Quote:
Originally Posted by Stacmon
Thanks for another reply  .
The reason I created this new thread is that I noticed my questions were going really off topic. I appreciated all of your (and other posters') responses but they often had nothing to do with (anymore) where the lowest cost of living was anymore. I actually made the new thread because I thought it was the "right" thing to do, given my new questions  .
One of the reasons I'm putting effort into picking a good place is because there are several things about me that would make me a good candidate. My concern is that if I don't put any thought into this at all, put three random places in my preferences and actually get one of them, I will be kicking myself for not having thought it through more. This would particularly be a problem if I want to extend for 2-3 years!
Regarding the "standardized" version of Japanese spoken in Tokyo, which other areas in the country are close to the standard language?
The reason I am focusing in on this particular question is because of my experience in Germany. I stayed in Souther Bavaria, where the Bavarian dialect of German was spoken among the natives there. The problem was, it differed so much from High German (the written and business language) that I had few opportunities to really practice with locals and instead spoke more often with German students from outside the area.
I heard that in Okinawa it is particularly bad because the language they speak there is not even a dialect, but separate all together.
Is the situation I described above similar in Japan? Can I expect very different dialects if I'm in Hokkaido, Shikoku, Kyushu or in Kyoto that barely resemble the standard Tokyo/written language?
Thanks |
Well, I understand your reasoning now, but I am still worried you will get your hopes up to getting anywhere near your top choices. Of the many former JETS I know, only one was placed in one of his top three choices. The biggest mistake I saw people make was NOT putting "big city" as their choice in terms of type of area to live. People thought "I don't want to live in Tokyo, so I better not put 'big city'" and what happened is they were sent to population 1000-sized tiny towns.
Because of the shogunate system many years ago, Japan was a very divided country, and sections were seperate from each other (and from the outside world) Because of that, Japan has MANY dialects. So textbook Japanese is close to how they talk in Tokyo, but even Tokyo is influenced by the Yokohama dialect. Areas around there (Chiba, Kanagawa, Saitama) are going to be close to that dialect, but there are always dialects. As you get further north, the Aomori dialect is difficult for non-Aomori people to understand.
People talk about Kansai dialect, but there is no one "Kansai dialect". The way people in Osaka speak is slightly different from Kobe, and slightly different from Kyoto. Where I lived was between Osaka and Kobe, and the dialect there was a sort of combination of the two dialects.
That all being said, everyone pretty much knows and can speak "standard" polite Japanese, and your colleagues in the school you work in will more than likely use the standard way when talking with you.
I have never been to Okinawa, but I understand they speak Japanese, and also a very different pidgin language that is not easy for a non-native to understand.