Englishpod101 improvments

[untmdsprt]

non-american forms of english will be covered, it's just a matter of time.

oh, the next season of Nihongo Dojo will feature an australian co-host with naomi-san. and naomi herself has some pretty serious australian vowels going on, so i reckon the aussies out there will feel right at home.

by the way, i used reckon deliberately here as a goodwill gesture.
(americans don't use that word anymore, lol. but it's a great word.)

I beg to differ on the use of reckon. I live in Tennessee and most still use the word.

[untmdsprt]

Why aren't the British or Australians creating their own podcasts for people? Why not have a podcast entirely in English for everyone who's wanting to learn it?

How about having a Japanese podcast for Kansai-ben? Or the other dialects of Japanese?

Personally it's understandable of why Peter-san and the rest are narrowing these podcasts they way they are. First of all, they're based in Tokyo, and Peter-san is American. He's naturally going to do what he grew up with. Second, what if Peter-san was in Korea instead of Japan? Wouldn't he be doing the same thing but have English/Korean?

With podcast technology out there, why don't more people do it to fill these voids?


Umm, why is this topic in Japanesepod101? Shouldn't this be moved to the Englishpod site? All of us here on this site would rather listen to native Japanese regardless what form of English we speak.

[josiah]

EDIT:Deleted

[Javizy]

I know it's a bad show, but it's nothing to get insulted about. There's always Neighbours or that film Chopper, and surely you yourself would be a better resource than any of the culture classes they might make.

[josiah]

EDIT: Deleted

[Ulver_684]

I know it's a bad show, but it's nothing to get insulted about. There's always Neighbours or that film Chopper, and surely you yourself would be a better resource than any of the culture classes they might make.

Javizy-san!

Thank you for making us analyze and realize more about the topic!

[kc8ufv]

I think whatever dialect they learn and wherever they plan on going, if a Japanese person can speak flawless English, dialect issues will become fairly moot. Obviously differences in grammar and spelling patterns deserve special attention, but to achieve native level speaking proficiency, you're ultimately going to have to spend some time there. Even the term 'British English' covers five countries, and the accents and language usage from all the regions in between annoy all the people from all the other places, so you can't really win. I'm sure the crew has some ideas to give people a fighting chance though.

American English covers 50 states, (and some might argue 10 provinces,) with varying pronunciations within all but the smallest of those. It definitely covers a significantly greater land area than British English. At least the spelling is consistent, though.

Now, I will admit, I do occasionally alter my spelling on some mailing lists to fit with the location of the majority of users.

[Jason]

I was just listening to an audio podcast from englishpod101, and it struck me how American it was!! I mean I know that its meant to be American, buuuuut.... as an Australian, it seems unfair!! English isn't just American its a world language!!!

Since you're here, you're obviously a Japanese learner. Learning a language is hard enough as it is. What do you think the effect on your learning would be if JPod was done in a mishmash of Tokyo-ben, Okinawa-ben, Osaka-ben, Aomori-ben, Kyuushu-ben, and Fukuouka-ben? Sure, you'd be exposed to the wonderful variety of the language, but don't you think it would confuse the heck out of you and slow down your learning? I'm not trying to downplay the importance of other kinds of English. I'm glad there are plans to cover them. But, and this is especially true for beginners and less experienced learners, it's vital that the lesson are consistent in what they teach. You can't remain consistent if you're constantly throwing in aspects of other variations of the language. You'll overwhelm the learners. Once you have a firm grip on the fundamentals of the language you can then expand and learn about all the variations in detail. Why do you think it's taken so long for JPod to put out business Japanese lessons just recently in the new upper intermediate lessons? 敬語 is like a whole other language! Integrity of the lessons is also important here. The teachers need to know what they're talking about. Peter and the other current English native teachers and voice actors are American (I think). It's only natural they would focus on teaching what they know best.

I think it's interesting to point out here that everyone here is from different areas of the world but seems to be communicating in English just fine.

How about having a Japanese podcast for Kansai-ben? Or the other dialects of Japanese?

Dialects are certainly fun. But I think it would sound odd to a native speaker for a non-native to speak with a pronounced dialect unless they had been in the area a while. Wouldn't you find it odd if on meeting a Japanese person they greeted you with "howdy!" in a strong Southern drawl? Personally, I think it would be kinda cute, but that's beside the point. ほらな。もしうちは大阪弁で喋ったら、日本人にちょっと変に思われるかもしれへんで。

[Belton]

Hey Sindy-san I'm Irish! :D so was Oscar (and G.B. Shaw, and Joyce and other major "English" writers) (no offence taken BTW)

Is having regional variations of English on EnglishPod important? , probably not really.
What is more important is plain simple accurate International English as a solid foundation to explore other possibilities.

I think Epod is trying to follow the winning formula of giving a more real everyday English. And given that their experience is America it's only natural that that is what ends up in the scripts. I'm also fairly sure that if you poled Japanese on the type of English they want America would come out ahead of Canada, Britain and Australia.
And in the end the Japanese audience's opinion, as the target audience, is the only important one after all.
And although my personal preference isn't the American vernacular, it will be understood in more places than British or Australian vernacular.

If part of the purpose of Epod is to prepare Japanese for going to English speaking countries then at some point Australian and "British", (possibly Scottish and Irish dialects as well) could be added as being the other major destinations for Japanese after North America.
And from my own experiences talking to a Japanese friend, listening to accents can be very difficult. I don't have much of an accent but it was different enough from American to confuse at times.

I still think EnglishPod is a misnomer and should have been AmericaPod101 (no flames please only joking)

And there are other podcasts out there. The British council and the BBC have large online English lessons, as you might expect from government agencies. Some of it very interesting even for native speakers of English. (I put links on the Epod forums)

I have a huge sense of deja-vue about this thread...

[Ulver_684]

Hey Sindy-san I'm Irish! so was Oscar (and G.B. Shaw, and Joyce and other major "English" writers) (no offence taken BTW)

Is having regional variations of English on EnglishPod important? , probably not really.
What is more important is plain simple accurate International English as a solid foundation to explore other possibilities.

I think Epod is trying to follow the winning formula of giving a more real everyday English. And given that their experience is America it's only natural that that is what ends up in the scripts. I'm also fairly sure that if you poled Japanese on the type of English they want America would come out ahead of Canada, Britain and Australia.
And in the end the Japanese audience's opinion, as the target audience, is the only important one after all.
And although my personal preference isn't the American vernacular, it will be understood in more places than British or Australian vernacular.

If part of the purpose of Epod is to prepare Japanese for going to English speaking countries then at some point Australian and "British", (possibly Scottish and Irish dialects as well) could be added as being the other major destinations for Japanese after North America.
And from my own experiences talking to a Japanese friend, listening to accents can be very difficult. I don't have much of an accent but it was different enough from American to confuse at times.

I still think EnglishPod is a misnomer and should have been AmericaPod101 (no flames please only joking)

And there are other podcasts out there. The British council and the BBC have large online English lessons, as you might expect from government agencies. Some of it very interesting even for native speakers of English. (I put links on the Epod forums)

I have a huge sense of deja-vue about this thread...

Belton-san!

Thank you for the corrections. I'm sorry for calling you both English men!

[Ulver_684]

JP101!

When are we going to see changes on EP101? There are alot of Japanese people out there learning English and why not combine JP101 and EP101 together. Es un desperdicio! Please. Well thank you for your time

[rozebudxo4364]

Don't forget that Japanese people need to develop an English accent as they're learning English. If you throw in people with different accents, it might become confusing. It's like how those of us can't learn all of the Japanese dialects at once. Don't forget that they can only take it one step at a time.

[teague_505161]

Absolutely essential to offer standard English in addition to the important American variant which is already available.