My only hope has come in the form of some computer-based education: Slime Forest. It's software that teaches reading Japanese in the thin disguise of an RPG game. While written Japanese uses complex characters to represent subjects and actions, they also have a phonetic alphabet - Katakana. According to A it's a useful bit of knowledge since many Japanese nouns are simply English words spelled out using the characters from this alphabet. If you know each character's corresponding sound, you'll hopefully be able to decipher some labeling and signage.
As only my third time in a country that doesn't speak English as a primary language, (Canada does not count) I admit that I'm a little nervous. There's still hope though... no matter how bad my foreign language skills may be, or how poorly I play charades trying to convey something to a local, I'll always be able to make sense of the anthropomorphic food!
That version of "I don't speak Japanese" is completely new to me...
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've used much Swedish around you since I've forgotten nearly all of it.
ReplyDelete