- be able to wield the language tools I have picked up throughout class effectively and demonstrate ways of aptly expressing wants and needs, illustrating conflicts, and coming to conclusions
- navigate some of the subtle cultural nuances of Japanese respect, politeness, and courtesy through the script to be able to better understand proper conduct in formal situations
- how to edit together several loosely connected scenes into a coherent narrative
- understand the potential conflicts that may arise between native Japanese speakers and those who have some linguistic capability but limited cultural finesse
- practice my ability to tell a story (i.e. a dialogue with a plot) in Japanese
- hone my skill in speaking (and acting) in Japanese
- come to understand business customs in Japan
Communication means more than rote memorization of vocab and trying to string sentences together using learned grammar. Humans are social animals. In my opinion, face-to-face speech is the purest form of communication there is-- every other way leaves something to be desired. Video calling removes you from the other person as a physical being, making them a mere talking head. You can't sense their body language, their presence towards you, etc. Writing is great for storing information and giving you a chance to plan out your words, but speaking "off the cuff" about something feels a lot more genuine, in my opinion, as beautiful as some peoples' prose may be. I would rather perform a play in front of the class than do a video presentation, as I feel that a live performance would give the class a better feel for how I "communicate," my physicality, the ability to hear my voice unobstructed, things that you might miss unless you have just the right camera angle and just the right cut. I don't want to just regurgitate a script on screen, I want to get inside these characters, as simple as they may be. I want people to recognize what it takes to really get what you mean across. In other words, I don't want anything to be lost in translation from the script to the screen.
Hello Wukong san,
ReplyDeleteOne of your classmates wrote that it is also very important to choose the right angle and shots to convey a message. I agree that live performance is one of the most powerful way of communication. However, at the same time, movies are also very powerful, I think.
Good luck for your podcast presentation!
TA_S
TA_S,
DeleteYes, movies are indeed very powerful. A capable director will make you see the scene exactly as he wants you to see it, feel exactly as he wants you to feel. They can give you a very intimate view into a conversation between two actors. I respect the medium immensely, but I do think there is a degree of authenticity that a live performance has that a movie lacks, even for the most down-to-Earth, CGI-lacking movies.
Thanks for your well wishes!
べん ラーナー
Sun さん こんにちは
ReplyDeleteI like your point of live performance does a better job in conveying message to audience than other means of communication. It really make sense. For this project, taking a video has its advantage. Audiences that are not able to watch your live performance can now see you on the screen. Also, you are not limited to places,sets and props compared to only perform on the stage.
頑張てください！Cannot wait to see your video!
Gu
グさん、
DeleteVery true, very salient points you're making here. Given the breadth of my video and its importance in strengthening Sino-American relations, I can see why it's important to prioritize viewing availability over proximity to the actors. And yes, on stage there are great limitations as to what one can physically show without a Broadway budget. A video podcast is truly the best medium for this kind of project.
ラーナー
Interesting perspective. Although I somewhat agree with your view of live communication, I feel that it is really only a "pure" form of communication if nothing is previously practiced; if it's entirely and completely spontaneous. For example if I just approached you and started speaking Japanese without practicing my lines before hand. With that, performing a play is almost like performing it through a podcast in that you've practiced your lines over and over. In this sense, I feel a live performance would be as pure (or not) as if you were performing it through a podcast.
ReplyDeleteBut, with live performance, you do have room for error and improvisation. So in this sense, I do agree with you. However, I believe you are still essentially "removing" the purity of live communication if you know and rehearsed you lines ahead of time.
Yes, if I truly wanted to demonstrate language in its most natural form, I would improvise some Japanese conversation on the spot in front of everybody. Or, I could use a hidden camera to record an actual businessman conversing with his Japanese boss. However, since we're trying to convey a message with this project, some sacrifices to the "purity" of the performance must be made. It's difficult enough to speak 日本語 off the cuff; to do so while trying to steer the conversation towards a certain theme or have it make a point would be impossible. することができませんよ!. Thus, a script is essential. I understand where you're coming from, though.
Deleteラーナー
Ben,
ReplyDeleteI really like your idea of having an "off the cuff" performance. Surely, such an assignment would fully engage our language skills, and even help us reflect on what elements of our thus-far-elementary proficiency might be missing. One benefit our our "premeditated" video recording, however, is that we are being compelled to draw from unfamiliar vocabulary and perhaps, some of the more difficult grammar we have recently been introduced to. Though spontaneous performance is surely important, I do wonder if it would have us relying on simpler grammar and vocabulary.
Jon
Jonny,
DeleteWhen I talked about speaking spontaneously, I was trying to compare the planning involved in writing something down as opposed to speaking openly. However, I was trying to say that performing a scripted play is more "real" than performing a scripted video podcast, simply because of the actual presence of the actors before the audience. I completely agree that if we were simply given an outline and told to fill in the blanks by ourselves, we would make things simpler so that we'd be able to get the words out. It would probably take about 15x as long to say what we would have said if we'd planned it out beforehand.
Ben