An Explosion of Language

My son is now almost two and a half years old and recently has been speaking quite a bit. He says things at night like, “Daddy, go to bed?” “Daddy, boat coming!” “Kai, neh neh (baby talk for sleep in Japanese).” He also speaks a lot more in Japanese, his first language. His language has been progressing at a very surprising and exciting pace.

I started a three-week vacation about three weeks ago (sadly only one day left before I head back to school). I have been spending a great deal of time with my son during that period. Both my wife and I have noticed a sudden explosion of language in the last month and luckily I have been present to enjoy so much of it.

The amazing thing that has happened is he can now express his needs and wants in English and Japanese. He was able to tell us what he wanted Santa Claus to bring him for Christmas (Santa got him the TOMICA City parking garage set he so desired).

He can also use both his English and Japanese to play with Mom and Dad. The other day he walked up to me, placed some toy food on the table and said, “Daddy, eat this.” His favorite phrase in the past few days has been “Come here Daddy” which he has said at least thirty five thousand times!

I think my mind was really blown the other day when my son said, “Daddy, two boys going over there.” I looked up and sure enough, there were two young boys running across the street in front of us!

I realize that often children in Canada, where I am from, at my son’s age may be able to communicate more, but my son has to process twice the information. He doesn’t just have to learn the word “cat” for example. He must learn that Daddy says “cat” and Mommy says, “neko” (my wife is Japanese).

Language switching:

This is another impressive thing (in my eyes as a father) that amazes me. When I am alone with my son, he pretty much only speaks English. When he is with his mother, he pretty much only speaks Japanese, the language he can communicate more in. When we are together as a family, he mixes it all together and at this point, really only his mother knows exactly what he is saying.

I suppose that in the little world that is “my family”, we are going through some fun and exciting times.

As someone who was raised in a unilingual household, it is amazing to see someone raised bilingual. It’s like looking into a new world!

You can follow me on Twitter: @jlandkev

Raising a Bilingual Child - 2 Years Old

This is a follow up to my original blog post about raising a bilingual child.

If you are a follower of this blog you already are aware of my situation, but if you are a new reader (and thank you very much for reading), I’ll fill you in a little on my situation. 

I am a Canadian teacher working at an international school in Japan. My wife is Japanese and we have a two year, one month old son who we are raising to be bilingual. We want him to be able to speak both Japanese and English. He is a duwl Canadian/Japanese citizen so we want him to have the skills and knowledge to function in both cultures/societies.

My son’s language abilities are coming along very well. I am actually quite surprised at how much he is able to speak and understand in both Japanese and English. I have worked as a teacher for eleven years and at my current school there is a day care. I have observed many children who are a similar age to my son and the majority do not speak as much as my son does. I don’t think he is a “linguistic prodigy” or anything like that, but I have a few ideas to why he speaks so much.

First of all, my son is always surrounded by language. Simply put, my wife talks to him a lot. She speaks to him and very importantly, listens and responds to him. Although I am not an expert and haven’t studied the topic a great deal, from my many years as a teacher I have noticed that the children who have the widest language bases, seem to have parents who engage them a lot linguistically. Many of the children I have met who speak very little, have parents who tend not to speak to them much. Also, I have noticed that many children who struggle even with their native language have parents who “talk at them” ns not “ to them.” They simple command them around and never really have conversations and listen to their child’s responses.

My wife is doing a great job at engaging our son. I try my best as well when I am home, but sometimes my work schedule doesn’t allow me to be at home as much as I would like.

Another thing that has been working very well is the fact that my wife is always actively teaching and asking questions to my son. She is constantly asking him, “What’s this?” Whether they are looking at a storybook, magazine, television or outside of the house in the “real world”, she is constantly engaging and teaching him. I basically try to follow her lead. Her form of teaching seems to be working well so I’m going with the flow!

It has become very clear and to know surprise that Japanese has become my son’s first language. When he does speak in Japanese I just translate in my brain and repeat what he said in English. In doing this I have realized that my own Japanese level is very low and I have to begin studying again so I can attempt to keep up with my son.

I’m hunting for more English dvds for my son as well. I realize that listening to any English is good, but I am hunting for ones that can help him learn meaningful language. Of course, watching English television is not the best option, but some weeks I work six days and a dvd is better than nothing.

At the moment I am home for the next eight days. This is a great chance for me to speak a lot to my son. This is a great opportunity for me to engage my son in English.

I better get going, he’s awake now. Time to talk!

Here is a video blog I shot yesterday morning. It's an unusual style for me. You can follow my son and I during our morning together.

A Sad Day in Ottawa

As many readers of this blog and followers of my video blog know, I have a strong connection to Ottawa, Canada. Although I did not grow up there, I lived there most recently before moving to Japan. I earned my Education degree from the University of Ottawa and really enjoyed my time in the city. I would really like to live there again someday. My wife also enjoyed living in Ottawa and likes it very much as well.

I suppose that is why I want to share some sad news.

Yesterday, one of Ottawa's finest fell in the line of duty. He was the first police officer killed in the line of duty in Ottawa since 1983. What seems like a random attack, Const. Eric Czapnik was ambushed and stabbed to death while writing in his notebook in his patrol car. The incident took place in the parking lot of Ottawa Civic Hospital. A suspect was apprehended while in the midst of the attack by four paramedics at the hospital.



You can read more here at CTV news.

Read more at CBC News.

Back in Japan

After a wonderful vacation in Canada with my family and friends I am back in Japan. After more than 24 hours of traveling, my wife and I arrived in kobe. Although it was wonderful to be back in Canada, it is always great to get back to your home. I slept like a log last night, probably due to the fact that I was dead tired, but the fact that it was "my" bed also helped a lot I think.

I was somewhat anxious because we left our fish for 10 days. I bought a food block for them that is supposed to dissolve and slowly release food into the water, but upon arrival, it didn't seem to work well. On the bright side, my fish were alive and healthy.

Check out my latest video about my trip back home and the fact that ANA were kind enough to bump us up to business class.





While at my parents' house, I had the chance to drink some of the new Dan Akroyd wine. that's right, Dan Akroyd of SNL and Ghostbusters fame. He is a native of Ottawa, Canada and is now flogging his own line of wine. You can by them at the LCBO (Ontario liquor stores). It was actually pretty good. There will be a video about it soon!


This is what Christmas is all about. Well, I suppose this is part of it. This was the Christmas dinner that my wonderful parents prepared for my wife and I. I had two full plates like this. This is part of the reason I left Canada a few pounds greater than when i arrived. i suppose that is a sign of a proper Christmas vacation.


About 2 weeks ago I shot a video of myself doing a little Christmas shopping inside Nishinomiya Gardens in Nishinomiya, Japan. It's an upscale shopping mall located between Osaka and Kobe.

Back to Japan

I suppose this is simply a little update.

I am on my way back to Japan now. After a wonderful 10 days in Canada, I have seen many wonderful family members and friends, NOT trained for the Tokyo Marathon, gained several pounds, eaten great food, drunk wonderful beer and have generally been very satisfied.

The weather in the Ottwaw area is horrible with freezing rain and dangerous roads. Playing on the side of caution, we came up here a day early and are spending 2 nights in a hotel. It was a wise move.

In a nutshell, our trip back to Canada for Christmas was wonderful, but it will also be great to get back to our apartment and life in Japan. It's also a lot warmer there and I have a LOT of running to do in the next few months!

There will be several "Canada" themed videos appearing on my You Tube channel in the next week or so.

Ottawa at Christmas

Christmas vacation is going well in the Land of Snow. My wife and I were in Ottawa for a few days visiting friends and checking out some of our favorite sites. We hit the Byward Market, Parliament Hill and other places.


While on Parliament Hill my wife had a chance to see her favorite place, the stray cat colony. She loves it so much because of the large population of squirrels!


Another cute little critter relaxing on an Ottawa Winter day.


Of course, as touristy as it may be, I always love to hit Parliament Hill when I am in Ottawa. When I lived here I went to this place ore times than I can keep track of. For anyone who may not know what this building is, it is the main house of government in Canada is.


While in the Byward Market we saw lots of fresh Christmas wreaths and odecorations for sale. This time of year, the Market isn't bustling with a lot of activity. In the Summer and Fall the ouside is filled with vendors selling clothes and food. In the Winter, only a hardy few remain.

Just a few more days and it's back to Japan.

From Kobe to Canada

After a painful, yet uneventful flight, we ended up in lovely and frigid Canada. We have been calling a small place outside of Ottawa (the Nation's Capital) our home away from home. It's been great so far!

I've been catching up on food I've missed, Tim Hortons and some great beer.

I've encountered one major dillema. I haven't been able to continue my Tokyo Marathon training as I had hoped. I tried running this mornin, but at -19c outside, I gave up in under 15 minutes. Hopefully it will warm up a little bit so I can try again tomorrow , but I'm not holding my breath.



Last night we tried some of Beau's Brewery"s "Lug Tread" which is a German style beer. I also had it with some amazing pizza from a shop in Cornwall called North End pizza! This is heaven!



Yesterday I had a chance to tour Beau's Brewery which is an awesome craft brewery located in a small town called Vankleek Hill. It's just outside of Ottawa. I picked up some beer, toured the facility and had a great time. There will be a You Tube video about it once I get back to Kobe.

On another subject, I'm more than a little pleased with the fact that my Christmas video on You Tube has been featured and is doing better than I could have ever expected! Thank you everyone who watched it.

Cicadas Everywhere セミ

It's the middle of summer in Japan and if anyone who has ever been here this time of year knows; it's hot and sweaty. The average daily temperature in my neck of the woods (Kobe) are i the low to mid 30's, but with the humidex, they are pushing 40! After my father sent me a photograph of a dead cicada ("semi" in Japanese), I felt inspired to make a "cicada-only" post today.


This is the cicada my father found, just outside of Ottawa, Ontario in Canada. The North American species is sometimes referred to as the "Dog Days" cicada since it is rambling about during the dog days of summer! Actually, the ones here in Japan (at least the common ones around the Kansai area are about twice this size).

There are hundreds of types of cicadas all around the world and they are considered the loudest insects in the world. Cicadas are also completely harmless to humans and other animals. They don't bite or sting, but sometimes might urinate on you if you are walking under a tree filled with them. I know this from personal experience. I was whizzed on by more than one cicada last summer! Most people are pretty intimidated by this harmless insect due to its large size and very loud noise.

Cicadas can actually produce sounds up to 120db...THTA' REALLY LOUD.

There is a lot of great information on cicadas on Wikipedia.


Here is a very recent video from a very cool Japanese video blogger of a cicada crawling out of it's exoskeleton. I have seen them at night crawling in their "crab^like" shells before hatching, but I have never seen this!

Cicada Emergence




Here is another great cicada video from an an English speaking Japan-based vlogger fro last year. Here you can see the cicada crawling up a tree looking for a good spot to anchor itself before it's final stage emerges!

Japanese Cicada - Shinto Shrine Trees




This is a vlog I made a little more than a year ago. This one will give you an idea of how deafening the noise can be from a large number of cicadas early in the morning. They normally make their noises on hot sunny days and begin around 6:30am (in full force), This was filmed on a Saturday morning around 7:00am. I was in the midst of marathon training so I was waking up really early (for me) to run.

Cicadas セミ 蝉....Damn You!




Hope you enjoyed this very cicada themed post!

Another sweaty day in Japan

Yeah, summer is here and the cicadas are starting to make some noise. Also, in some Canadian-Japan news, the Emperor and his wife were visiting Canada.

Emperor expresses sorrow for past hardships in Japan-Canada ties
Tuesday 07th July, 10:12 AM JST

OTTAWA —
Emperor Akihito expressed sorrow Monday evening over past relations between Japan and Canada that were damaged by World War II as he delivered a speech at a banquet in Ottawa hosted by the governor general of Canada.

‘‘Sadly, the relationship between the two countries was ruined by World War II and my heart goes out to the people who suffered hardships created by the battles,’’ the emperor said, while expressing his gratitude to those who have been dedicating themselves to mend the bilateral ties after the war. Read more at JapanToday...



I am the proud new father of my first Mac. I now have an iMac and from now on all of my videos will be edited in iMovie and soon I will be an owner of Final Cut express. I'm looking forward to some more cool editing options for my videos, but will definitely continue to keep my videos simple. I should have something new out within the next few days. Work is quite busy these days with the Spring semester about to finish.

Canada Day in Kobe

Happy Canada Day everyone! Yep, it's July first and Canada may almost be over here, but it's just getting started back home. Hope Canadians all around the world are having a great one. I also hope all of my good friends in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and various parts of Ontario are having a great day! May the suds flow freely and may you have fun.

Here's my You Tube Happy Canada message!





I read this news story last night and not only was surprised, but found it damn cool. I'm into Mother Nature and all of her critters. As a child growing up in rural Nova Scotia, catching salamanders was a summer diversion. A big one would have been a yellow spotted one and measured about 10cm. We felt like conquering heros if we ever found a salamander that large! A true King of Amphibians. OR so I thought.....til I found out about the Giant Japanese Salamander last night!

Giant salamander found walking along road in Kyoto
KYOTO —

A 105-centimeter-long giant salamander was found walking along a riverside road in Kyoto by a motorist Tuesday and was temporarily taken into protective custody by police. According to police, a man driving his car along the Kamogawa River that flows through the city spotted the salamander at around 5:50 a.m. and dialed the 110 emergency phone number to summon police, who rushed to the scene. The huge aquatic salamander was then brought to a police station in Kita Ward and held there for several hours in a water tub before being released into a branch of the same river. Kyoto University professor Masafumi Matsui told Kyodo News he was concerned to learn that the giant salamander in question, which resembles a hybrid, was released without proper examination and into a different waterway from the main course of the river along which it was found. The Kamogawa River, the amphibian expert explained, has a serious problem with hybridization between Japanese and Chinese giant salamanders, and there is concern the problem could spread to other habitats in Japan. Read more at Japan Today


Then I checked out the giant Japanese salamander on You Tube. I found this clip from a National Geographic show with Dr. Brady Barr....wow!

Merry Christmas and the Kakogawa Marathon

Greetings and salutations everyone. It's Christmas Eve here in Japan and most of you are just stirring back home. I hope you are getting ready for a wonderful Xmas day.

Things are great here, Mai and I have had a wonderful Xmas Eve celebration. Gifts exchanged and smiles all around.

Yesterday was the Emperor's birthday and a national holiday here in Japan. Emperor Akihito celebrated 75 years.

I celebrated the Emperor's birthday by running in the Kakogawa Marathon. I didn't do the full course since I hadn't rained properly. I ran the 10k and surprised myself with a faster than expected time. I did it in under 50 minutes. I'm by no means a speed demon! I did it in 49mins 53 seconds.Long distance running fits me well cause I'm slow, stubborn and have a high pain threshold...hehe.


That's me after finishing the 10k at the Kakogawa Marathon....wish I had done the full course run!



I also just realized that an older You Tube video I've made is now going viral! I made a vid last year while I lived in Ottawa. It was about a Ron Mueck sculpture. It was of a piece called "A Girl" at the National Art Gallery in Ottawa.

Check it out....one month ago it had less about 15,000 hits....as of today....more than 53,000!

One Giant Baby

See the original here....on my BusanKevin Channel....


Merry Xmas to everyone!!!!

Christmas Time in Japan

The Christmas Season is here and it's here in a big way! Now, since it's December 1st, I finally feel like it indeed isn't too early and I can rightfully get in the festive spirit. Today is December 1st and I finally feel that I can hold my head up high and rightfully get in the festive mood. I love this time of year. I love the Christmas season. So many wonderful memories of my childhood come flooding past me and I feel like a happy child again. Apparently everyone else around me though has felt the same way, but they didn't wait until December 1st. In the city I live in, Kobe, the Christmas "spirit" was turned on in full force the day following Halloween. Actually withing seconds of Halloween being deemed "over" by retailers.

Now, what sort of freaked me out recently has been the bombardment of all things "Christmasy." Everywhere I go, I hear Christmas carols being blared over speakers. Illuminated trees are everywhere as are Santas and reindeer. It's Christmas hardcore and I'm in Japan. that's what I find so trippy...I'm in Japan. The fact that I'm in Japan itself isn't trippy, it's the fact that the Japanese do Christmas in such a HUGE way.

Growing up, the Christmas season was not just a time to look forward to gifts and great food, but also a time to spend "a lot of time" in church. Every year, we good Catholics did the "overtime" church thing. For me, there was a larger reason for celebrating the season.

Now, when I first started to see the Christmas season celebrated so much in Japan, I was a little pissed. How can this Christian holiday be hijacked? It's not right! It's not fair! Then I thought about it some more and realized, it's not really a bad thing at all. Not completely anyway.

Of course, pretty much the only Christians kicking about Japan who will be in church celebrating the birth of Christ and whatnot probably all have foreign passports, but that's alright. People will of course say that Christmas in japan is a purely commercial event, but isn't that the case in Canada and America now? It may not be a complete commercial event, but it's pretty close! Every year in Canada, the attendance numbers in churches plummet and less people seem to practice their faith. Yet, I'm sure most of these folks not attending church have Christmas trees in their living rooms, exchange gifts, dink eggnog and get pissed over the Holidays.

So, I suppose I have no reason to be upset about a non-Christan nation celebrating Christmas. The Japanese have embraced the gift giving aspect of the season and look at it as a time to have fun with family and friends. I think those are great reasons to celebrate any festival. Is it all commercial? Pretty much, but isn't it the same way in Canada for most people?

So, here I am. I'm in Kobe for my first Christmas in Japan. As a very wise Japanese person said to me, "Kevin, Japanese people love festivals." That's why they celebrate this one as well! So, when I celebrate Xmas here in Japan; it's going to be nice to walk around downtown Kobe and hear Christmas carols, see lights and feel the Xmas vibe. The only difference between this year and last will be the fact that it's a lot warmer here than in Ottawa!