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Rythm in English and Japanese
I ‘ve often complained about the difficulties of English. But this time,
I’d like to talk about the pleasures of learning English by focusing on
the sounds of English. The rhythms, intonations and various sounds of English
are totally different from those of Japanese. The appeal of English music,
rap music, rock n’ roll and R&B owes much to the various aspects of
sounds in the English language. I feel very comfortable when I hear rhythmic
English being spoken.
Hearing the rhythms or stress of words makes my body move and
also adds momentum to my thinking. It’s like doing a sport. For example, in
order to be a good swimmer or runner, one needs to acquire a sense of rhythm.
Various sounds are also an attractive aspect of English. They contribute to the
many colorful expressions in English. In order to be a fluent English speaker, I
believe that I need to develop an acute sense for the sounds of English to the
point where they penetrate to my bones. Well, teachers, what’s an effective way
to develop an acute sense for the rhythm of English? What are the important
things to consider? Now, I’m trying to read English aloud, and repeat sentences
immediately after hearing native English speakers recite them.
By the
way, some particular styles of Japanese have special rhythms like English. As
you might know, Haiku and Waka poems have specific rules. The number of
syllables is regulated, as demonstrated by the 5-7-5 syllabic structure of Haiku, and the 5-7-5-5-7
syllabic structure of Waka. It gives some stresses and rhythms to poems. The
sentences of old Japanese literature also sound like these poems. I think the
Japanese language has been losing these aspects through modernization since the
Meiji era. This is evidenced by the fact that Japanese seems to sound more
monotonic.
Let me talk about Ichiyo Higuchi, who was a female writer in
the Meiji period. One of her masterpieces, “Takekurabe”, refers to “comparing
growth of heights”. It’s a kind of virgin-love story of a boy who was born with
a silver spoon and a girl who is a child of a Geisha in Yoshiwara,
Tokyo. Upon opening the pages of it,
I could see vivid scenes of the world through its text. Furthermore, the rhythms
of the style are special. I didn’t know Japanese could sound like English until
then. When listening to a recorded cassette tape of it, my observations were
confirmed. It had special rhythms, intonations, and syncopations like music. The
style of writing is totally different from our style of writing in modern day
Japan. The
Japanese language has changed quite a lot. Of course, Ichiyo was greatly
influenced by the classic language found in Waka poems. I believe that Japanese
used to be much richer in the past than it is today.There are, however, a few current writers who have a special rhythmic style
in their writing. One of them is Yoko Tawada, She writes novels in Japanese
and German. That’s why her writing style has special rhythms, as influenced
by the diversity of her written works. She seems to have a different perception
of Japanese like that of a foreigner. It’s very interesting to think about
the sounds of languages in their oral or written forms, isn’t it?
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