Tag: english

I have a friend who had understood the importance of a fit even when I didn't.  He had a specific field of law that he focused on not only in law school but also in college, so he applied exclusively to law firms that specialized in that field.  Not surprisingly, he successfully landed

My every resumé, from the first one I prepared in college to the one I maintain today, ends with the same words: "Fan of James Bond."

It is those four words that got my career started.

Jon,

When I think of lifelong friendships, I think about us.

You’re probably the oldest friend I have.  You've known me since the days I barely spoke English, which is hard to believe because these days, I have trouble convincing people that I speak another language.

There's something unique about a childhood friendship.  It's formed before we become identified

I have exciting news for the very few readers of this blog.

The site, which will celebrate its ninth anniversary this October, is getting a huge makeover that will make it easier for all readers to navigate through the contents.

Many of the benefits are associated with splitting the Japanese content from the English content that enables English-only readers

Dear Overachieving Eagles,

Being a natural overachiever, many of you will seek to become the cream of the crop of American society by obtaining a degree that's even higher than the Bachelor of Arts, like M.A., M.D., J.D., M.B.A. or Ph.D.

As an overeducated double Eagle myself, I have some experience with knowing what it takes to

For the longest time, I had no interest in reading.  

I swear it started in high school, when novels like "The Grapes of Wrath," "Walden Pond" and "The Old Man and the Sea" sent me into temporary comas.  I think my experience proves that just because a book is a "classic" doesn't mean kids in

"Nothing is lower than the human race---except the French."  --Mark Twain

A couple months ago, a Chinese person shared how she's struggling with the Japanese counting system because it had different units for different things.  Counting two pencils is "ni-hon," for example, but two books is "ni-satsu."  Boats are counted "ni-sou" yet larger ships are "ni-seki."

A couple months ago, I defended lawyers. To show that I can make myself even more lovable, today I defend my educational background, which I thought spoke for itself.  For this show of narcissism that's paralleled, y'all can thank my office neighbor, who, upon hearing the details of my academic history,  questioned whether I slipped through the

The managing partner of my firm's Tokyo office once said that he considered anyone who claimed to be bilingual to be a liar.  Bilingual himself, he was being facetious, but he had an underlying point that I completely shared:  bilingualism just means that you're imperfect in two languages.

I'm ignorant about many things, but I hide it well by talking more and louder.   But one thing even that can't hide is my lack of vocabulary.

As I've written before, the so-called advice I received to overcome this challenge in high school, like don't bother reading ("look up every word you don't know in

I'm often asked, generally in Japan, which language I'm more comfortable with, English or Japanese.  Since my subconscience* (i.e. my dreams) has been in English for years, the answer to the question is obvious.

That answer, though, is actually a matter of relativity.  Just because English is my better language doesn't mean I'm a good English

For better or for worse, I seem to leave a distinct impression on people, although I can't tell whether the impression I leave is good or bad.  One week into my foray into law school at the particularly liberal Rutgers of Newark, people started coming up to me and saying, "So you're the new conservative,

I was never a fan of reading "classic" books, either in highs school or in college.  This may come as a shock to all of you who know how highly I regard a liberal arts education, but I continue to prefer reading John Grisham to any classic, whether from the 18th century or the 20th.

You

The happiest moment of my life was when I got a 600 on SAT verbal.  You may say it doesn't take much to make me happy, but you'd be missing my point.  The statement is a reflection on my life-long struggle to achieve competence in verbalism, be it in English or Japanese.

I somehow managed to