A Fun-Filled Day Free of Tasks

Yesterday was a Saturday, and I had a relaxing day doing things I truly enjoy. Normally, on weekends, I run a few errands, such as getting a haircut, shopping for groceries, or having a part-time helper clean my apartment. However, yesterday I had the whole day free of tasks, which really felt like heaven.

Having gone to bed rather late the previous night, I didn’t wake up until around 9 in the morning. I spent some time watching YouTube videos while trying to get fully awake. I came across a video of the American singer-songwriter Charlie Puth’s rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, performed at the Super Bowl in Los Angeles last Sunday. Being fond of the melody of the American national anthem, I pressed play out of curiosity, not knowing what to expect as I hadn’t even heard of a Charlie Puth before.

Within a few seconds I was blown away by his performance. Before singing the actual lyrics, he hummed for a fleeting moment as he tinkled a few notes on his electric keyboard to set the tone for the song. It had a gospel feel to it, somewhat reminiscent of the organ intro to Whitney Houston’s Jesus Loves Me. Those few bars were immediately refreshing, resulting in me getting goose bumps all over.

The rest of the song was equally enchanting. Charlie Puth’s mostly soothing yet at times powerful and explosive voice blended seamlessly with his mellow organ music, along with the voices of a gospel choir and a cameo appearance by legendary saxophonist Kenny G, made for a perfect mix of delightful audio sensations for viewers.

Aside from this outstanding music, what made the performance visually striking was the flyover of US Air Force fighter jets that was choreographed to occur at the exact moment the song ended. It was something miraculous to behold, leaving an indelible impression.

I read on the Internet afterward that Charlie Puth sang the Star-Spangled Banner partly as a tribute to late Whitney Houston’s Super Bowl performance in 1991, largely considered the best rendition ever of the US national anthem by a professional singer. I’ve watched that performance countless times and fully agree that her voice is truly unparalleled and impeccable—it will likely remain unbeaten for decades to come—though this time Charlie did a fantastic job that will go down in history in its own right.

In addition to Whitney and Charlie, singer and guitarist Chris Stapleton also delivered a truly memorable performance at the Super Bowl a few years ago, as I discovered in a related YouTube video. I can’t seem to get tired of watching and comparing various versions of this historical song by different artists, and will surely continue checking out new ones as they get posted on social media.

After having fun watching YouTube, I went to a cafe in my neighborhood for a change of scene, where I did some reading over a cup of delicious latte. I started reading a gay-themed comic series by Japanese manga artist Gengoroh Tagame titled Our Colorful Days.

I am reading the French version, bought during my previous trip to Paris. Inside, there are numerous words and phrases I don’t know, mainly in colloquial language. I mark them with a highlighter so I can look them up later. Although I currently learn French vocabulary mainly from my Larousse French-Japanese dictionary, comic books can serve as a great supplement for my study, especially as it relates to learning informal spoken language.

I ended the day by watching the latest Japanese movie titled This is I on Netflix, based on the autobiography by the transgender comedian Ai Haruna. It was a part-drama, part-musical film, interspersed with famous Japanese pop tunes from the 80s and 90s. Having grown up listening to those songs, the movie brought back some old memories from the past, filling me with nostalgia.

This is I is a heart-warming story revolved around the lives and struggles of Ai and Koji Wada, the doctor who performed her gender-affirming surgery, showcasing exquisite acting by 18-year-old Haruki Mochizuki in his movie debut. As most of the story takes place in Osaka, the dialogue is mainly in the Kansai dialect of Japanese, adding a distinct flavor to the drama. I’m glad I watched it with the original Japanese audio in that sense.

What a fun-filled day yesterday turned out to be! It enabled me to fully recharge my batteries in preparation for the upcoming work week. My profession and study surely give me a sense of purpose, but it needs to be balanced with relaxation and entertainment for me to have a well-rounded life. I hope to stay mentally active for the coming decades by continuing to draw new inspirations from books, cinema, and the arts of all kinds.

No Secret Other than Studying, Exposure, and Practice!

Image: いらすとや

I am currently reading a book which deals with the topic of how tiny nations like Denmark, Luxembourg, and Singapore have become successful and affluent over the past few decades by deploying strategic macroeconomic policies, developing industries best suited to today’s global economic needs, and cultivating a population that continues to retrain and reinvent itself. 

Japan used to be highly prosperous and was the envy of many in the world economy, but its advantages have waned significantly during the past 30 years or so. Nowadays, it’s placed behind dozens of nations in global rankings of competitiveness. It’s reminiscent of the trajectory taken by Argentina, which used to be one of the wealthiest nations at the beginning of the 20th century, but has since declined into mediocrity due to bad politics and severe mismanagement of its economy.

Since I don’t know much about economic theories, I can only approach this issue from the perspective of language learning. One of the common denominators allowing the aforementioned tiny economies to thrive and prosper is a workforce that’s well versed in the English language.

I don’t believe there is anything inherently superior about English in relation to other major languages such as French and Chinese, but since it has effectively attained the status of the sole lingua franca of international commerce, proficiency in the English language has become a must in terms of being on top of the latest trends in the world economy and thereby staying competitive.

In terms of outstanding English proficiency, Nordic countries like Denmark, Norway, and Sweden come to mind, along with the Benelux countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. Curious about their advanced levels in English, I asked ChatGPT about what makes people of these nations so fluent in English, and it came back with some very informative answers.

According to ChatGPT, people in these countries have more ample opportunity to consume native English content—such as TV series, movies, and novels—compared to people in countries like France, Spain, and Italy. In the former, Hollywood films are normally released in original audio with subtitles, whereas in the latter, they tend to be dubbed into the local tongue in cinemas. Constant exposure to native content allows viewers to develop familiarity with vocabulary and sentence patterns of English, leading them to consume even more content.

In another comparison, schools in the Netherlands tend to start teaching English as a subject at a younger age than in Japan, and their class hours are consistently more numerous from elementary school all the way to university level. Without even considering the linguistic proximity of the Dutch language to English, the sheer amount of English education they receive affords Dutch students an overwhelming advantage over their Japanese peers.

Much closer to home, Singapore offers schoolchildren an immersive environment in which they learn English and effectively grow up as its native speakers despite coming from households that speak Chinese, Malay or Tamil. In Singapore’s education system, English is the medium of instruction in all subjects except for the Mother Tongue Language class administered according to each student’s ethnic background.

In my opinion, most ordinary Singaporeans speak English in a form that deviates from what’s considered standard in British or American English, committing tiny grammar errors here and there, but that doesn’t prevent them from being effective communicators in English, allowing them to convey their ideas clearly to their interlocutors from around the world. This, combined with their knowledge of their respective mother tongues, put them at a great advantage in international commerce.

The success in developing fluency in English—or any other language—ultimately comes down to the amount of exposure, studying, and practice. Ignoring this rule and hoping to become fluent by some miracle is simply a pipe dream that will never come to fruition. I need to remind myself of this fact whenever I feel lost in my language-learning journey.