#he has innate fluency in all spoken languages including dead languages

[bucketofchum]

Okay so what's funny is that Atumu has basically nearly an encyclopedic knowledge of EVERYTHING. Like every metal's melting point. The hardness of all minerals. The conductivity of every material. Like hard physical knowledge like that. He has fuckin ENCYCLOPEDIC KNOWLEDGE OF IT ALL.

but what he has ZERO or NEGATIVE knowledge on is any social intelligence. Like he does NOT know how to interact with people, or how people think.

I think if IQ charts look like this:

Atumu would probably be like 250. Like slightly beyond the realm of human capabilities.

But if emotional intelligence (EQ) is on the same gaussian scale, Atumu would be in the fucking SINGLE DIGITS. He is so socially incompetent it literally impedes his life's daily functioning.

I think a lot of how his brain works overlaps with people on the autism spectrum, so it's fair if people see him as severely autistic. But I don't necessarily want to call him that bc Atumu is so non-human that I'm not trying to claim this identity for him and its implications. If you read him as autistic, then go ahead. I do think he reads strongly as autistic, but that is 100% unintentional.

So I made this post as a follow-up post to my "Atumu doesn't know how to drive" post. Essentially, i think Atumu would be able to construct his own functioning car from scratch. Literally probably able to make one from assorted scrap metal pieces. It might not function in the same way that cars we know would, but if you tell him what the goal is (a metal vehicle that moves when you press a foot lever and stops when you press another lever, and it runs by a combustion engine), he would be able to make something that meets those criteria. AND FUNCTIONS. But he literally never learned how to drive or bike. (Traffic laws? Oh my god. Laws go into the realm of things Atumu knows NOTHING about)

His knowledge of EVERYTHING is basically out of this world except for basic ass things that everyone knows. Homeboy can probably create his own proton accelerator, but can't tell if someone is trying to be his friend.

[omoi-no-hoka]

Hello! I'm sorry if this has been asked before, but how do you become proficient at handling conversations in Japanese/handling grammar very well? I read your post on the JLPT, and it addressed issues I have been tip toe-ing around--indeed, passive actions such as listening or reading are easier than the active ones. How did you go about that? Did you write a bunch of sentences daily? Did you have a conversation partner? What would you rec. to someone who lives outside Japan? Thank you!

This is an excellent question, and one that I get asked a lot irl by Japanese people in particular. Let’s talk about gaining fluency and the ways we can go about it!

How to Gain Fluency in Japanese (and Other Languages)

Speaking Fluency versus Accuracy

Language proficiency is divided into two separate categories:

Fluency: Although there are no widely agreed-upon definitions or measures of language fluency, someone is typically said to be fluent if their use of the language appears fluid, or natural, coherent, and easy as opposed to slow, halting use. In other words, fluency is often described as the ability to produce language on demand and be understood.

Accuracy: Correctness of language use, especially grammatical correctness and word choice.

By the above definitions, a “fluent” speaker may make grammatical mistakes, but they can speak without having to stop and think too much about conjugations, word choice, etc.

An “accurate” speaker can speak with nearly zero grammatical/word choice mistakes. However, the speed of their utterances isn’t generally taken into account, so it could take an “accurate” person twice as long to articulate the same idea as a “fluent” person. 

Ideally, you need to strike a good balance between these two qualities when speaking. I have a boss, God bless him, who is 100% fluency and 0% accuracy and…man is it hard to understand what he’s saying sometimes, but he can generally get his point across just barely. I have another coworker who is 100% accuracy and takes about 3 minutes to form a sentence because he wants it to be perfect. 

How to Increase Speaking/Writing Accuracy

First, let’s talk about the easiest thing to improve, which is accuracy. It’s also (in my opinion) the least fun thing to improve, because it means grammar books and vocabulary memorization. 

You can only use a language accurately if you know what is correct and what is incorrect, and you can only learn that by studying grammar and vocabulary (or if you’re a native speaker and picked it up innately, you lucky bastard).

So here’s some things you can do to increase your accuracy:

For example, if you’re having a hard time using the passive, you need to review that part of your textbook and find some exercises to drill it into your head. 

Say the correct thing aloud. Lots. Sometimes I just walk around my apartment and narrate everything I see/do like a crazy person, but that’s good practice. 

Write example sentences using the grammar you’re struggling with and say them aloud too. 

There’s a bunch of cool apps that connect you with native speakers that can help correct you too! I used to use HelloTalk, I think. 

If you’re a creative soul, when I was studying for the JLPT, I took 1 grammar point and 5 vocabulary words from my JLPT study books and used them to write a 2-page short story about the adventures of ネギ, a stray black cat that smelled like green onions because she napped in an onion field. Then I had a Japanese friend check it over for me and mark mistakes. I hand-wrote them to improve my abysmal handwriting at the same time. It was really fun! I sometimes think about doing it again just for funsies.

When someone corrects you, don’t feel like your entire life is over and you’re a failure and you’ll never get it right haha. I’ve seen people fall into that hopeless mindset, and that’s just nonsense. It’s a good opportunity for learning and nothing more! Say the correct thing you’ve just been taught out loud, then write it down if you can. And, if possible, find a chance to use it in conversation asap.

How to Increase Speaking/Writing Fluency

Now this is the hard one. Especially for those learners who do not have native speakers nearby. 

I’m going to be dead honest with you. I started formally studying Japanese at uni, and I had a Japanese roommate/best friend since year one. I had a 4.0 GPA in my Japanese classes (and only my Japanese classes lol) because I was and still am a MEGA NERD about it. 

...But it wasn’t until I studied abroad in Japan my 4th year of uni that I gained fluency. 

There are a lot of things that can hold us back from fluency. An interesting thing I’ve noted is that Foreign Language is perhaps the only subject in which a student’s personality can directly affect their progress. To gain fluency, you have to go forth and speak, but if you are naturally a shy person, that is going to hinder you. If you are the kind of person who takes mistakes/failures poorly, you will be less likely to take risks and try to say harder sentences. In contrast, you can get full marks in math regardless of the above personality traits. 

I’m not saying that you have to be an outgoing explosion of a human being in order to gain fluency. But what I am saying is that you have to be willing to seek out conversations, and you have to be willing to take chances. Get out of your comfort zone. Use that new word you picked up the other day. Try to explain something that is difficult for you. 

My problem was that, while I lived with a native speaker who would have happily taught me anything I asked, her English proficiency was much higher than my Japanese proficiency. And when I struggled to say something in Japanese, I’d fall back onto English. And when she told me something I didn’t understand in Japanese, she’d repeat it in English instead of Japanese, because that was easier for us both. The same thing happened when I was in Japanese class as well. I always had the assurance that I could fall back on English.

But when I elected to study abroad in Japan for 3 months, I knew that this was my big chance. So on the host family form in the “other requests” area, I wrote that I specifically wanted a host family that could not speak English. I was setting fire to my crutches, and I was scared but excited to see them burn. 

By the end of my three months in Japan, I had gone from “Chotto matte kudasai” and needing a minute to form my reply, to “Okay, yeah I see that movie too and I liked the action scenes, but I didn’t care for the story little.” (I’ve underlined mistakes that I would have made in Japanese, to show you that I sacrificed some accuracy to obtain higher fluency.)

So, in short, the easiest and quickest way to increase your spoken fluency is to throw away all the crutches you can and use the language as much as possible. Every single day. Even if you’re just having an imaginary conversation with yourself! And like I said, there are a bunch of cool apps that connect you with Japanese people who want to learn English and you can do language exchanges with them. I had a lot of fun with those in the past. 

As for increasing writing fluency...well. That’s a tough question with Japanese, because I can type Japanese at like 100 wpm, but my Japanese handwriting fluency is at a 10/100. I can read and type at the level of a native Japanese high school student, but I can only write the kanji that 7 year old can write. That’s no exaggeration.

The big reason for that dichotomy is that my work is paper-free. 100% of my work is done on screen, so about the only time I have to write out something is when I’m filling out a form, which includes my name (katakana), address, and maybe occupation. 

If you want to increase your Japanese handwriting speed, just keep on writing. Write those little short stories about ネギ like I did, or find some writing prompts (I just started a side-blog with writing prompts yesterday btw) or keep a little diary. Make opportunities to write. 

How to Have Nice Handwriting in Japanese

Okay, full disclaimer: I am the absolute LAST person qualified to talk about this, because I have awful handwriting in Japanese. 

Unless you have prior experience with a different language that uses kanji, or you lack the keen eye of an artist, you will likely struggle to develop neat handwriting. 

Personally, I really like using this app called Japanese Kanji Sensei. It’s on Android (not sure about iOS), and if you pay just a few bucks you can make your own kanji sets and stuff. Anyways, it will show you how to write the characters prettily. It gives you a good frame of reference for what nice, pencil/pen-written characters (versus calligraphy characters). It has hiragana and katakana on it too!

I get a stylus and write out the characters on this app for the muscle memory, so my hands remember the sensation of writing a certain character. (The muscle memory is different if you only use your fingertip.) This muscle memory and repetition is how Japanese people learn how to internalize kanji as well. I really enjoy and recommend this app. I’m sure that there are others out there like it too.

Summary

TL;DR: Review your textbooks, take risks, use every resource available or make your own, and just have fun with it! 💗

[variforme]

taejun’s character is heavily rooted in the theme of  PROPHECY , with him serving as the almost “guardian” / forefront protective figure and fulfilling the metaphoric role of the prophet / visionary in this connected canon, i thought this to be a fitting first ( and pivotal ) addition to the repertoire of abilities unique to him ; figuratively, it serves a role in initiating the “breakdown” of barriers between individuals, human or otherwise. 

as there are a number of variations in how other media portray this ability in terms of how it is named, to how it manifests and operates ( a lot of which i’d like to deviate from and adjust to suit my muse and universe ) , my detailing of  LIVE / ADAPTIVE TRANSLATION  will based on my own original lore , and the outline of this is as follows .   PLEASE GIVE THIS A LIKE IF YOU’VE READ THROUGH IT  ! 

***  DO NOT COPY / REBLOG / REPOST OR DRAW INSPIRATION FROM THIS :  I WILL NOT TOLERATE THEFT .

↳  001 :  an important preface : this ability is  DIFFERENT  to that of omnilingualism , which entails innate or “instant” fluency in all languages , and should not be confused with it . rather , the ability of adaptive translation serves as a reciprocal ( non-physical ) automatic live translation “device” through which those engaged in conversation with taejun will be able to understand him  REGARDLESS  of any prior knowledge in korean ( or essentially whichever language he may be communicating in ; korean is simply his native tongue and thus, is the language he is most inclined to / comfortable in using ) and VICE VERSA :  he’d be able to understand what is being said to him REGARDLESS of his own prior knowledge ( or lack thereof ) in the language being spoken to him. with those being the basic mechanics, the following explanation will detail the specifics to further expand on this.  

↳  002 :  TAEJUN WILL STILL BE SPEAKING IN HIS NATIVE TONGUE ;  however , to the person listening to him ,  it will sound as though he is speaking to them in  their first language . as an example, if a native mandarin speaker were to hear taejun addressing them , they will simply hear his reply in their native language despite the fact that he’d be speaking in korean in actuality, and otherwise THINK NOTHING UNUSUAL OF THE CONVERSATION ( than perhaps simply be mistaken that taejun is a fluent speaker of mandarin ) . the conversation will still flow seamlessly , as though it is occurring between two ( or more , depending on how many are involved ) native / fluent speakers of the language(s) involved in the conversation . therefore , from this , it will effectively mitigate barriers to communication between taejun and people who are native in other languages in the context of written interactions / threads on this blog .

↳  003 :  from taejun’s perspective , he is also capable of overhearing and understanding whatever is being said in a near vicinity , regardless of what language is being spoken ; the range over which this can occur ties in with his superhuman ability of ENHANCED HEARING , and can span to a large room or even a small building . this also covers NON-SPOKEN language such as sign language or mouthing of words , which he will be able to interpret on sight if he is close enough to be able to see the person who is communicating in those languages, and written information, which is detailed further below . 

↳  004 :   there is a small element of  TELEPATHIC / RECEPTIVE UNDERSTANDING  involved in this ability to account for synonyms and homonyms , instances where there is a lack of equivalent direct translation ( e.g. language-specific slang terms ) in the languages involved and the underlying intent behind the words being said ; as such,  LIE / TRUTH DETECTION  is an ability that links in with this and comes into play . this is  NOT  “traditional” telepathy and is more subdued / restricted, as taejun is only able to “read into” no more detail than the context around the words being spoken / communicated to him ( i.e. upon detection of a verbally spoken lie, he could gauge that the other person was lying for the purpose  to conceal their identity , in other words, the reasoning behind it, or connected motives , such as what their real name is , but no more than that ; he would  NOT  be able to directly obtain extensive details from the person by these means, such as their job history, where they came from, their involvement with another specific person, etc. unless  DIRECTLY CONNECTED  and of enough significance to what has been spoken aloud ) .  this part also factors in  WRITTEN EXCERPTS , in which a similar process is carried out by receptive understanding of the text presented front of him by means of sight or physically touching the object involved, such as a book or a mobile device ; a stronger understanding is far more likely if taejun is in physical contact with the object than by sight alone.

↳  005 :  THIS ABILITY ALSO EXTENDS TO  WRITTEN INFORMATION , though at present ( late 2017 - early 2018 ) taejun is only capable of interpreting SMALL AMOUNTS of text at a time ( such as street signs, text messages, menus ) rather than full passages of text in books or articles , which require more practice and concentration . this includes interpreting of dead languages such as latin, which are no longer commonly spoken. with regards to  HANDWRITTEN  excerpts, legibility / clearness of handwriting also factors into how much can be interpreted / understood.