As everybody knows, motorcycles dominate the roads in Vietnam.
On the way to e-Town this morning, I was stuck in a terrible traffic jam. Cach Mang Thang 8 (August Revolution) street was packed with motorcycles. Even worse, road work was going on everywhere on the street. Oh god. I have never seen the actual hell yet, but if I see it, it must look like this.
I strongly believe that motorcycles are the integral part of Vietnamese culture. Yet I must feel sorry for motorcycle commuters at the peak time. Saigon needs a little bit more of public transportation. Hopefully, subway or monorail. It will certainly make Saigon people's life easier.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Freedom of speech in Vietnam
Vietnam is a lovely country. I enjoy living in this state. However, there's one thing I don't like about it: Vietnam lacks freedom of speech. Nobody can criticize the ruling Communist Party here.
Once upon a time, Vietnam went through a fierce war. Politics destroyed everything in this country. Since the Vietnam war ended in 1975, Vietnamese people have lost their interest in politics. They have learned that politics doesn't make them happy.
Vietnam has neither freedom of speech nor democracy. But people don't seem to care as long as the government keeps its promise that it brings economic development to its people. This is a kind of implicit social contract. And so far so good.
I don't really object to it. After all, Vietnam is still a developing country and it's more important to feed its people properly than to give them freedom of speech. This is understandable.
However, there's a risk that it will prevent Vietnamese from thinking in a creative manner in the future. This can become a problem once Vietnamese economy has reached a certain level of affluence.
You could say that Vietnamese people are currently tuned more to be good factory workers than to be imaginative creators. Maybe, it's okay for now. I hope that someday it will have a full-fledged freedom of speech for the future generations in Vietnam.
Once upon a time, Vietnam went through a fierce war. Politics destroyed everything in this country. Since the Vietnam war ended in 1975, Vietnamese people have lost their interest in politics. They have learned that politics doesn't make them happy.
Vietnam has neither freedom of speech nor democracy. But people don't seem to care as long as the government keeps its promise that it brings economic development to its people. This is a kind of implicit social contract. And so far so good.
I don't really object to it. After all, Vietnam is still a developing country and it's more important to feed its people properly than to give them freedom of speech. This is understandable.
However, there's a risk that it will prevent Vietnamese from thinking in a creative manner in the future. This can become a problem once Vietnamese economy has reached a certain level of affluence.
You could say that Vietnamese people are currently tuned more to be good factory workers than to be imaginative creators. Maybe, it's okay for now. I hope that someday it will have a full-fledged freedom of speech for the future generations in Vietnam.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
How to keep myself motivated in writing blog in English
My native language is Japanese, not English. It's certainly much harder for me to write entries in English than in Japanese. I have tried to keep writing English blog several times in the past, all in vain.
In the meantime, I have been posting numerous entries in Japanese on http://d.hatena.ne.jp/elm200. The blog site has attracted more than 900,000 page views in the last 3 years.
The reason why I could keep writing the blog in Japanese but failed to do so in English is rather simple. In English blog entries, I have never received any reactions. No comments nor social bookmarks. It was as if I were talking to the wall. I say something but nobody responds.
There's a web site called lang-8 (http://lang-8.com/). This website has been created and maintained by a Chinese guy who lives in Japan. This is basically a social network system which specializes in language exchange. You can join the network to help people who learn your native tongue and get help from native speakers of the language you study.
Maybe I can post my entries in lang-8 to get my articles corrected by English native speakers. They might not respond to the content of my posts but I can at least receive some reactions in the form of sentence correction. It can be a motivation to keep writing in English.
However, I never really liked it very much. I don't know why. I just wanted to have an English-speaking blog. Perhaps I should just start writing in English. I don't have to make any excuse. As http://31o5.com/ at Bangkok says, after all, we are not English native speakers and it's simply impossible to be perfect on English. The most important thing is to make ourselves understood to as many people as possible. English happens to be the best tool to convey your ideas to the maximum number of people on the globe. Probably, we don't have to be too sensitive on grammar and structures of our English sentences. Just do it. Make your voice heard. That's all we need to do.
In the meantime, I have been posting numerous entries in Japanese on http://d.hatena.ne.jp/elm200. The blog site has attracted more than 900,000 page views in the last 3 years.
The reason why I could keep writing the blog in Japanese but failed to do so in English is rather simple. In English blog entries, I have never received any reactions. No comments nor social bookmarks. It was as if I were talking to the wall. I say something but nobody responds.
There's a web site called lang-8 (http://lang-8.com/). This website has been created and maintained by a Chinese guy who lives in Japan. This is basically a social network system which specializes in language exchange. You can join the network to help people who learn your native tongue and get help from native speakers of the language you study.
Maybe I can post my entries in lang-8 to get my articles corrected by English native speakers. They might not respond to the content of my posts but I can at least receive some reactions in the form of sentence correction. It can be a motivation to keep writing in English.
However, I never really liked it very much. I don't know why. I just wanted to have an English-speaking blog. Perhaps I should just start writing in English. I don't have to make any excuse. As http://31o5.com/ at Bangkok says, after all, we are not English native speakers and it's simply impossible to be perfect on English. The most important thing is to make ourselves understood to as many people as possible. English happens to be the best tool to convey your ideas to the maximum number of people on the globe. Probably, we don't have to be too sensitive on grammar and structures of our English sentences. Just do it. Make your voice heard. That's all we need to do.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Regretful Japanese-speaking web
Uchio Umeda is a board member of Hatena Inc, which provides one of the most popular web services in Japan. In a recent interview titled "Regretful Japanese-speaking web", he criticized Japanese-speaking web, saying that while web services are vital in people's life in the United States, the Japanese speaking web is not used effectively except for some subcultural websites like Nico Nico Douga. According to him, especially the problem is that the most intellectual people don't express themselves through web in Japan even though the Internet has great potential to boost their intelligence.
I also share his view on Japanese-speaking web. The Japanese-speaking web is too negative. Too often do I witness negative anonymous comments that attack and insult other people. The reason is, as Dr. Obuno Ikeda says, that Japanese people have no chance to express themselves under their own name because it's too risky. Under the Japanese evaluation system, once they lose their reputation, it is almost impossible to regain it later. They are afraid of criticism from their bosses and coworkers. Therefore, they insult others under an anonymous name to release their pressure in their real life. How sad it is!
Personally, I am fed up with the Japanese-speaking web. It's just fruitless. I have to cut down on the time I spent reading Japanese-speaking web. It's sad...because I am a native Japanese speaker.
I also share his view on Japanese-speaking web. The Japanese-speaking web is too negative. Too often do I witness negative anonymous comments that attack and insult other people. The reason is, as Dr. Obuno Ikeda says, that Japanese people have no chance to express themselves under their own name because it's too risky. Under the Japanese evaluation system, once they lose their reputation, it is almost impossible to regain it later. They are afraid of criticism from their bosses and coworkers. Therefore, they insult others under an anonymous name to release their pressure in their real life. How sad it is!
Personally, I am fed up with the Japanese-speaking web. It's just fruitless. I have to cut down on the time I spent reading Japanese-speaking web. It's sad...because I am a native Japanese speaker.
I'd like to be a good English writer
For better or worse, I have to admit that English is the single universal language in the 21 century. For those who have international aspiration, English is an essentional tool for communication. On the internet, the most important English skills are reading and writing. If you want to get your voice heard to the public in the world, you need to express yourself in Enlgish. This is a lethal handicap for non native English speakers like me...but whining is no use and I just have to do what to do.
I do notice that my English sentences are not perfectly natural for native English speakers. I'd like to improve my writing but don't know how. Anyway, I will try my best to express myself in English.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Long time no see
I haven't posted entries for a long time.
Now I am preparing to leave for Vietnam.
I will leave Tokyo on September 22nd.
I will go through Korea and China to visit my friends.
I will finally arrive in Ho Chi Min City(Sai Gon) around October 10th.
Hopefully, I'd like to set up a software company that exports software to the countries like Japan and US.
I have been learning Vietnamese for three months. It's so much fun. This is no wonder since I am a natural language mania, so...
Now I am preparing to leave for Vietnam.
I will leave Tokyo on September 22nd.
I will go through Korea and China to visit my friends.
I will finally arrive in Ho Chi Min City(Sai Gon) around October 10th.
Hopefully, I'd like to set up a software company that exports software to the countries like Japan and US.
I have been learning Vietnamese for three months. It's so much fun. This is no wonder since I am a natural language mania, so...
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Open up your mind, Mr United States!
US Latinos are 'finding a voice'Cheer up! The hispanic people in US! I feel that the US is becoming more and more introvert these days. Have a look at the very restrictive number of issues of H1B visas for professional people. The US might not be "a country of freedom" as the current US President might think.
The United States' 43 million Latinos are the fastest-growing minority group in the country. For Emilio San Pedro, travelling from coast to coast talking to fellow Latinos has also allowed him to reflect on his own identity.
By the way, are there any difference between the words "Hispanic" and "Latinos"? Is this the matter of political correctness like the relationship between the words "Black" and "African Americans"?
I am not sure.
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