Dying languages Iramkarapte, e= iwanke ya? That means “Hi, how are you?” in Ainu. But you’ve probably never heard that, or any Ainu. Fortunately, Japan is economically a big country and Japanese is still spoken by 125 million speakers, however, roughly half of the world’s 6,000 or 7,000 languages have been in danger of going extinct including Ainu at the same time. Ainu is a part of Japan, which means we are losing a tiny bit of us. What happens when a language die? Why we must save endangered languages? One of the reasons is to save ways of interpreting the world. We divide the world by languages and form our own recognition. Imagine a new born baby, he can see things around him, however, he doesn’t know what it is even if it’s his dad’s face or himself in the mirror. It is not that you put a label of language on objects, once there is a language (word), then you can recognize them, which means you’d lose your own world if the language dies. The second reason is to save the culture and history. We experience plenty of things ever since we were born, at the same time, we hear the words to describe them, understand the world and form ourselves. Also, we develop words and expressions which are not in other languages while living in the same place for a long time. For instance, we cannot talk about four seasons if we adopt the language of the people living in the desert. That can’t be worldwide since the culture, the climate and the social structure are all different. Language itself is a culture and history, that is, they die with its language. Language is the bellwether. It shapes our understanding of how world works, and it’s hard to maintain the full richness, depth and complexity of a culture without its languages. That’s why we have to save languages. The loss of language diversity leads the loss of biological diversity, and endangerment happens when people are no longer learning the language. So let’s learn languages. Different languages provide distinct pathways of thought and frameworks for thinking and solving problems. Hopefully Japanese exists forever.

Indiscriminate Terrorisms The other day I was scrolling through news when I came across an article concerning terrorisms. Recently there have been many indiscriminate terrorisms around the world. Fortunately, we haven’t got big attacks yet in Japan, however, it feels like we sometimes get involved in one while on the train. One type of terrorists is perfume women. Just imagine you are squeezing into a jammed train during rush hour, and then a woman steps in the door and stuck in just next to you. And she put way too much perfume on. You might choke and cough, and everyone on train would also be about die momentarily. What’s worse, you smell like it too. You have steeped in it, and it has become you. I consider it as an indiscriminate terrorism. Next one is leaky headphones. I guess many people have experienced this. Suddenly, loudly, from the leaky headphones of the cute girl behind me on train heavy metal. Me no happy, it ruined my fresh morning mood. Another day a guy on train was listening to an anime song 4 times in a row. He took us all into his anime world that none of us wanted, and I went to the venue of my job interview having the song stuck in my head. The third one is McDonald’s take away. There are at least three people who fill the carriage with the smell of McDonald per a year. Its french fries smell is especially very strong. Looking to my left, nothing, looking to my right, also nothing… Where on earth that McDonald smell coming from? It’s like a torture for someone who is feeling very hungry. You might have a negative image to these indiscriminate terrorisms on the train. Yes, it can be uncomfortable to encounter that kind of situations, sometimes even painful if your eyes and throat are burning due to a strong perfume. However, I guess it’s not always bad. Even if you felt tough while it’s happening, you can have a good laugh about it later. It could spice up your daily commute a little bit. If I have to commute somewhere, I’d rather it be a hilarious ride.

Could someone check my writing? With stunning beaches, emerald water, and exotic trees, the Philippines is true tropical paradise. I was so excited to visit the country, but I was worried that I can't understand their language and encounter a language barrier. However, my concern was erased since everyone I met talked to me in English and which was much more fluent than I’d expected. I met plenty of people when I took a taxi, went to malls, supermarkets and wandering off to a cafe. I found everyone is fluent in English from young shop staff to taxi drivers who looked like around sixties. They usually spoke a local language, but they quickly changed the language and talked to me in English once they glanced at me. I was amazed how good they are at English and how developed the English prevalence is in the Philippines. When I went to a theater to watch Inside Out from Disney, there were many kids. Although it was English without subtitles, they seemed to understand perfectly what the characters were saying and they were laughing a lot, which amazed me. There was a slight disappointment in my heart when I was only being quiet while everyone was laughing though. ....→②

Filipino people and English② A week after the movie day, I went to a small local island. I asked around for directions to many people in English and manage to arrive at the island. It was like heaven. I was fascinated by the turquoise sea which was the most captivating one I’ve ever seen and was having an amazing time expect for the yucky starfish. I also had an opportunity to take a little fish shaped boat, and a staff from the boat shop helped us paddle since we were all girls. We, me, two Filipino girls and the staff, started paddling and having a chitchat. The staff told me that he didn’t go to high school and I didn’t really understand what he meant by that, but it turned out he wanted to tell me that he’s not very good at English. I learned that some people in undeveloped rural areas still cannot attend high school or have enough opportunities to learn English, and that many Filipino people feel intimidated by someone who speaks fluent English later. Though I had a wonderful time since the girls interpreted for me and he tried to explain with gestures and a smile. In conclusion, fluency in English will continue to be one of the most important skills for people in the Philippines. It is already part of their culture and global identity as a bilingual nation. Yet languages must only be used to unite people and never to divide them by distinguishing the educated from the underprivileged. I hope that the provision of educational infrastructure is developed and everyone will be able to have opportunities to take adequate education wherever they are, and that English makes them not divided but equal. Hopefully I’ll be also fluent in English and laughing among them in a theater someday.

Filipino People and English① With stunning beaches, emerald water, and exotic trees, the Philippines is true tropical paradise. I was so excited to visit the country, but I was worried that I can't understand their language and encounter a language barrier. However, my concern was erased since everyone I met talked to me in English and which was much more fluent than I’d expected. I met plenty of people when I took a taxi, went to malls, supermarkets and wandering off to a cafe. I found everyone is fluent in English from young shop staff to taxi drivers who looked like around sixties. They usually spoke a local language, but they quickly changed the language and talked to me in English once they glanced at me. I was amazed how good they are at English and how developed the English prevalence is in the Philippines. When I went to a theater to watch Inside Out from Disney, there were many kids. Although it was English without subtitles, they seemed to understand perfectly what the characters were saying and they were laughing a lot, which amazed me. There was a slight disappointment in my heart when I was only being quiet while everyone was laughing though. ....→②

The little black one Come into my house and drop your gaze, and you’ll see a little cheerful black mop-ish. Yes, that is my little dog Fleur. She is a 2.2kg black poodle and tiny. Her feet are quite short and some people think she is Dachshund. Contrary to the appearance, she is the most powerful and energetic in my family, which bothers us a little bit from time to time. In 2004, after hopping around many pet shops, we decided to welcome her in our family. Although she looked afraid of all the things around her at first, she was running around the house a few weeks after. I cannot remember when this habit began, but she loves to jump into fresh laundry piles and bury herself in them. Even if I folded the laundry and feel proud of myself, sometimes she walks through and knocks all the piles over. When I find her, she looks both sad and satisfied. In the age of 2, she got 4 babies. Her little belly got very big and was almost on the ground. She had to take a surgery since the vet thought her tiny body wouldn’t be able to stand though she was pretty good. The surgery went well and she came back after a week stay in the vet. Funnily enough, she got more active and came to bite a lot. She bit me when I tried to get her off the couch and take her favourite fluffy towel to wash it. That was no problem actually, however, she astonished us when she was biting this guy in suit while we were discussing about the construction of our house with him. We ended up choosing another company and all he got was just lots of biting from her. Over the last couple of years, one of her favourite things has been eating. She looks really happy when I feed her. Sometimes it goes too much and she even eats the flowers and plants we bought including the little herb which I bought my dad for his birthday. Moreover, she always finds and eats dried up earthworms after rain. I don’t know what kind of feeling I should have when I see her happy face. Well, at least she is getting her protein. In short, she has been mischievous and full of energy ever since she came to my family though she is permanent puppy size. Yet she turns already 13 years old this month. Maybe because of that, she has been snoring like a grown fat man lately.

My step on African soil Could someone please check my writing or give some advice? Last year, I was in South Africa for 4 months. When I told my friends about it, I was often asked these questions: Is it safe? What is South Africa like? Were you living in a safari? How did you manage to survive? Let me change your image to Africa a bit. Here is my little introduction. First, South Africa is pretty safe. You may imagine it’s unsafe hearing the word Africa, but in fact, you’ll be surprised how developed South Africa is. There are many buildings and lovely cafes just like Europe. You’d forget that you are in an African country. In addition, it has the marvelous nature such as mountains, the sea and African animals. Surprisingly or not, you can even drink tap water. I actually drank it many times. Second, one of the most attractive charms of in South Africa would be the cultural diversity. To give you an example, there are 11 official languages in the country. It’s kind of funny when they don’t know their language each other though they’re from the same country. As for the people, they are surprisingly friendly and willing to help you when you’re in trouble. Perhaps you might be in a bar with them with a drink in a hand after just a little bit of talking. They respect for their culture each other, developing their diversity as a strength. That’d be the beautiful point. However, there is a thing I cannot finish without talking about. South Africa is developed compared to other African countries, but there are many poor people in the country. I was in Cape Town which is a pretty big city, with a 20 minute drive from the city, you’ll see tons of tin shacks which is hard to say house. I couldn’t believe that many people are living in this overly terrible condition while there are lots of rich people with a gorgeous and spacious house nearby. In short, South Africa is such a spectacular country. Actually I was -3% ready to leave there. As well as the beautiful aspect, I’d like you to look at the severe aspect. It’d be awesome if you put the country to your to go list in the future. I’m pretty sure South Africa has something for everyone.

South African culture Could someone correct or give some advice? Thank you so much in advance m(__)m South Africa which is called the Rainbow Nation passes 22th anniversary of the abolition of Apartheid. Today, you can see scenes which many ethnic groups respect each other, the diversity surprises travelers from all around the world. To give you an example, there are eleven official languages in South Africa such as English, Afrikaans, Zulu and Xhosa. One of the attractive fortunes in South Africa is the cultural diversity. Looking at that in terms of ethnic categories, it includes Ngoni which branched off into Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi, Sotho-Tswana, Tsonga and Venda. Additionally, immigrants from Europe and Asia and people of mixed ethnic origin are coexisting. As democratization and liberalization expanded, South Africa harmonizes their cultures developing the diversity more than ever. What is showing the cultural diversity from various ethnic groups, it has to be cuisine. Bobotie is one of the representative home cooking of South Africa which is from Malaysia, and the spicy curry cooked by people of Indian descent is their favorite. With being on the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, South Africa is abundant in fresh seafood, and the meat of animals grow in the land of Africa and the sausage called Braai are typical dishes for home parties, you can feel the diversity from those food lined up on your table. Also, the music shows the cultural diversity. The different cultural backgrounds makes them praise with each other. You can sing South Africa’s national anthem called Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika in many languages such as English, Afrikaans and Xhosa, in the radio, you can enjoy various rhythms and sounds, including jazz, house. kwaito, rap, rock, African gospel, traditional music and so on. The cultural diversity would be definitely an attractiveness in South Africa, and in the progress of harmonizing respecting different cultures and thoughts.

Apartheid Can someone give me some advice for my writing? I have a small vocaburary and can't write a polished style. Thank you　(>人<) I think Apartheid is the biggest issue for South Africa. It continued from 1948 to 1994. This took the voting right from blacks, gave them only works with very low pay and forced to live apart from whites. It segregated public facilities such as restaurants, trains and buses into for whites and for blacks. Even hospitals were separated ones with facilities for whites and ones with insufficient facilities for blacks. Blacks who entered places such as parks for whites were arrested immediately and faced discrimination all the time for a long time. I think everyone knows Apartheid. It’s been 22 years since that Apartheid was rescinded on the surface, allowing blacks to participate as equal citizens in their own country. However, now reverse Apartheid has been occurring, which means black government is discrimination against whites. The present government is made up of the overwhelming majority of blacks. How would it be if blacks who had been persecuted govern the country? They start carrying out policies which are in their favor. It seems like it’s quite difficult to get a job for whites compared to before. Even though Apartheid was rescinded, it’s not that the poor can get a job soon and there are still lots of people who live poorly. It seems like there is no tax for people live in a township, their water bill and hydro bill are paid by taxes from rich whites. Even if whites become poor, however, they cannot enter a township. Since the government implemented many policies which make whites difficult to live, many whites fled to another country. That said, they were born and raised in South Africa and it’s their home country. In this situation, it might remain to be seen how the country manages to build a society in which both blacks and whites can live without anxiety for the whole their lives.