Learning a language is a personal journey, one with no fixed route. Some people attend classes, while others take the self-study path. Whichever method you prefer, it’s always good to supplement your studies with things that interest you, whether it be watching tv shows or reading comic books or playing video games in your target language. For myself, of course, I supplement my Japanese studies with penguins.
There are a wealth of children’s picture books with whimsical stories and playful illustrations; penguins riding the train (densha) or going on a pleasure cruise (kuruuzu), the language simple enough for my beginner vocabulary. I’ve been branching out to more difficult reading as well: my current project is a nonfiction book titled Sore Demo Ganbaru! Donmai na Pengin Zukan, or Nevertheless, Do Your Best! The Carefree Penguin Picture Book. (This is my interpretation, at least; Google Translate doesn’t even try to translate donmai and various other dictionaries equate it with “Don’t worry about it” or “Nevermind”, which doesn’t really fit grammatically.) Within its pages, the Carefree Penguin book details the quirks, habits, and situations that characterize the “no worries” donmai penguin, from King penguins raising their young in subzero temperatures to African penguins pushing each other off cliffs. Life is difficult for penguins, but that’s just life, so why worry about it? Or at least, that’s what the book seems to say.
Since this is a chapter book with more advanced vocabulary, I can’t just sit down and read it in a single setting. (In fact, I’ve been “reading” it for over a year now, but procrastination and distraction also play a role in that.) My process for reading goes a bit like this:
- Gather my materials: a spiral bound notebook, a pen, a yellow and pink highlighter, a book of Pingu sticky notes, a digital Japanese<->English dictionary, and a web browser with Google translate.
- Find my place in the book. I mark the beginning of the sentence with a Pingu sticky note.
- Try to read a sentence. If I’m lucky, I only have to look up a few words in the dictionary. If I’m unlucky, and the words and/or grammar are too difficult for me to understand, I’ll type the entire sentence into Google Translate.
- Write the sentence, in my own words, on the right-hand page of the spiral notebook.
- The left-hand page of the notebook is for vocabulary, generally words related to penguins or their environment. The vocabulary is then added to a collection of digital flashcards for later review.
When it comes to Japanese, I’ve always been a slow learner. I crawl through this process, managing two or three sentences a sitting. Being able to look back at what I’ve written, the paragraphs and chapters that I’ve deciphered so far, is uplifting. My Japanese friends are impressed by my notebook– some of these words they’ve never even read. (I suppose hourannou, incubation pouch, isn’t used much in casual conversation.) So it’s not always practical language. My studies won’t help me much at the bank or in the workplace– but that’s not to say this specific knowledge isn’t opening doors.
When I first moved to Japan, I did some casual research to find out what places or attractions might interest a penguin lover like me. There wasn’t a lot to be found, other than a smattering of Penguin Bars (mostly in Tokyo) that had received mixed reviews on the matter of animal welfare. Zoos and aquariums are the obvious option, and Japan has some good ones, but I was looking for something unique. Something like the Penguin Hotel in Zhangzhou, China or the Pop Up Penguins Trail in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was my search for penguins that led me to create this blog, Nooks and Penguins, seeking out unexpected penguins in all the nooks and crannies.
As my language skills improve, and with the help of Google translate, I’ve begun reading Japanese websites and following Japanese speakers on social media. I soon realized that the penguin community in Japan is larger than I thought. Artists, authors, scientists, collectors, Japan’s nooks and crannies are filled with penguin enthusiasts, if you just know where to look. An exciting new level has been added to my language studies, and suddenly the Japanese names of all 18 penguin species is practical knowledge. I have this outlandish dream of someday being fluent enough to act as a translator, bridging the gap between English and Japanese penguin enthusiasts — or if nothing else, providing a glimpse into the places and events that can be found, if only you know where to look.
Nooks and Penguins 