I cook I make Japanese food with Japanese recipes from Japanese sites in Japanese.

Get the picture?

It's kinda hard to take your interests and convert them to Japanese. Try cultivating an interest in things Japanese and building it up. One thing at a time just try and find fun and cool stuff.

alyks Wrote:I deleted all my English bookmarks for places I go to (penny-arcade, slashdot, etc.) and found a bunch of cool Japanese sites and blogs.

Could you share some of these? I consider it really hard to find interesting Japanese webpages. So far I'm only reading mixi, 2ch and the Japanese Wikipedia. Which is not all that much for someone who spent hours on the net beforehand.

Yes, I guess I should have specified, 'in addition to the usual AJATT immersion', the kinds of tweaks folks might have come up with because they're not into Japanese media (heaven forbid), or have to use a large amount of English, et cetera. Little domestic tweaks, stuff that's bound up with the innocuous day-to-day habits we all have. With a little sabotage built in, perhaps (like going to the store and having to rely on your Japanese grocery list).

Let's see... what about putting all of your household products in identical bottles, then labeling them in Japanese only? Use Drano on your hair and you'll learn quick!

Here's the Japanese recipes I posted before for anyone who missed it:
http://www.cc.kyoto-su.ac.jp/information...dex-j.html (Japanese)
http://www.cc.kyoto-su.ac.jp/information...index.html (English)

PS - Yo alyks, I wanted to add, that wasn't intended to be a dismissal or anything, I'm glad you posted the kind of radical immersion that can seem trite if one just reads it from the AJATT page instead of seeing someone else do it. Much respect to your devoted efforts. (I don't have the willpower to give up that much English, my one true love). I probably haven't said that before. ;p I try not to be competitive, but I do take heart and try harder when I read what you and mentat are up to, even if my methods and goals are very different, I think.

Thanks. You know what you could do is, take a normal day off from work and from waking to sleep take note of everything you do in English and find some way to inject Japanese into it all.

Yeah, stuff like what you mentioned. I like to, as I walk through my house / the town / wherever, look at things and try recalling the word (or even the kanji) for that thing in Japanese. Never thought about a Japanese grocery list, though. I should try that sometime. :P

Labeling everything is cool, too. Sort of along the same lines as the "recall the word / kanji" thing I said before, but whatever.

I've been eating with 箸（はし）for more than a year now. Now I can't get used to those strange metal tools they give me in restaurants. What's a hooku?

I've been lazy with the 箸 lately, mainly because I've been eating stuff that's hard to pick up with sticks. ò_ó

Man, there's some stuff that's really hard to eat! Have you tried steamed vegetables? Also some kinds of pasta are a nightmare... I think I'm getting better than natives thanks to this special training...

kaoskastle Wrote:Yeah, stuff like what you mentioned. I like to, as I walk through my house / the town / wherever, look at things and try recalling the word (or even the kanji) for that thing in Japanese. Never thought about a Japanese grocery list, though. I should try that sometime.

Labeling everything is cool, too. Sort of along the same lines as the "recall the word / kanji" thing I said before, but whatever.

These are good ideas. I once labeled almost everything in my apartment in Japanese with post-it notes. Every time I would pass by or use an object, I would force myself to read the note. Looking back, I suppose you could even put a short sentence on each one to reflect the object's use. It won't take long until you are able to think about all of your belongings quickly and easily in Japanese.

Pancakes covered in syrup.
Every 箸 task will be simple after that.

kaoskastle Wrote:Pancakes covered in syrup.
Every 箸 task will be simple after that.

Pancakes are one thing I usually do eat with 箸. Rather than syrup, though, I usually eat them with mixed vegetables.

I just realized that I don't remember the last time I ate with a fork. I don't really eat with chopsticks for immersion purposes or anything...it's just generally easier to eat with chopsticks here, they're given to you at every restaurant, and buying a bag full of wooden ones is simplicity itself (no dishes, woo!).

I think it's been over 6 months since I ate with a fork, at an Italian restaurant. Weird Even still, every time I sit down to eat with a new Japanese acquaintance, I'll get a surprised compliment on my ability to use chopsticks.

Anyways, this is a little strange, I guess, but there's a warning label next to the light in my shower. I read it every morning while showering, somewhat habitually. I can recite that sucker from memory now... heh... I've been thinking about getting some plastic binder and printing something off and taping it up there instead.

Edit: And sorry, I'm a Japanese resident.... but you should still try the shower thing.

It's amazing how you manage to read absolutely any kind of stuff when you have nothing to do...try grabbing some random Japanese newspapers and putting them in the bathroom.

Ha, yes, I might have to try labeling everything I possess in Japanese.

Something along the lines of what alyks said, I might also have like, a Japanese-only day or something.

Also, if anyone here uses voice-activated stuff on their phones, maybe change those to Japanese? Perhaps play a recording of a native speaker for the phone to store, then try to mimic it...

Or change your GPS to Japanese, somehow, and try to figure your way out of a seedy urban area. ;p

Evil_Dragon Wrote:

alyks Wrote:I deleted all my English bookmarks for places I go to (penny-arcade, slashdot, etc.) and found a bunch of cool Japanese sites and blogs.

Could you share some of these? I consider it really hard to find interesting Japanese webpages. So far I'm only reading mixi, 2ch and the Japanese Wikipedia. Which is not all that much for someone who spent hours on the net beforehand.

Here's how I found cool pages:
http://alyks-rant.blogspot.com/2009/01/f...sites.html

Immersion? I have a half Japanese exterminator. Does that count?

Alyks mentioned some great ideas ... didn't think of the grocery list ... will start that tomorrow.

Other ideas, apart from the obvious keep a Japanese movie or music playing all the time:
- if you don't go full out and get a Japanese OS, you can still change many of the language preferences for lots of the programs on your computer.
- change the language settings on your iPod to Japanese
- use tape and small pieces of paper to change remote controls, etc, to japanese commands - you may have to look up the standard words first
- carry a manga in your jacket pocket in case you're on a bus, in a line-up, on the can, etc.
- keep a diary in Japanese
- when you walk somewhere, describe what you see in Japanese. At first, you can probably only built short sentences, 猫がいる、青い車、but then you get better, even looking up words for things in your environment ... "Gee, how do I say hedge ..." and soon you are just ripping along あの赤いワンピースが着た女の子は本当に奇麗だし、軟派したい。。。

alyks Wrote:Here's how I found cool pages:
http://alyks-rant.blogspot.com/2009/01/f...sites.html

Wow, I thought you forgot about my reply and now I get a fleshed-out blog post. Thank you! I'll give it a try, research and stop worrying as much as I used to.

Also, there is some pretty interesting stuff in your blog. Too bad it's in English. *g*

I say you should slowly immerse yourself don't completely change your life into japanese just do it a bit at a time

I just gotta hand it to you fellahs not living in japan( that takes some kind of will power) I discovered AJATT in Japan so i never understood how hard it can be...i went back for 2 weeks holiday vacation to boston and my whole immersion fell to pieces....all i had was my measly psp with dissidia to keep me in check...

Another tip: If you do a lot of burning, label your stuff in Japanese (w/ marker, presumably). Well, where it's practical--ie for j-media or stuff for which you can find katakana words or the Japanese names.

Get a yahoo.co.jp email and change to that. =]