A chapter by this site’s founders set me off on a path to doing a Ph.D. and made me re-evaluate my linguistic practises and my position as an English teacher…
Nagoya City poster titled “Pleasant Communication with Simple Japanese”. Note the play on words for “Nagoya” and “pleasant” (nagoyaka) “Cheers, mate.” It’s a cold January night in Hokkaido, Japan, the…
“The Tosa dialect is fun!!” Notebook with characters representing the grammar of Tosaben, the dialect of the Kōchi prefecture in Shikoku. The cover also features popular landmarks of the prefecture.…
The link between language and identity is a subject written about most profusely by linguists, and it never seems to fall into obsolescence. Yet, novelists manipulate the association between language…
4月9日刊行予定『異文化コミュニケーションを問いなおす』イングリッド・ピラー カバー・帯写真:渡邊リカルドWe are thrilled to announce that the Japanese translation of Ingrid Piller’s bestselling book Intercultural Communication: A Critical Introduction will be published by Sogensha (創元社) on the 9th of April,…
Many people would agree that English is the language of globalization. English is almost always adopted as the official language of international events, including the Olympic Games. It does not…
“Have you heard that young Japanese have stopped having sex? Have you read the recent BBC article? Young men are having virtual girlfriends on smart phones. How weird! Not really…
Mariko Watanabe and Ingrid Piller celebrate their reunion at Yaccomaricard in Chit Lom This post is also available in pdf-format. Click here. In early July, YM Fashion’s CEO Mariko Watanabe…
Migrant children studying in a Brazilian school in Japan (Source: Japan Times) A recent study of the educational pathways of the children of Brazilian migrants in Japan offers a most…
Hiroshi Mikitani, Englishnization in Marketplace 3.0 (Source: gettyimages.co.uk) The business and self-help section of my local Kinokuniya bookstore is currently featuring shelves and shelves of Marketplace 3.0: Rewriting the rules…
Kimie Takahashi (2013) Language learning, gender and desire: Japanese women on the move. Multilingual Matters. It’s Valentine’s Day today. Valentine’s Day is a truly global event inextricably linking the emotional…
Montessori preschoolers in Tokyo preparing a feast Anyone who has young children attending pre-school or participating in other similar programs will be acquainted with birthday rituals in group settings such…
The completed calendar, rolled up and secured with a rubber band When my son was six years old, he came home from his Japanese Montessori pre-school one day saying that…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Professor Ingrid Piller The 50th Anniversary Australia-Japan Joint Business Conference was held in Sydney this week. As Australia-Japan Foundation (AJF) grant holders, Professor Ingrid Piller and…
Ad for ‘English for travel’ classes ( www.gaba.co.jp/ad) A few weeks ago, my family and I went to Jim Thompson’s special sales at BITEC in Bang Na, a short train…
Does bilingualism cause temper tantrums? (Source: ehow.com) My husband and I are raising our children (aged five and two) to be trilingual in English (my L1), Spanish (my husband’s L1)…