Hey y’all, I normally just lurk and give an occasional quip of info when I can if someone hasn’t beat me to it. I’m a profession translator who’s been studying for nearly two decades. That said, I’m doing something a bit out of the norm for this sub but I’m hoping people might be willing to help.
If you’ve studied Japanese for a long time and made genuine progress with it, you’ve probably had a mentor. Whether that was a college senpai, a professor, or a native speaker in your community, you know how valuable that detailed knowledge a true guide through this difficult languages can be. Well, I’ve had a bevy of academic mentors, but none were more helpful than a woman I met organically while teaching yoga to help save money for my dream of getting a masters in Translation Studies.
My mentor is an incredible woman who came to the U.S. when she was young and newly married to a U.S. resident. Her entire life has been dedicated to learning English at a near perfect level and she has more than achieved it despite still being self-conscious about her pronunciation. As a result, her greatest wish as she’s entered into her older age has been to now help Japanese learners of English perfect their language in regards to how Katakana used while study can sometimes stifle proper pronunciation—in her eyes. She has a YouTube channel she’s been trying to grow and while I realize this is largely a forum for English speakers learning Japanese, if you view her videos, you will find the way she speaks, her pronunciation, etc. is very helpful for learners getting a feel for that listening ear we all needed to hone in our beginnings. It will also give you insight into the nuances of organic Japanese pronunciation that may help you take your listening skills beyond the classroom.
I’m not asking you to give her a sub, I’d love if you did, but I’d so appreciate it if you gave her channel a view. She means the world to me; she is the kindest, most patient person I have ever met and is honestly the reason I was able to get into graduate school at KSU for Translation Studies w/ a concentration in Japanese. She is the reason for my success and I just want to try and help her out with this project that she cares so much about. I appreciate any time you can spare to view her videos and I hope they help you out in some way. Thank you for reading <3
Her Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@EnglishListening101
4 comments
I’ve already seen some new subs on her channel and I cannot express enough how much that means. Thank you, thank you, thank you. 本当にありがとうございます。感謝しています！
Have you shared this on the English learning sub?
これをバンプください！！
I’ll check it out!