Ask Amy

Another agony aunt column I discovered recently. Ask Amy runs in the Chicago Tribune and probably elsewhere as well. At least I hope it does, because it currently can’t be read by users outside the USA. Boo, hiss!

There’s no really much to say about Amy’s advice. Both the questions she gets and the answers she gives are usually quite bland. Yes, her advice is good, but the issues themselves are often so mundane it’s hardly worth the trouble. E.g. “I had a piece of ham on my plate at a party and I asked to take it home. My husband thinks that was rude.” All well and good, but not really rocket science, right? It’s possible her column is aimed more at the 50s-60s crowd than at young ‘uns like us.

Pluses: Comes out every day, three or four problems daily, short and to the point, Amy’s advice is generally sound.

Minuses: Boring and mundane, no comments section (fixed recently), archive doesn’t go back very far.

Annie’s Mailbox

a.k.a. the Get Counselling column. Annie’s Mailbox is an advice column that comes out every day of the week online. I believe it’s nationally syndicated too but I haven’t bothered to check.

I’m a bit of an advice columnist/agony aunt junkie, I must confess. Most of the stuff they write applies to people with significant others and kids so it’s rarely relevant to me, which is probably why I get so much pleasure out of reading them. I’m always on the look out for new columns, and Annie’s Mailbox is scratching my itch.

Pluses: Comes out daily, at least two or three problems a day, the columnists give generally sound, non-judgmental advice, a variety of issues are covered, there’s an extensive archive for a good long binge, there’s a “Comments” button where readers can give their views on the days problems.

Minuses: Every other answer they give is “get some counselling.” It’s so repetitive. I wonder if they’re getting kickbacks from the National Association of Therapists or what. They even recommend counselling in clearly no-hope cases, just because. Also about 30% of the letters seem to be from couples in sexless marriages. My husband won’t sleep with me, my wife won’t sleep with me. Once or twice was okay but now it’s repetitive.

Still it’s not stopping me from continuing my binge. I read it all day yesterday and despite my efforts to resist I see more Annie is my near future.

A much-needed wake up call

Sometimes you get lazy, you know? You let a day slide here, another day slide there, read a few English sites, listen to a little English radio. A little bit won’t hurt, you tell yourself. You even think you’ve gotten far enough and start contemplating learning something else.

Then a Japanese person pops up like jack-in-a-box. 「今度うちで遊びに行かない？」ZOMG, brain freeze! What am I supposed to say? What am I supposed to say? Cue me sitting there mouth flapping open like a fish on the beach. Eventually I managed to stammer out a weak 「お邪魔します」and matters are laid to rest, but I have just exposed a fatal flaw in my learning process.

Not enough input yet! In fact, I’m starting to have doubts about the “Enough good input will lead to good output” process, but I don’t have a leg to stand on because I haven’t gotten that much input yet. Sure I’ve been reading a little more, but when it comes to listening, I can’t remember the last time I got out a podcast or even a movie and paid close attention. More importantly, I don’t even enough input for every day scenes. I know a lot of words you might use on a battleship like 発信準備 but what do you say when someone invites you over? I drew a blank.

So I have seen my shortcomings, and I’m going to work on them a lot more from now on. Stammering is uncool in any language!

Sgt Frog volume 1 manga review

I get bored at the salon a lot, so I’ve taken to bringing my own literature. Last week it was Sgt Frog volume 1.

Keroro, the frog sergeant in question, is an alien who comes to Earth as a scout in readiness for the invasion of the Earth. By chance he ends up in the Hinata family house where he is quickly captured. When a hilarious misunderstanding leaves him and his platoon stranded on Earth, Keroro is left to fend for himself as he best knows how…which means slaving for the Hinata household as their unpaid housekeeper!

Sounds like a sad tale, but it’s actually quite hilarious, mostly due to Keroro’s charm and upbeat attitude. Far from a shrinking violet he’s a tough-talking, mischievously insubordinate, choleric and has a crazy love for building Gundam models. Part of the humor comes from the disjointed fact that he’s an alien frog and yet loves modern things like iMacs and manga.

The human component is the Hinata family: Natsumi the bossy older sis, Fuyuki the easygoing little brother and their mother Aki. Personally I’m always more interested in the activities of the frog team, but the humans provide a good foil for their personalities to bounce off. It wouldn’t be the same manga without them.

Volume 1 starts Keroro’s abandonment on Earth. He later finds his subordinate Tamama (soooo cuuuuuuuute) who is living with Fuyuki’s classmate Momoka. The end of the volume introduces Moa, a.k.a. Angol Mois, the Lord of Destruction… currently disguised as a 14 year old girl who called Keroro “Uncle”. I can’t wait for volume 2!

Learning Swedish?

Have you heard of All Japanese All the Time? You can just check out the site for the details, but basically it’s one man’s tale of how he learned Japanese to fluency (or so he claims) in 18 months just by immersing himself steadily and constantly in the language. This means listening to only Japanese music, watching only J-shows, reading only J-sites, etc. The idea is sound. It’s like Sink or Swim. If someone dropped you in the middle of Timbuktu one day I bet you’d pick up the lingo in a hurry.

So how does that apply to me? Well I was thinking of applying for a job with a certain Swedish organization. There’s no way I’d learn enough Swedish in time to land the job, but afterwards in the time I’m working there (if I decide to apply and if I get the job) I’d be surrounded by Swedish people and materials. It’s a good chance to pick up a language I’d never actually learn left on my own.

With that in mind, I checked out a few resources for learning Swedish. First need to get some textbooks and materials, and then need to find music, books, radio stations, etc to complete the environment. This was all a few days ago now to be honest my desire is waning, but I think I’ll list them here in case I ever do get round to learning it.

Foreign Service Insitute courses – Haven’t tried them yet, heard good things

U-Z Translations site – Massive number of textbooks and materials but you need to sign up first

How to Learn Any Language search results – it’s a forum for language learners

Learn Swedish with Swedish LingQ – Self explanatory title. It looks like a blog with podcasts and other materials for the intermediate learner.