Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Language Lessons?

We've seen these before via the Curated Internet, but I'm still completely baffled as to the intent.

EDIT: Even Know Your Meme is a little vague on this point.
Posted by Mr. Pony
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3 comments:

odori said...

I think the exercises and the catchy (!) tunes are supposed to help people remember the English phrases.

In my view, the prevalence of phrases like "Take anything you want" and "Spare me my life," reflect the impression far too many Japanese have of foreign countries being scary places full of criminals.

I don't believe this program lasted long. The hairstyles and workout wear are very 80s/early 90s. I never saw these ladies on TV. Then again, I didn't watch a lot of English lessons on Japanese TV!

The three women in a row doing calisthenics thing is something NHK has been doing for decades, though. I recall NHK showing three minute clips of calisthenics - minus the English lessons - several times a day. I think they still do it.

This English lesson reminds me of those exercises. I'll try to find an example online and post it.

May 12, 2009 at 5:36 PM
Mr. Pony said...

But why diarrhea? Really, sometimes I think the Japanese are here to show us how to interact with interstellar alien cultures

May 13, 2009 at 12:08 AM
odori said...

Well... Not sure, but perhaps it's part of a lesson to prepare people for trips overseas where they may eat strange foods. Just a guess.

Diarrhea was one of the vocabulary words I had to learn during second-year Mandarin in college. The very mature and serious students in my class - myself included - thought it was hilarious to say diarrhea in Chinese. La duzi! La duzi! We practiced many sentences with la duzi.

May 13, 2009 at 5:30 PM

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