Cultural Interviews with Japanese-Speaking Professionals
Cultural Interviews with Japanese-Speaking Executives is a compilation of brief video clips in which Japanese and Japanese-speaking executives discuss cultural issues that are of interest to North Americans. The objective of the interviews is three-fold: First, provide practical cultural information about business topics. The opinions represent those of real people. At times they are even contradictory, but they are designed to be a catalyst for discussion, not a definitive answer about some stereotype. Second, the interviews provide vocabulary in areas within a professional setting. The interviews present diverse vocabulary within the context of each individual's comments. Third, these materials provide non-native speakers of Japanese with multiple examples of natural speech, illustrating the way that speakers really talk.
JOSHU (Japanese Online Self-Help Utility) means "assistant", or "tutor" in Japanese, which is what this website attempts to be to anyone interested in learning the Japanese language. JOSHU is supported by the Japanese Language Program, UT-Austin.
The Japanese taught as a foreign language is what we call “Standard Japanese.” Descriptively speaking, the Standard Japanese is the variety used in the Tokyo area. However, the people in Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, and their surrounding districts daily speak “Kansai dialect”. If you live in or visit the Kansai area and want to belong to the Kansai people, you should try to greet them in their own language!
