Last Blog Post of 2023 - Watched a Lot of Netflix!

Yesterday morning, I tried to write a journal entry as I normally do on Saturdays, but I couldn’t think of anything to write about, so I gave up after only writing a few lines, and opted instead for watching some Netflix. I watched the first four episodes of the series “Grace and Frankie” and the movie “The Craigslist Killer.”

I’ve subscribed to Netflix for several years, so of course I’ve known that “Grace and Frankie” existed, but for some reason I haven’t gotten around to watching it until now. I started viewing it mainly for the purpose of learning colloquial English, thinking that it must be a light-hearted comedy series that’s easy enough for me to understand.

As it turned out, “Grace and Frankie” was a bit of a challenge for me - not only did the dialog contain many Americanisms that were too vernacular or location-specific, but it also introduced too many family members into the first few episodes, leaving me scrambling to keep track of who’s who, which I found very frustrating.

Having said that, Jane Fonda and Martin Sheen are great in this show. Fonda was 77 years old when it was first released, but she still looks energetic and youthful for her age. As for Sheen, this is the first time I’ve seen him play a gay character. His performances look genuine enough - he actually kisses his boyfriend character several times - and he doesn’t go over the top by portraying his gayness in a caricatured way, demonstrating his refined skill as an actor, and his fundamental respect for LGBTQ+ people, which is something I truly appreciate as a gay man.

The movie “The Craigslist Killer” is a made-for-television movie that was released in 2011, starring Jake McDorman, Agnes Bruckner, and William Baldwin. This is based on the true story of the serial killer Philip Markoff, who was a medical student in the Boston area when he committed his multiple crimes, including murders and robberies. Compared with “Grace and Frankie,” I found this movie much easier to follow, as the story was quite straightforward. It’s a film of decent enough quality, and an excellent material for me to study English with, so I’m quite happy I watched it.

After dinner, I went back to studying French, where I learned three pages’ worth of words from my French dictionary. As of now I’m about four percent in, so I’m definitely making good progress. Vocabulary constitutes a big part of what makes up a person’s proficiency in a foreign language, so I’m determined to keep learning until I reach the end of this dictionary.

No Illusions About Learning Vocabulary

This morning, quite miraculously, I was able to wake up early enough to write this journal entry. Although I know that I’ll get sleepy during the day, I’m still glad that I get to be a bit more productive this morning than usual. I’ve just poured myself a cup of decaf coffee to put my brain to working mode.

It’s been a few days since I started learning French vocabulary in earnest. This time, I’m using a French-Chinese dictionary to learn French words, though I didn’t buy it specifically for the purpose of learning both French and Chinese; rather, it’s because its Chinese translations are written in plain language that’s easy for me to understand, compared to other French-English or French-French dictionaries. 

I’m trying to learn words from this dictionary at the pace of three pages per day. Given that there are 765 pages in total, it will take me 255 days to finish learning all the entries in this dictionary. It’s roughly a year, assuming that I’ll take a break of two days out of each week. It certainly sounds like a daunting task, but I’m confident that I can accomplish it, given that I’ve done similar things in the past.

By the way, this time, I’m not using flash cards to memorize words the way I used to in the past. In fact, I’m not even trying to commit the entries to memory - instead, I simply pore over them meticulously and make sure I understand what each word means. I read through the same segment three times in total, twice on Day 1 and once on Day 2, to deepen my impression.

Aside from that, I pay close attention to how each word is pronounced. Whenever I’m not sure what a certain word sounds like, I immediately look it up in the dictionary or on the YouGlish website, and try to imitate it on my own. I’ve never tried this method in my previous vocabulary learning projects; it’s something that’s been made possible by modern technology, for which I’m immensely grateful.

I don’t hold any illusions about how quickly I can improve my French to a highly proficient level. Basic grammar and pronunciation can be learned in a relatively short period of time, but acquiring an extensive vocabulary is definitely a long-term undertaking, requiring months, if not years, of commitment. I strive to hold a realistic yet hopeful view and continue to tackle my daily learning tasks calmly and surely.

Watch This Video to Improve Your English!

Yesterday was Christmas Eve, and I had a quiet relaxing day, mostly spent at home. I woke up around 9 a.m., had a shower, and wrote a journal entry in English, which took me around two hours. As usual, I had my journal entry proofread by ChatGPT in both American and British English. Luckily, not so many errors were detected this time - I just made one glaring mistake involving the usage of a definite article near the end of my journal entry.

Once again, I noticed that my writing gets fewer corrections in British English than American, demonstrating that my written English is more closely aligned with the former compared to the latter. I honestly don’t know why it’s the case, because since I was very young I’ve always preferred American English, mainly due to the way it sounds and my general feeling of adoration for American pop culture, such as music and movies.

To this day, I still think that the U.S. has the coolest and most cutting-edge culture in the world, despite its numerous problems like gun violence and drug addiction. The good thing is, with the high-speed Internet and streaming services like Netflix and Spotify, there is more than enough American content that I can enjoy here in Singapore without visiting the States.

Given the recent strong exchange rate of the US Dollar, it’s gotten considerably more expensive to travel to America. I think I can make do with virtually enjoying American culture through streaming services for the time being.

Speaking of American English, last night I watched the YouTube interview of a Japanese woman called Hana who currently resides on the East Coast of the U.S. with her American husband. What’s remarkable about Hana is that she speaks English with native fluency with no accent, despite being born and raised in Japan. I actually mentioned this video in my previous blog entry, but it's definitely worth revisiting, so please indulge me:

In the interview, she talks about her experience of growing up in the countryside where there are very few foreigners around. She studied English through virtual means, such as watching American shows with English subtitles and posting her writings on language-exchange websites to have them amended and learn from her mistakes. 

Whenever she came across words that she didn’t know, she would stop the video, look them up in the dictionary, and then resume watching. She also mentions that she talked to herself a lot to improve her ability to speak English.

That certainly sounds like a lot of work, but she somehow persisted in her efforts and eventually became fluent in English. Chika, the interviewer, who is herself bilingual in English and Japanese, remarked that Hana’s English sounds more native-like than hers in the sense that she uses expressions that only Americans would know, showcasing her in-depth knowledge of vernacular American speech.

Hana responded that it might be due to the enormous amounts of YouTube that she watches daily. She constantly incorporates new expressions into her knowledge and tries them out at the earliest opportunity she gets.

There are definitely a thing or two that I can learn from her experiences in studying English. It’s just the question of whether to put them into practice to give my English that extra boost it needs to elevate it to a new level.

My Language Learning Strategy, Explained

Yesterday, I had a very relaxing Saturday, which gave me ample opportunity to plot out the strategy for learning French to an advanced level. Depending on your level of proficiency, you should focus on different aspects of language learning, which I summarize as the following:

At the beginner’s level, you should focus on the three main pillars that constitute the foundation of your language skills, which are grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary. A beginner’s textbook with audio clips is an ideal material for learning the basics. Grammar and pronunciation are particularly important at this stage - for grammar, you can train your skills through a few grammar drills books; as for pronunciation, repeating words and sentences several times with the help of an IC recorder is key.

At the intermediate level, the three main pillars previously mentioned are still important, but the emphasis will gradually shift to building up a robust vocabulary. There are only so many words that you can learn from a beginner’s textbook, so you need to make a deliberate effort to learn and memorize words from vocabulary lists and dictionaries. You can begin with a basic vocabulary list with 1,000 words or so - it’s important that the quantity is small enough for you to learn within a month or two, lest you get fatigued and burn out before you finish the list.

When you’re done with the first vocabulary book, you can progress onto something more advanced, but once again, you shouldn’t overestimate your learning capacity. You should find a compact-sized dictionary for intermediate learners that can be handled within a few months. Apart from normal dictionaries, you can also study dictionaries of slang and idioms, depending on your needs.

By the way, when it comes to memorizing words, I used to be a stickler for creating flashcards, either by hand or by computer software. However, over the past few years, I’ve become more neutral about the use of flashcards, and I no longer view it as a must for vocabulary building. 

Using flashcards for memorization can indeed be very effective, but it’s also extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive. If you’d rather avoid that cumbersome process, it’s perfectly fine if you just read through the dictionary and pore over the entries meticulously. Regardless of which method you use, the key to success is repetition, so you should go over the same entries multiple times before moving on to the next chunk of words.

As you progress from the intermediate to advanced level, your daily consumption of native content, such as novels, shows, and movies in your target language, should gradually increase. When you have acquired a large enough vocabulary, you should be able to read books without constantly reaching for the dictionary. You should definitely read extensively to get the feel of how the language is actually used by native speakers.

In addition to enjoying native content, at the advanced level, you should start practicing to express yourself in your target language, whether it is in spoken words or written form. The way things stand now, with the advent of ChatGPT, I believe that practicing to write is much more effective than practicing to speak, in the sense that the former is easier to proofread and correct than the latter, and you can therefore learn from your mistakes in a much more reliable and straightforward manner.

If you want to progress from C1 to C2 level as per the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), this practice of expressing yourself in your target language is crucial. However, having said that, this is a significant undertaking that requires years of practice, so it’s definitely not a must for everyone.

In my own case, I’m not aiming for fluency in the French language, so I’ll probably skip the final step. I’d be very content if I could read books and watch movies in French. Now, enough talk and strategizing. It’s time to get down to brass tacks of studying the language of Rousseau.

Ready to Learn French Vocabulary!

For the past few months, I’ve been learning French from a grammar-based textbook that I bought in Japan in September. I’ve been using it to primarily brush up on my grammar, but since it comes with downloadable audio clips, I’ve been practicing pronunciation with it, too. It took me a long while, but I’m finally approaching the end of this textbook, and am ready to do something new to bring my French up to a new level.

Based on my experience of learning several foreign languages, at beginner-to-intermediate levels, your focus should be on studying grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary. Now that I have covered grammar and pronunciation with my current textbook, the next logical step for me is to study vocabulary, so one of these days, I’m thinking of buying a simple dictionary with which to learn numerous new words and phrases in French.

My method of studying vocabulary is relatively simple - just open the dictionary, copy the words onto flashcards, and memorize them. Unlike what’s suggested by the latest linguistic theories on second language acquisition, typically, I don’t try to learn words in context, but rather opt for learning them mechanically in alphabetical order, covering the dictionary from beginning to end.

While I understand that this might not be the most scientific and efficient method, I can vouch for its efficacy to a certain extent, not least because this is how I built up the bulk of my vocabulary in English during my freshman and sophomore years in college. By the end of the second year, my vocabulary had grown robust enough for me to read through English-language novels without feeling the urge to reach for the dictionary.

My current goal is to become able to read French novels and understand French movies with French subtitles. I don’t aim to become fluent in spoken French yet, as it’s going to be a significant undertaking in its own right, requiring years of practice.

By the way, I don’t have a specific time frame as to how long I want to keep up my studies of French before learning another language. I guess the simple answer would be that I’ll keep learning French until I get completely fatigued, which is normally a good sign that I should switch to something else. The same goes for my English studies.

Practicing Both Accents Now

It was a relatively uneventful day at the office yesterday, which is actually a good thing. It probably has to do with the fact that all three of us who handle our clients’ orders are back at work. I was able to perform my tasks at a calm pace without feeling stressed, which felt fantastic for a change.

During lunch break, I went home to prepare dinner for the upcoming two days. This time, I chose pork, ginger, garlic, mushroom, black fungus, and a Chinese vegetable that I don’t know the name of as the ingredients. I cut them into thin slices and stored them in the fridge.

When I came back in the evening, I stir-fried them together in a frying pan. Typically, I cook my meat and vegetables on a low heat, as I previously learned in a book that heating food at low temperatures for an extended period of time allows the flavors of the ingredients to fully come out.

As expected, yesterday’s dinner turned out delicious, and what’s more, I’m going to cook the exact same dish again tonight. Although my repertoire is still very limited, I’m proud to say that my cooking skills have been improving slowly but surely.

Yesterday evening after work, I stopped by The Coffee Bean near the office to study some English. I reviewed my previous journal entry and compared it to the proofread versions in American and British English generated by ChatGPT.

I not only copied my preferred proofread version into my notebook, but also practiced reading the different versions aloud using both American and British accents. Since I’m less experienced with a British accent compared to American, I searched for sample sound clips on the YouGlish website whenever I felt uncertain about how to pronounce certain words and phrases in British English.

When I was having my English lesson last night after dinner, my Canadian teacher, Sean, commended me for the improvement I’ve made in my British accent. It was hugely encouraging. My pronunciation practice is obviously paying off, and I’d like to continue perfecting both accents.

Still Having a Cold

My cold symptoms are still persisting, and I spent most of yesterday lying in bed, trying to recuperate. Fortunately, after a good night’s sleep, now my head is feeling a bit less fuzzy and my muscle pains have somewhat subsided.

Speaking of muscle pains, on the very rare occasions where I feel extreme tightness of muscles around my shoulders due to stress, I visit a massage parlor for a full-body massage. It does make my muscles feel much more relaxed, but I don’t think I should go there this time as I believe that my muscle pains are triggered by my cold instead of stress.

If I went ahead to get a massage, it might even make my condition worse, by helping the pathogen circulate throughout my body. The best thing to do at a time like this is stay as inactive as you can and focus on resting.

By the way, it’s my personal belief that if you don’t have much of an appetite when you’re unwell, you shouldn’t force yourself to eat anything. I’m not a doctor, so I could very well be wrong on this, but as a practitioner of intermittent fasting for nearly five years, I believe that being in a state of hunger can do your body a whole lot of good, like clearing the fogginess of your head and facilitating production of the growth hormone.

Since I didn’t feel up to doing anything mentally taxing yesterday, apart from writing a journal entry in the morning, I didn’t do any studying. Instead, I watched a few YouTube videos on learning how to practice English pronunciation.

My favorite YouTubers who specialize in teaching English are Antonio Parlati from Italy and Inna from Belarus, both of whom speak English with remarkable fluency with virtually zero accent, despite being born and raised in non-English speaking environments. I value their learning tips from a non-native speaker’s perspective.

In terms of methodology, both of them mention the shadowing technique, which is obviously the most go-to method for perfecting your accent. Apart from that, Antonio also stresses the importance of recording your own voice and listening to it to identify areas for improvement in your accent.

I have tried the shadowing technique before, but have been reluctant to record my own voice as I find it extremely embarrassing. But to achieve my dream of speaking English with no accent, maybe I really need to pluck up the courage to take that additional step. Facing and overcoming your fears is the secret to attaining success in any endeavor.

Having a Cold Today

Since yesterday morning, I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather. I must be having a cold - my muscles are mildly aching, and my head feels a bit fuzzy. I took it easy at the office and performed my tasks a little more slowly than usual, so that I wouldn’t make a mistake. Given my physical condition, I obtained permission from my boss to work from home in the afternoon. Thankfully, my work-from-home setup functioned properly, so there wasn’t much impact on my work quality.

Typically, on Friday, I do three major housework tasks - to vacuum my apartment, to do the dishes, and to wash the laundry. Fortunately, I rely on machines to complete all these things, so all I need to do is wake up a bit earlier than usual and make the necessary arrangements in the morning for the machines to work successfully.

Take vacuuming, for example. To make it easier for my Roomba, the robotic vacuum cleaner, to move around in the apartment, I put away several pieces of furniture. While I am at the office, I operate the Roomba remotely and vacuum the apartment twice in a row. When I go home during lunch break, I put my pieces of furniture back into their original positions. It’s a rather tiring process, but it’s still a lot less work than if I had to do the vacuuming myself.

Yesterday, despite me feeling a bit unwell, I completed all these housework tasks, so there are no additional things to do around the house over the weekend. I will focus on recuperating and refrain from doing anything strenuous, including working out at the gym. I’m thinking of reading The New Yorker magazine that I bought a few days ago. The issue I bought features articles on Jim Jordan and Xi Jinping, both of whom I find fascinating.

Other than that, I’m thinking of studying some French using the textbook I bought in Japan. This textbook focuses primarily on grammar, without much emphasis on vocabulary. Since it comes with complimentary MP3 sound files of recordings by a native speaker, it’s an excellent material with which to practice French pronunciation. I’m roughly halfway through this textbook now; when I finish it, I’m thinking of learning vocabulary in earnest.

My goal is to become able to read novels and enjoy movies in French without feeling the urge to look up words in the dictionary. While I’m fully aware that my French knowledge does nothing to boost my professional career, understanding French does enrich my life immensely, so I’m determined to keep on learning.

Came Back from Melbourne

Last night, I flew back to Singapore from my week-long vacation in Melbourne, Australia. The flight was about seven hours long, and it was mostly smooth and turbulence-free. I flew with Qantas, Australia’s most popular airline, both to and from Melbourne. The service level was quite decent, and I will definitely consider flying with them again.

One thing I liked about Qantas was that they provide an in-flight high-speed wifi service free of charge while flying in Australia’s airspace, which is a significant amount of time given the massive land mass of this country. During the flight, I got a WhatsApp message from my new friend Chris, whom I got acquainted with in Melbourne this time. It warmed my heart to hear from him, and I shot back a message to him immediately.

Another thing I liked was that their fold-out table comes with an ergonomically designed metal flap against which I can place a smartphone or tablet, allowing me to view the screen at a comfortable angle. With this feature, I had quite a pleasant experience reading from my mobile Kindle and watching Netflix shows on my iPad.

Speaking of reading, during my stay in Melbourne, I read an interesting book by Shion Kabasawa (樺沢紫苑 ), a Japanese psychiatrist. The book, titled 脳のパフォーマンスを最大まで引き出す 神・時間術, which translates to Miraculous Time Management Method to Optimize Your Brain Performance, is about how to use your brain power in the healthiest and most effective way within the 24-hour time frame of the day.

According to Kabasawa, the several hours after you wake up in the morning is the most precious time of the day because your brain is the freshest, and should therefore be reserved for creative activities, such as writing and studying. From this perspective, it makes more sense for me to write my journal entry in English in the morning, as it’s quite an exacting activity that requires substantial brain power and creativity.

Another thing that I found interesting was the significant roles that the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems play, in terms of switching your body between activity mode and rest mode. When you wake up in the morning with sleepy eyes, you’re still in rest mode, and your parasympathetic nervous system is dominant. It gradually gives way to activity mode as your sympathetic nervous system gains dominance. The opposite occurs when you go to bed at night.

In the book, Kabasawa mentions that one relatively easy way to switch your body from rest to activity mode is to take a hot shower right after you wake up in the morning. A hot shower helps you raise your body temperature by a few degrees, facilitating the activation of the sympathetic nervous system.

Following his advice, this morning, I hit the shower right after I woke up, and immediately afterward, I began writing this journal entry before doing anything else. This journal entry is already stretching longer than my usual entries, so maybe this method works, though it needs to be tested several times to verify its efficacy.

Now that I’m concluding today’s journal entry, I need to get to the daunting tasks of unpacking my suitcases and washing my dirty laundry from the Melbourne trip. Luckily, today is Sunday, so I can rest for one day before returning to work tomorrow.

Melbourne, Here I Come!

This evening, I am flying to Melbourne, Australia for a week-long vacation. My plane is taking off at 11:40 p.m., so I need to get to the airport at least two hours in advance, at 9:40 p.m. I’ve always been a slow packer, and typically, I pack until the very last minute. However, this time, I want to pack well in advance for a change, and get to the airport earlier. I’ve always liked to hang around at Singapore’s Changi Airport, where there are numerous nice shops to browse. I’ll probably chill at Starbucks at some point, doing some reading while savoring a latte.

By the way, I won’t be renting a car during this trip, unlike my previous two trips to Melbourne. Initially, I wanted to drive to the Twelve Apostles via Great Ocean Road, but unfortunately, no car was available for renting for the dates I wanted. So, I’ve decided to participate in a guided bus tour to the Twelve Apostles instead. While the bus tour won’t allow me to enjoy the sights at my own leisurely pace, it does free me up from the burden of driving, which is really good, given that I’m not that skilled at driving. Aside from the Twelve Apostles, I’ll take another bus tour to the Yarra Valley to visit a few wineries. Although I’m not exactly an oenophile, I do like red wine, so I’m looking forward to the winery visit.

On top of these bus trips, while in Melbourne I’m planning to visit a gigantic suburban shopping mall to purchase some clothes. It’ll be a good opportunity for me to improve my wardrobe, so I might stay there for an extended period of time to engage in some serious shopping. Sure, I could do the same thing here in Singapore, but somehow I never get to do it over the weekends as I prefer to avoid crowds. Plus, other priorities always get in the way, like grocery shopping and visits to bookstores. I don’t know if I’ll ever become a good dresser, but I won’t become one unless I try, so we’ll see how it goes at this shopping mall.

Apples of Different Sizes and Shapes

Yesterday, we had a particularly busy and stressful day at the office, since there were only three of us to cover the desk. To make things worse, our systems didn’t work very well, so we wasted quite a bit of time trying to accomplish some very simple tasks.

I had to shorten my lunch break from the usual two hours to just one to handle the increased workload, and stayed overtime for an extra hour just to make sure that I’ve completed all my tasks. Fortunately, no major errors occurred yesterday.

I usually go to the nearest coffee shop after work to relax and do some reading, but I went straight home last night since it was already late. I cooked penne for dinner, which turned out quite delicious. I’ll cook the same thing for dinner tonight, since I cut the meat and vegetables for two portions yesterday.

While preparing dinner, I caught an episode of an old Japanese television series, named ふぞろいの林檎たち Fuzoroi No Ringo Tachi, which translates as Apples of Different Sizes and Shapes in English. Season 1 of the show was aired in 1983, when I was nine years old.

Back then, I couldn’t watch the entire series because I missed the live broadcast of an episode here and there, but I remembered it being very interesting. Last night I watched the final episode of Season 1, and at one point I was moved to tears.

Once again, I was impressed by its excellent quality, whether it be the convincing performance of the actors, the intriguing plot, or the messages conveyed to viewers. It made me want to watch the season from beginning to end.

Although I went to bed by midnight, I somehow woke up at around 4:30 a.m., so I applied for the visa for Australia in preparation for my upcoming trip to Melbourne commencing this Saturday. The application procedure was not difficult at all, and I was granted a tourist visa in a matter of a few minutes. Now that I have arranged my plane ticket, hotel reservation, travel insurance and visa, I’m almost fully prepared for the trip. I am eagerly anticipating this journey.

Watched House of Cards Again

Yesterday evening after work, I headed to the Starbucks at the Bugis Junction shopping mall near my apartment, where I studied some English.

As usual, I transcribed my previous journal entry into my notebook by hand. What I transcribe is not my original writing, but the version that’s been proofread by ChatGPT using natural English. This act of transcribing by hand enables me to identify areas for improvement in my own writing far more effectively than if I just glanced through the proofread version.

When I am done transcribing, I commit all amendments to memory by reading the proofread version a few more times. I stop only when I can reproduce the proofread version perfectly by merely looking at my original version. The whole process takes me at least an hour.

Afterward, I went upstairs to the gym and had a workout. It had been a while since my previous gym visit, so I avoided any strenuous workout for fear that my body wouldn’t be able to cope. I walked on the treadmill while watching an episode of House of Cards, a Netflix show.

Speaking of which, for me personally, House of Cards is a great show with which to study spoken English. Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright, who play the two central characters, speak with remarkable enunciation that can serve as a model for my own speech. I’m currently watching Season 3, so I still have a long way to go before I finish.

Playing DVDs on My Laptop

Yesterday, I stayed inside my apartment all day long. I didn’t get any studying done, but that’s okay with me.

After months if not years of hesitation, I finally installed the VLC Media Player on my MacBook. The purpose of this installation is to make the DVD drive on my laptop compatible with multiple region codes. It used to be that I could only watch DVDs of one region code on my laptop due to copyright restrictions, despite my extensive library of DVDs originating from different regions.

I Googled the info, found the software, watched a few introductory videos on YouTube, and finally downloaded it on my computer. Initially, I was a bit concerned that this software could be harmful to my computer, but it seems to be running just fine.

I’ve developed my DVD collection mainly since I migrated to Singapore 21 years ago. I’ve bought them primarily for the purpose of learning foreign languages, including English, French, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin, and Cantonese, but I own a few discs in Japanese, too.

I could play DVDs on my existing DVD player hooked to my TV, but I wouldn’t be able to listen to the audio with my earphones, because neither my TV nor my DVD player has an earphone socket. Now that I can play them on my MacBook without worrying about region codes, and listen to the audio much more clearly with earphones or wireless earbuds, I’m ready to watch them in earnest for much more effective language learning.

Granted, we are living in the age of streaming services, so it might sound a bit anachronistic that I’ve gone to all this trouble just to be able to watch DVDs. But that’s not entirely the point. Firstly, I really don’t want my entire DVD collection to go to waste, just because I have Netflix. Secondly, there are numerous movies I possess on DVD that are not yet available on streaming platforms. I believe that streaming and DVDs can complement each other as alternative sources of entertainment, and I will continue watching Netflix and DVDs as the fancy takes me.

Need to Practice to Think

Last night, before going to sleep, I started to watch a YouTube video by an English teacher on the topic of how to speak English continuously without getting stuck. Although I was intrigued by the subject, the video was around an hour and a half long, and I fell asleep right in the middle before I could hear any practical advice from the speaker.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that I’m far from fluent in English, and I would love to be able to speak continuously without pausing to think about what to say next.

On this front, I am currently facing a few difficulties, which I’d like to explore today.

First, I still tend to get confused with a few grammatical points in English, especially those related to the usage of the definite and indefinite articles, and the singular and plural forms of nouns, which do not occur in Japanese, my native tongue. I constantly ask myself whether I’m saying a particular sentence correctly, often fighting the urge to consult the dictionary, which inevitably slows down my speech.

Second, while I do possess an extensive vocabulary in the form of passive knowledge, when it comes to expressing myself, it takes time for me to access that knowledge and find the right words to say, especially when I’m trying to use advanced vocabulary.

However, I believe that the most important factor that hinders my spoken fluency is the fact that I am lazy by nature in terms of thinking, and tend to save brain energy by not forming strong opinions about most things in life. Even when I’m speaking in Japanese with my dad, I often find myself talking in short, choppy sentences, and jumping mid-sentence from one topic to another in a completely whimsical and haphazard way.

Granted, I talk to my dad on the phone mainly to relax, relieve stress, or joke around, so there’s no need to try to speak coherently, but it definitely doesn’t make for good speaking practice.

While it’s tiring and impractical for me to feel strongly about everything that happens around me, going forward, I might consider doing some practice to think about certain issues - for example, by expressing how I feel after reading a newspaper article, instead of hurrying on to read the next one in a mechanical and unthinking manner.

By the way, some academics say that in order for you to be fluent in a foreign language, you need to be fluent in your mother tongue to begin with, claiming that your proficiency in your second language can never exceed that of your first language. According to this theory, I need to practice speaking in Japanese first.

However, I don’t quite agree with this assertion. Since my aim is to become fluent in English, I believe I can jump straight into speaking practice in English, without taking the circuitous route via Japanese. As a case in point, here's an interview on YouTube with a Japanese lady who was born and raised in Japan, and yet became more fluent in English than Japanese by dint of diligent and intensive learning. She now speaks English like a typical American. 

At the end of the day, it’s a great amount of hard work that counts when it comes to developing fluency in a foreign language. I’ll continue putting in the effort to achieve my ultimate goal.

Read Foreign Affairs Magazine

Today marks the third anniversary of my mother’s passing away. I dreamed about her last night, but unfortunately forgot what the dream was about when I woke up this morning. I still think about my mom often and talk about her with my dad every time we speak on the phone. While I don’t really believe in concepts like God, heaven, and afterlife, I’d like to believe that the Almighty is taking very good care of her now in the land of eternal happiness.

Yesterday afternoon, I visited the hair salon to have my hair cut, bleached and dyed. I opted for the same shade of bluish-green color for my hair dye as last time, and as expected, my hair came out just fantastic after the coloring process.

Although the green hue of my hair will keep fading and eventually turn brown in a manner not unlike autumn leaves, I actually enjoy witnessing this gradual transition. In an attempt to make my hair stay green a bit longer, I apply sunscreen to my hair and use lukewarm water to wash it every day.

Afterward, I headed to the Tanjong Pagar neighborhood to go through my weekend routine of grocery shopping and reading at Starbucks over a decaf latte. This time, I read the latest issue of Foreign Affairs magazine.

Despite the fact that I’m interested in world news, yesterday was my first time reading this respectable publication. Previously, I was a bit intimidated by the thickness of the magazine, fearing I wouldn’t be able to finish reading it.

Yesterday, I read several articles on what’s happening lately in Russia and China with a great deal of interest and fascination. To my pleasant surprise, they were not too difficult or abstract to read through - in fact, they were extremely well-written with clear structure and relatively plain vocabulary. While a copy of “Foreign Affairs” retails around SGD 30, I believe it’s well worth the price, and I look forward to buying its next issue.

By the way, I read books, magazines, and newspapers both in Japanese and English. I can read Japanese much faster than English because I’m much more proficient in the former. Nevertheless, I still love reading in English as I get to not only enjoy the content of the article, but also appreciate the beauty of the English language along the way.

In my view, when it comes to reading, what really matters is not so much the number of books you read as the amount of knowledge or enjoyment you derive from them. As such, I shouldn’t feel as though I’m being less productive while reading in English compared to Japanese. Moving forward, maybe I can read more in English in relation to Japanese to optimize my overall reading experience.

Continuing My Writing Practice

Last night, despite it being Friday evening, I didn’t meet anyone for dinner or drinks, and spent my time all by myself. 

After finishing work, I made my way to The Coffee Bean in the Raffles City Shopping Centre, where I continued to read a Japanese book on cognitive biases while drinking a cup of coffee. The book deals with some cognitive biases commonly observed in our daily discourse, such as over-generalization, circular reasoning, and ad hominem attacks. While being very informative, the book is not too difficult to read through, so I’m enjoying it.

I’ve been interested in the subject of critical thinking for many years, but I haven’t gotten around to studying it until now. By reading this book, I hope to get the most basic understanding of how to think in a methodical and organized way, and to avoid being trapped by the most common types of fallacies, such as lies, falsehoods, and fake news.

Having said that, given my very busy life as a working professional, it’s not realistic for me to spend too much time studying the subject. I intend to read only a few very elementary books in this field and be done with it, because there’s a whole bunch of other subjects I want to study, like Japanese history, artificial intelligence, mathematics, and foreign languages.

For me, the most critical subject for me to learn will always be the English language, and in particular to practice writing in English, like I’m doing now. During the last year, I’ve been devoting a great deal of time to this writing practice. My efforts have paid off to some extent, as manifested in my improved fluency in both written and spoken English.

In my view, the ability to speak articulately is really the reflection of your ability to think, making my journal-writing all the more important. I will continue to spend a chunk of my time on this practice until I’m satisfied with my level of fluency.

Kyoto, Je T'aime

My one-week stay in Japan passed incredibly quickly, and I returned to Singapore this past Sunday morning. 

I spent the last two days of my Japan trip in Kyoto, which was fantastic. Kyoto is Japan’s ancient capital, so it has numerous historical sites to visit, such as temples, shrines and museums. Because I was only there for two and a half days, it was impossible for me to pack all the important sightseeing spots into my travel plan. Consequently, I limited my itinerary to only a few sites, and visited them in a leisurely manner.

Luckily, my best friend, Mari, currently resides in Kyoto, and we met up a few times for afternoon tea, dinner, and late night drinks during my stay in this beautiful city. It was great to catch up after not seeing each other for more than two decades.

Back in the day, Mari and I used to work together as colleagues in Tokyo. Mari was born and raised in Kyoto, but went to Tokyo for work when she was around 28. By the time I met her, she had already lived in Tokyo for a while, and had completely gotten rid of her Kyoto accent, conversing with me like a typical Tokyo girl.

However, after she got married, she moved back to Kyoto with her husband. It didn’t take her long to get her original accent back, and now she speaks with a full-on Kyoto accent with a touch of urban sophistication.

Hearing Mari speak with her original accent made me realize how much time has passed since we parted ways, during which we have gone through very different experiences in our lives. Nevertheless, it was nice to see her still happy and healthy.

By the way, when I was speaking with Mari, I adjusted my own accent in my attempt to sound more like a local. Much to my relief, she didn’t make fun of my pathetic Kyoto-ish accent, and we carried on our conversation. Had I been able to stay in the city a bit longer, I believe I would have mastered the Kyoto dialect, the sound of which I absolutely love.

Overall, I enjoyed my stay in Kyoto immensely, and hope to travel to the city again soon. Before my next journey, perhaps I can read up a bit on Japanese history, so that I can gain a deeper appreciation for the historical significance of each site I visit.

The Finnish Success Model

On Friday evening, although I was a bit late arriving at Changi Airport, I still managed to complete my check-in and boarded the plane bound for Tokyo. During the flight, I did some reading and watched some Netflix, but I couldn’t get much sleep. That being said, it was a smooth and enjoyable flight.

The book I read on the plane was on the subject of how Finnish people live and work, especially in comparison with Japanese people, and it was a very interesting observation.

According to the author, Tokiko Horiuchi, what’s striking about the way Finnish people work is their relentless pursuit for efficiency, to the extent that most employees finish their work by 4 p.m., which stands in stark contrast to Japanese workers, who often hang around at the office much later, after having spent numerous unproductive hours during the day.

I was equally impressed by how egalitarian Finnish society is, and in a good way. Take education, for example. In Finland, even if you go to an average public school, you’re pretty much guaranteed a decent level of education, which equips you with the skills necessary to perform competently at work, such as critical thinking skills.

Unlike in countries like Japan, Singapore, and the U.S., people don’t attach that much importance to which university you’ve attended. In fact, Finland has consistently ranked high in the widely recognized PISA Global Competence Assessment, which is held every three years.

The book also mentions other aspects of Finnish life, such as easy access to housing, medical care, not to mention beautiful nature, all of which are the envies of most other developed countries. Granted, Finland is not a perfect society, but there is a great deal that we can all learn from its success model. 

I’ve never been to Finland before, but reading about it has made me want to understand the country even better. I think I have a pretty good idea what my next travel destination would be.

What's Good for the Goose is Good for the Gander

Over the last few days, I’ve been watching the latest Netflix series “Who’s Erin Carter?”. The series revolves around the lives of a British woman named Erin Carter and her daughter, Harper, in Barcelona, Spain. One day, when they are shopping at a local supermarket, they encounter a robbery, where Erin somehow gets into a physical fight with one of the robbers. This starts a whole saga of bizarre incidents that turn their lives upside down. But that’s not all - it turns out that Erin and Harper have a complicated past, as it becomes clear in the ensuing episodes.

As of last night, I’ve watched five out of the seven episodes that comprise this series. While I find the story a bit too ridiculous, it is action-packed and undeniably gripping and entertaining, so I think I’ll watch the remaining two episodes. Since I’m flying to Japan tonight for vacation, maybe I can watch them on the plane to Tokyo to make the flight time pass more quickly.

By the way, as this story involves a British expat community in Barcelona, most of the dialogues are in British English, with a few lines in Spanish and Catalan interspersed here and there. One thing I like about Netflix is that they have numerous British shows in their lineup as well as American ones, providing me with ample opportunities to train my ear to comprehend both variations of English.

While the two accents sound very different from each other, once you get enough exposure, you will soon get used to both of them, to the point where you stop caring whether it’s British or American. As the saying goes, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander, so even if you watch a British show, it can still help you enhance your knowledge of American English, and vice versa.

Ultimately, what truly matters is that a show has interesting content, so I’ll just keep an open mind and select whatever show that catches my fancy, regardless of whether it hails from Britain or America.

Podcasts to Help Me Fall Asleep

For some reason, this morning, I woke up at 6, a bit earlier than usual. I listened to a CNN news podcast before getting out of bed. I usually listen to news podcasts at night right after getting into bed. I close my eyes in the hope of falling asleep right in the middle of the podcast. My golden rule is to listen to a podcast in English - something that’s plain and not too exciting, mainly an American news program - so that I can get to sleep quickly, which happens almost without fail.

On the other hand, if I listen to something in Japanese, it seems to awaken my brain, instead of helping me sleep. I guess it’s because my comprehension level of Japanese is much better than that of English, making my brain respond too well and directly to the content of the podcast without feeling fatigued. English seems to present the right amount of challenge for me to fall asleep in the quickest way possible.

By the way, last night, as an experiment, I quickened the playback speed of the news podcast by 25 percent, thinking it might challenge and tire my brain even faster. It turned out to be counterproductive. Although I could understand the content just as well as if I had played it back at normal speed, the added intensity seemed to have excited my brain, and it took me much longer than usual to get to sleep.

Apart from English, I listen to podcasts in French and Chinese every now and then, just to brush up on my listening skills in these languages. My favorites are the news podcasts by NHK, Japan’s public broadcaster. Their content is superb, written with well-chosen words, and read by a native speaker with a clear and accurate pronunciation.

Although French and Chinese have been put on the back burner as I prioritize my English studies, I still love these languages, and would like to resume studying them whenever I decide to take a short break from English in the future.

Still a Fan of The Economist

This Friday evening, I am flying to Japan for a week-long vacation. I’ll spend the first five days in my hometown of Maebashi to keep company with my dad, and the remaining two days in Kyoto for sightseeing. In between, if the schedule allows, I might visit Tokyo for a short excursion as well, but that remains to be seen.

In the past, whenever I got back to Japan on vacation, I felt kind of obligated to stay with my family in my hometown. However, recently, I’ve changed my thinking, and have begun to travel elsewhere in Japan to make the most of my stay in the country.

I’m looking forward to my upcoming trip to Kyoto, which I haven’t visited for 30 years and only have a vague memory of. Aside from visiting its famous temples, I’m interested in exploring its numerous streets lined with old yet stylish architecture, while stopping by cafes and bookstores here and there.

Although yesterday was a Sunday, I didn’t do a lot of things and had a relaxing day. Like I customarily do on weekends, I studied English by writing a journal entry and having it proofread by ChatGPT. I managed to write a long entry, but I ended up spending too much time on it, and felt exhausted afterward.

By the way, yesterday I wrote my journal while listening to Bossa Nova on Spotify, thinking I could be more productive with light music in the background. However, maybe it was counterproductive after all. I’ve noticed that when I’m at home with no one around, I can write much faster without the music, like I’m doing today. Music can only come in handy when I need to shut out the ambient noise in places like cafes with other people around.

In the evening, I headed to the nearby gym for a workout on a treadmill and stopped by the Starbucks in the same shopping mall afterward, where I read a few articles in the latest issue of The Economist magazine.

As usual, the magazine was very insightful and interesting. In the past, I used to read it more regularly, mainly to study English, and even had a subscription. As I found it to be a bit pricey, I eventually canceled my subscription, but I still remain a fan and buy a copy every now and then.

Learning from the Korean Success Model

Yesterday afternoon, I headed to a nearby beauty salon to have my eyebrows trimmed. Usually, I get my eyebrows trimmed once a month or so. I happen to have thick eyebrows, and if I left them growing, they would start to look rather unsightly within just a few weeks, so regular trimming is necessary. Unfortunately, the Indian lady who normally trims my eyebrows was unavailable yesterday, so a Chinese lady took over in her absence. Luckily, she was also skillful, so I was happy with the final result.

After I was finished with the eyebrow trimming, I went to the hair salon to get a haircut. As it happened, my hairstylist, Yuya, was out of town on vacation, so I had another hairstylist by the name of Naru cut my hair. Naru had done my hair once before, so I already knew that I was in good hands. As expected, my new haircut came out just nice.

One outstanding thing about Naru is that, while he is a native of Fukuoka, Japan, he is fluent in Korean as well as Japanese. He’s learned to speak Korean over the past few years, by such means as watching YouTube videos on elementary Korean and attending a language school. It also helped that geographically, Fukuoka is closer to Seoul than Tokyo, allowing him to travel to Korea numerous times, sometimes as frequently as once a month.

He became such a fan of Korea that he decided to live there long-term. Eventually, he worked at a local hair salon in Seoul for a year, which gave him ample opportunity to learn about the latest hairstyling trends in a city that serves as a touchstone for fashion for the rest of Asia. Undoubtedly, an overseas working experience like this is an invaluable asset for an aspiring professional like him, and I’m convinced that he has a bright future ahead of him.

Speaking of Korea, over the past two decades, it has undeniably consolidated its status as an entertainment powerhouse of Asia, in a manner that cannot be matched by Japan or China. This is manifested by the prevalence of K-pop on the music charts, as well as the dominance of Korean series that are listed among the most widely watched shows on streaming platforms like Netflix.

While I’m not a big fan of Korean pop culture, I find this phenomenon quite fascinating. I think Japan can learn a great deal from the Korean success model in the arena of entertainment, so that it can strengthen its own soft power. Having such an influence can generate more favorable views toward Japan in the minds of people around the world, so Japan should really take this matter more seriously.

Voted in the Presidential Election

Yesterday afternoon, I went to the polling station in my neighborhood and voted in the presidential election of Singapore. I was expecting to wait in a long line, but there were only a couple of voters ahead of me, so I could finish casting my vote within just a few minutes. This was the first time that I’ve voted in an election since becoming a Singaporean citizen, so it had a special significance for me.

In this election, we had three candidates running for president, all of whom had impressive qualifications. The night before the vote, I watched the online presidential forum, where the three candidates took turns to express their views about such topics as how they intend to protect the financial reserves of Singapore, and how they will function as the symbol of unity among the people of different races and religions that make up the population of this city-state.

It was not exactly a presidential debate, as each of them simply articulated their views within a certain time frame, and there were no back-and-forth discussions between the candidates. But it was just as well - the entire forum was conducted in a highly civilized and mutually respectful manner, a far cry from the barbaric and disgraceful demeanor exhibited by Donald Trump in his debate with Joe Biden in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Having watched the forum, I once again felt grateful to be living in this country.

In light of what’s been happening lately in other countries, I don’t take democracy for granted. It is something to be fought for, and I am glad to have participated in the democratic process. I will continue to faithfully play my part by voting in future elections.

After casting my vote, I walked around a bit in the neighborhood, and stepped into the nearest Starbucks. While sipping a cup of coffee, I read a Japanese book that discusses the factors that explain the disparity among different municipalities in Japan in terms of the longevity of their residents: certain cities clearly appear to provide more conducive environments for long and healthy life compared to others.

The author posits that having infrastructures that facilitate healthy living, such as the availability of parks with walking paths and supermarkets with fresh produce, is key. It was also intriguing to know the influence that poverty can have on the future health of a young kid - apparently, it can have a life-long impact as their choices including dietary and book-reading are shaped for their entire lifespan during these critical formative years. Unfortunately, those who spend their infancy in poverty tend to suffer higher incidences of developing diabetes and dementia when they get older.

I am 49 going on 50 this year. At this juncture of my life, my preferences and habits are largely set for life. Nevertheless, as I intend to live out the rest of my life healthy and happy, I need to keep up the physical exercise and continue to stay away from junk food.