Mastering Japanese-Lesson10-The Accent Issue

Alright, in this lesson I want to talk about the most important
feature of the Japanese language that you would do good
to pay extra special attention to if you ever want to gain
the respect of the Japanese in Japanese. Of course,
it's easy for us to gain the respect of the Japanese in
English. English is our native tongue and combining
that with the Japanese worship of English equals an easy
recipe for igniting the admiration and respect of practically
any member of the Japanese population by simply opening
our mouths and speaking.

However, I'm talking about taking the road less travelled.
One of the true signs of achieving close to mastery in a
foreign language is the ability to command respect and
invoke a wide variety of feelings in the Japanese listener
via your skillful delivery of the many words and phrases
that you have absorbed in their native tongue not yours.

Along these lines, I want to get back to the point initially
mentioned concerning the most important characteristic to
be paid attention to during your quest to slay the Japanese
language dragon. Out of the following choices, which one do
you think it is?

a) A massive vocabulary
b) pronunciation
c) intonation
d) Grammar pattern mastery
e) Reading and Writing ability

Before I give you the answer, let me just first state upfront
that ultimately every characteristic mentioned above is
important to achieving fluency. (You should be happy to
know that the program you are presently on exercises all five
characteristics simulataneously. So keep on rocking!). So I
would not advise overemphasizing too strongly one characteristic
at the expense of all the others. But, and in light of the
uniqueness of Japanese culture this is a pretty major but,
out of the aforementioned features, there is one characteristic
that is held in higher esteem above all the others when it comes to
determining whether or not a foreigner's Japanese is good or bad..

In fact it is considered to be so important, that your skill level
in this area will be the ultimate decisive factor that will determine
whether or not a Japanese person will reply back to you in
their native tongue when you attempt to speak to him/her in
Japanese. In fact, I distinctly remember my linguistics professor
from university days lecturing on the composite facets of language
and he also stated that this is the one feature that will determine
whether or not your speech will "sound" pleasing to the listener.

That last sentence should have been more than a hint. Anyways, if
you guessed "c" for intonation, congratulations! You hit the hammer
right on the head. You may have passed level one of the Japanese
proficiency exam, possess a tremendous vocabulary and be able to
read newspapers fluently, but if you have a really thick accent, people
are going to have a hard time taking you seriously (especially in a
homogeneous country like this one) or you'll simply be written off as a bad
Japanese speaker. Let me use an example that should make things even
clearer. Imagine your favorite song being sung way out of tune.
Sucks, doesn't it? Well, that's how a really bad foreign accent sounds
to native Japanese speakers. Even if they can make out what you're saying,
they're whole nervous system is screaming "Boy, it sure is embarrasing to
speak to this foreigner in Japanese. Let's finish this conversation
ASAP or switch to English."

Honestly, I don't think its possible to overemphasize how crucial proper
intonation in this country really is. For example, when Japanese
sincerely compliment somebody on how well their Japanese is (I'm actually
talking about a real sincere compliment here, not the usual two-faced
compliment akin to being told you can use chopsticks so well), 99% of
the time, they will either consciously or otherwise be referring to
your accent. In fact, the accent is so important, that all other things
being equal, you can be refused to be hired for a job simply for
speaking with a foreign accent. Usually ads for these jobs stipulate
"native speakers only" in the list of required qualifications (obviously
illegal in the US.).

Here are some FAQs related to this issue:

****************************************************************
Question:
Why in Japan is it such a big deal whether one has an accent
or not ?

Answer:
Because it is one of the primary distinguishing features between a
native speaker and a non-native speaker. Most foreigners have an
accent. In fact it is very difficult to get rid of an accent without
DELIBERATE PRACTICE via a language coach or at least thousands
of hours of absorption. Hence, if you can speak accent-less Japanese,
it will raise eyebrows, especially in an island nation such as this one.
Most people will think that you grew up in Japan from a very young
age and as a result assume that you possess a native understanding
of both the language and the culture. Either way, they will definitely
warm up to you which is the exact opposite effect you will get if
you don't get rid of your accent.
*************************************************************
Question:
All right big-talking man! How good is your accent?

Answer:
Practically native. Not perfect but pretty close. I attribute
this to the marathon listening sessions I've been undergoing
over about the past four years.
***********************************************************
Question:
What do yout think is the best way to get rid of your accent?

Answer:
First, although passive and somewhat an unconscious process,
what you're doing right now with the listening sessions is an
excellent first step. Think about it, over time you will eventually
physically absorb literally hundreds of hours of native spoken
Japanese through your ears. That in and of itself will put you
a level above somebody who is going to Japanese school only
once or twice or even three times a week.

Second, employ the principle of "active listening" into your life.
A lot of people make a big deal about the accent thinking that
it is overwhelmingly difficult compared to the other aspects of
language learning. However, I think that its just a matter of
training our ears to focus and really listen to the differences
between your Japanese and a native speaker's? Are you able
to discern the difference with your ears?

It might be difficult in the beginning, because unless you are
a trained musician or a professional actor, most likely those
neural impulses of the brain connected to your active listening
muscles have gone dormant. Our education system trains
us well in being able to read and conceptualize via the written
word, but when it comes to the fine art of accent replication,
we become intimidated and make a big deal out of it simply
because we are not used to it. What a stupid reason!
Get used to it! Personally, I think it is ridiculous that every
Japanese language school I've visited without exception does
not have an accent class. I'm talking about one class simply
dedicated to teaching the basic A, B, C's of Japanese intonation.
I mean there are tons of grammar classes, tons of kanji classes,
a spree of conversation and newspaper article classes but
absolutely NO ACCENT CLASSES. And as I mentioned and as any
linguistic professor worth his salt will tell you, this is one of the
most IMPORTANT aspects of smooth communication. If your
accent sucks, your ability to communicate sucks! Period!

I think we can learn a lot from the art of acting in this sense.
When an actor is hired to play a role, memorizing the script lines
is just the first step, he or she also has to understand the culture
and the motivation behind the lines. Further, since he or she
also has to become at one with the character, perfectly adopting the
character's speaking style and rhythm is also required. For
example, look at all the great Australian actors who have spoken
in perfect American accents in their movies such as Mel Gibson
and Heath Ledger. Robert De Niro's performance of Vito Corleone
in the Godfather II is also worth mentioning. He won an oscar for
this role which was portrayed almost entirely in Italian, a language he
was not fluent in prior to accepting the role. In fact, he immersed
himself so thoroughly in this role that in those few scenes where he
did use English, he spoke haltingly as if English was his second language.

Check out this youtube and notice how De Niro's facial and body
gestures perfectly complement his Italian speaking style.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GlsXzgOIBI

Thirdly, hire an outside pair of ears to help you strengthen your
awareness in terms of how off your accent is when you speak
Japanese. I did this for a while with some movie scripts and it helped
tremendously. I ended up realizing that fixing one's accent wasn't as
difficult as I thought it was. Japanese is pretty flat actually with just
a few fluctuations depending on the word or phrase. A Japanese
speaker actually reminds me of Slash (guitar player from G'N'R)
when he speaks English, kind of calm, cool, and collected. No
major highs or lows.
,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7CsYvuFpUo

I think this is a good speaking style to adopt if you're a beginner.
Smooth, relaxed, like a quiet spring breeze blowing through a
calm forest. No nervous tension, just relaxed, cool and in the
moment.