Monkey Majik - how popular are they?

[koku]

I'm guessing they're recent?

http://wiki.theppn.org/Monkey_Majik
Monkey Majik is a band that consists of two Japanese members and two Canadian members. DICK is from Sapporo and Tax is from Sendai. The Plant brothers, Maynard and Blaise, are from Ottawa, Ontario in the country of Canada. The band name "MONKEY MAJIK" was from a song "MONKEY MAGIC" by Godiego in 1978. Originally, Maynard wanted the band to be called MONKEY COSMIC but they thought that MONKEY MAJIK relates more to Japan so MONKEY MAJIK was chosen. Maynard was interested in Japan after his drama teacher's recommended an exchange program during high school but unfortunately, he was late handing in the registration form. After university, Maynard went straight to Japan to teach English. When Blaise was finishing up his last year in university, Maynard called him to come over to Japan to play some music due to the interest of music that he and his brother has.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQIWsYbJQgs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9DW0ONETk4&feature=related

The older brother even speaks pretty damn great http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzyWv8_ZHiE&feature=related

(the original video is now private, he doesn't speak long in that one but a fun vid).

Yet speaking all that great Japanese, why doesn't he katakanise his english words :bang: (pet peeve of mine).

So, anyone know this band already? I like their music - plus a foreigner in the Japanese spotlight with Japanese ability is always a good thing. People in Japan, report!

[SlickWilly440]

Could you fix that youtube link, the one with the older brother, b/c it's causing MS Outlook to execute (had to highlight and paste).

Yeah, the flow that the older brother was speaking at was amazing. I guess he prefers to say English words the way the are suppose to sound in English, instead of Kanatanizing it and making it sound weird, plus using English and Japanese together is suppose to be cool I guess.

The only time I have heard the phrase "Monkey Majik" was from a DS Game called: Moero Neketsu Ouendan in which one of the songs said the that phrase.

[Swede]

I've actually gotten into them quite a bit recently. They're pretty popular from what I gather- new single was #1 on Japanese iTunes anyways. Nice interlanguage flow in a lot of the songs. Some solid pop music in general though.

[xtine]

I know this band from the single they did with m-flo "Picture Perfect." I believe they've been around quite a while, but only have gotten notoriety and popularity within these few years.

[akitaka]

I'm hoping that more of these groups come out; ones with foreign members able to reach the major audience. It's still an underrepresented and biased thing in Japan's music industry, though it's not to say that the U.S. has had it's issues as well.

Less Mark Panther, more Monkey Majik, Oceanlane, Reach up to the Universe, and hopefully, and nel's (nbcsaku from youtube) new band Nothing Ever Lasts.

Thanks for the share.

[TommyA]

I have heard of em, seen em on SMAP x SMAP, seen em on Hey Hey Hey Music Champ, and they are usually all over, plus I think their new CD just dropped recently.

Not so much my style, but good to see some foreigners making it big musically.

A band here in Nagoya that is gaining some fame, and is 100% foreigners, with no Japanese lyrics to my knowledge are Sushi Cabaret Club.

Seen em perform live at some Earth Day even here last year, and asked some friends around Japan if they heard of them, and they had fans from Osaka up to Sendai. Kind of interesting.

[andrewt]

wow, they aint half bad.
Thanks for the links. =)

[Azrael]

They're decently well known. They did the opening song for Katori Shingo's "Saiyuki" drama, "Around The World", which got them more attention.

Yet speaking all that great Japanese, why doesn't he katakanise his english words :bang: (pet peeve of mine).
We foreigners should never katakana-ise English words.

[koku]

*fixed the link*

I agree with everyone - good to see some foreign success.

I think Japanese and english pronunciation sounds akward, though :P

GO MONKEY MAJIK. If anyone else has other interesting bands or news related to this, post away. But yeah, they're awesome. You're welcome andrew - glad to see I've made another fan.

[RoxFontaine]

Welcome to 3 years ago. They got pretty popular with "Fly" in like '06. After that.....meh.

edit: Angela Aki. The truth.

[koku]

^ I think that's why I made the thread. Thanks for being a jackass, though. :)

[Digital Masta]

And away we go...


I remember first hearing about them in '06 when I was studying abroad. "Around the World" was being played all the damn time.

[koku]

Sweet. I as abroad then but never heard of 'em. I wonder how long ジェロ remains popular. Hopefully he makes some non-enka stuff soon 'cuz I think the enka thing will get old for him after a while.

[ミュー]

Welcome to 3 years ago. They got pretty popular with "Fly" in like '06. After that.....meh.

edit: Angela Aki. The truth.
Yup. Then they made that movie thing, but after that I think people have returned to not caring :hat:

Japanese popular music is like American popular music. Catchy, yet overall stupifyingly ungratifying and therefore shortlived.

[RoxFontaine]

The internet is a beautiful thing.

ミュー - Church.

[Pierrot le Fou]

We foreigners should never katakana-ise English words.
I'd love to hear you say 'croissant' or any other of the thousands of French words that we use in everyday English speech.

(Read: I disagree and I think the notion is silly. When we speak English, we do so with an English pronunciation. When we speak Japanese, we should do so with Japanese pronunciation.)

[Kyletherealninja]

When speaking Japanese it's really a lot easier for me just katakanize English words in most cases. Since I speak with a slightly different voice and accent in Japanese, it's tough for me to go from Japanese to English in mid-sentence; either my English words sound Japanese, or the Japanese sounds more like a honky white guy saying them with poor accent.

[koku]

PLF agrees with me on something. :P I don't mind people not katakanizing things as much as when I hear a GOOD speaker of Japanese almost like ruining his or her work by sticking in English pronunciations on things. It just grates it all to death...

[akitaka]

Yup. Then they made that movie thing, but after that I think people have returned to not caring :hat:

Japanese popular music is like American popular music. Catchy, yet overall stupifyingly ungratifying and therefore shortlived.
Now I wouldn't say that. For Japan, Spitz has been around for well over a decade, and I've seen B'z and the Alfee plenty of times on the tele. Don't forget some of the uta gassen acts. Just because it's no longer the 'in' thing doesn't mean that people have forgotten them. If anything, gaining loyal fanbase has groups like those set for life. Who knows when Tsunku and his dark loli army will ever disappear into the limelight.

Angela Aki...lordy. She's tall :gwitch:

Still. I much prefer Oceanlane (http://youtube.com/watch?v=P1FlBMOyTpM). Stuff like Monkey Majik, while good, kind of rubs me in that hokey Orange Range/Aqua Timez sort of way.

[Wedge]

I'd love to hear you say 'croissant' or any other of the thousands of French words that we use in everyday English speech.

(Read: I disagree and I think the notion is silly. When we speak English, we do so with an English pronunciation. When we speak Japanese, we should do so with Japanese pronunciation.)

To be honest, one of my biggest pet peeves is when people speaking English say words like karaoke the way Japanese say it. The word has an accepted meaning and accepted pronunciation in English, no need to try to act smart by ending it with "eh."

There's a difference between katakana-izing (what?) English words and just butchering the damn language. You use croissant as an example, and I think something like "c'est la vie" might pop up in a song. Even in English the singer should strive to say it proper and not say cesT la Vey or something. If there is a word that is accepted in Japanese, say it the way they do. But no reason to say "Ai Rabu Yuu"

EDIT:
I'm just glad there is a white guy on TV that doesn't act like a douche bag. I guess things are changing.

[Pierrot le Fou]

PLF agrees with me on something. :P I don't mind people not katakanizing things as much as when I hear a GOOD speaker of Japanese almost like ruining his or her work by sticking in English pronunciations on things. It just grates it all to death...
I don't agree with you at all.

You agree with me.

And there is nothing strange about people agreeing with me when I'm right.

[akitaka]

cockblocked.

[RoxFontaine]

PLF is in top form today. I thought he had fallen off.

[koku]

I don't think it's about sounding smart - it just doesn't sound "right." Japanese words and flow sound so vast from English that when you stick one in there, it at least makes me kind of take a step back.

And wrong PLF, you agreed with me and I'm right. It's okay. I can teach you a lot of things.

[RoxFontaine]

Oh t3H Eye. Roe. Knee!

"Japanese words and flow sound so vast from English..."

"I can teach you a lot of things.

[Urameshi YuSooKey]

(Read: I disagree and I think the notion is silly. When we speak English, we do so with an English pronunciation. When we speak Japanese, we should do so with Japanese pronunciation.)
Yet speaking all that great Japanese, why doesn't he katakanise his english words (pet peeve of mine).
Just carefully observing, I don't think PLF agrees with koku at all. Quite opposite actually.

If you're not speaking/singing a Japanese word, and you're not a native speaker, don't try to sound like you are. It's annoying when I hear English words in a J-song that are totally unintelligible because of the katakanizing and accent. I just want to say just stop trying if you can't speak the language.

[koku]

lol Rox. We gotta find you something better to do.

[TommyA]

edit: Angela Aki. The truth.

Angela Aki's father is the founder of the eikaiwa I work for!

My hard work helps pays for her production costs! Damnit!

[Azrael]

I'd love to hear you say 'croissant' or any other of the thousands of French words that we use in everyday English speech.

(Read: I disagree and I think the notion is silly. When we speak English, we do so with an English pronunciation. When we speak Japanese, we should do so with Japanese pronunciation.)
It would be nice if we could say croissant or any other foreign language-borrowed word with its proper pronounciation. Of course, that's an ideal and not very likely.

Since Japan has chosen English as the somewhat official second language of the country, and already uses many English words in their everyday lexicon, I feel that resorting to katakana prounciation is a bit of a cop-out. Most Americans don't speak French, have no inclination to do so, and certainly aren't forced to learn it for 6 years in primary education. We could say the same for the Japanese - they don't speak English and most have no inclination to do so, but the goverment seems pretty bent on having people have at least some English skills.

I just remember when I was an ALT, the teachers always stressed proper prounciation and even made sure to correct mine to the "standard", but then when a student had trouble reading something the teacher would write katakana pronounciation above the English text. It always felt very counter-productive to me.


To be honest, one of my biggest pet peeves is when people speaking English say words like karaoke the way Japanese say it.
You know, when I do eventually go back, I'm going to look like a total douche Japanofile for a while because I'm going to be saying ka-ra-o-ke and randomly interjecting Japanese words into my speech. :( It's not intentional...

[Wedge]

You know, when I do eventually go back, I'm going to look like a total douche Japanofile for a while because I'm going to be saying ka-ra-o-ke and randomly interjecting Japanese words into my speech. :( It's not intentional...

Just make sure you say Japanese words really loud in an otherwise normal volume English sentence. I like to drink SAKE while I do KARAOKE. That shirt is so KAWAII, I had one just like it. It makes me so NATSUKASHII.

I swear I'll slap you if you try that shit.

I imagine your English is pretty crap at this point, I know mine was pretty bad even after only a year.

[Azrael]

Man, my English is attrocious. I'm forgetting vocabulary and my grammar is starting to get all mixed up. Pretty soon I'm going to have to go to eikaiwa. :rofl:

And I will NEVER say kawaii in an English sentence, don't worry about that. I dislike the word plenty in its Japanese content. What will probably happen is stuff like "I took the kakueki home from work one day because the tokyuu is always so crowded, and I saw Asami! I hadn't seen her since she was a sannensei, so I was really surprised at how much she'd changed."

[Wedge]

Just so long as you don't do it on purpose. I'll make you buy me a drink each time you do. :watson:
I forgot how to write a 'k' once. It was really embarrassing.

[mikem]

"I took the kakueki home from work one day because the tokyuu is always so crowded, and I saw Asami! I hadn't seen her since she was a sannensei, so I was really surprised at how much she'd changed."

Are you trying to suggest there is something wrong with that sentence? I guess you could give Asami an American name or something ... :gloomy:

But seriously ... What would you say for something like ichinensei? Freshman? Sophomore? It gets so damn confusing ...

[Azrael]

Well, if I'm talking to someone who knows NO Japanese, I doubt they even know I'm on the train.

"I took the kakueki home from work one day because the tokyuu is always so crowded, and I saw Asami! I hadn't seen her since she was a sannensei, so I was really surprised at how much she'd changed."

[Wedge]

The opposite is just as irritating. Amerofile? I guess? The exchange student that likes to show off that they've been Americanized.

藍ちゃんはso beautifulです！かわいい〜！みんなI love you so much!

[Argo]

I think the way it should break down is if its English word that has been adopted and Katakanized into the language completely it should be said as such. I dont know how it is completely in Japanese, but in Korean (currently learning at college) English loan words (note: romanization of Korean is a nightmare, there are like 2 systems in use, and a lot of things are just romanized however the hell people feel like) like 버스, beosu, which means bus, but is pronounced more like (not exact) bawsuh would sound drastically different then the pronunciation "bus" (I assume a lot of Katakana sound nothing like the native words so that could be confusing). But actual whole English phrases like "I love you" or a word that hasnt been Katakanized and isnt used regularly shouldnt be done Katakanized.

Side note, learning another writing system (Katakana) must be a bitch, but English words in Korean (apparently 95% of loan words) we are expected a lot of times to just realize, without a clue signifying that its beaten up English.

[Pierrot le Fou]

It would be nice if we could say croissant or any other foreign language-borrowed word with its proper pronounciation. Of course, that's an ideal and not very likely.
No, this is not ideal. Fajitas are [fuh-hee-tuz], not [fah-hee-tas]. Croissants are [cruh-sahnts] not [cro-wass-sant]. Karaoke is [carry-okie] not [kah-rah-oh-keh]. If they aren't, then you aren't speaking English, you're speaking another language, and shouldn't half-ass it.

If you want to speak English, speak English. If you want to speak Japanese, speak Japanese. If you want to interject Japanese words into an English sentence, then you are communicating poorly unless you are certain that the audience understands (á la Singlish, etc.).

Since Japan has chosen English as the somewhat official second language of the country, and already uses many English words in their everyday lexicon, I feel that resorting to katakana prounciation is a bit of a cop-out. Most Americans don't speak French, have no inclination to do so, and certainly aren't forced to learn it for 6 years in primary education. We could say the same for the Japanese - they don't speak English and most have no inclination to do so, but the goverment seems pretty bent on having people have at least some English skills.
Most Americans have trouble with French phonemes (specifically the R and some of the vowel sounds). Therefore they can't pronounce the 'croi' in 'croissants' properly. Therefore it becomes 'crussant'. And that's cool with me -- that's English. Most Japanese people cannot say 'arbeiter' properly, yet it is a word commonly used in their language. Therefore it gets adapted to their phonemes and comes out 'arubaito.' There is no issue with this.

If you are saying that a Japanese person shouldn't come up to you and say 'harro, mai nemu izu dumiko' then you're taking it too far because you're assuming that they should speak proper English just because they are taught English grammar from elementary school.

If you are saying that a Japanese person shouldn't say, 「ビールがＯＫです」 in lieu of 「ＢｅｅｒがＯｋａｙです」 then you're expecting the impossible (specifically expecting the Japanese to say Japanese words in English pronunciation).

Silly.

I just remember when I was an ALT, the teachers always stressed proper prounciation and even made sure to correct mine to the "standard", but then when a student had trouble reading something the teacher would write katakana pronounciation above the English text. It always felt very counter-productive to me.
Perhaps you didn't learn a foreign language in the states (before college). I learned two. A majority of kids simply cannot speak French or Spanish properly with their accents. Blaming the student for the phonemes of their mother tongue is uncool. I'm pretty sure you sound horrible in French, but that hardly means that people should criticize you for 'Americanizing' French.

[Pierrot le Fou]

I think the way it should break down is if its English word that has been adopted and Katakanized into the language completely it should be said as such. I dont know how it is completely in Japanese, but in Korean (currently learning at college) English loan words (note: romanization of Korean is a nightmare, there are like 2 systems in use, and a lot of things are just romanized however the hell people feel like) like 버스, beosu, which means bus, but is pronounced more like (not exact) bawsuh would sound drastically different then the pronunciation "bus" (I assume a lot of Katakana sound nothing like the native words so that could be confusing). But actual whole English phrases like "I love you" or a word that hasnt been Katakanized and isnt used regularly shouldnt be done Katakanized.

Side note, learning another writing system (Katakana) must be a bitch, but English words in Korean (apparently 95% of loan words) we are expected a lot of times to just realize, without a clue signifying that its beaten up English.
Errr, what I was trying to say is that I agree with this guy.

[Riinuka]

Well, if I'm talking to someone who knows NO Japanese, I doubt they even know I'm on the train.

"I took the kakueki home from work one day because the tokyuu is always so crowded, and I saw Asami! I hadn't seen her since she was a sannensei, so I was really surprised at how much she'd changed."

I like how 'sannensei' isn't bold. xD I'm pretty sure saying that rather than "junior" or "third year" would confuse people who don't speak Japanese.

I see it this way. If you are speaking English with other people who also know Japanese, and need to use a noun that has no direct translation, use the Japanese form. i.e. for kakueki and tokyuu. It just makes it painful trying to use the 'literal' English translation, which may not click with everyone right off the bat. It's just a matter of concepts that exist in common Japanese that don't in common English.

In the same aspect, if you are speaking English, please, try not to use Japanese adjectives or adverbs. I think that's where most of the annoying habits come from - "wow, so kawaii!", "oh, that girl is soooo utsukushiiii!". Of course, there will be the problem of no direct translation for those, too.. but you'd think it would be less rare, since English -does- seem to focus a lot on description, and should have a comparable word.

That's just in my experience so far. Following the distinction between "nouns" and "adjectives" as far as English speech has proven effective, and I assume it should be alright if you were to reverse it. ((Besides, when would you ever catch yourself trying to use an English adjective in a primarily Japanese sentence, anyway? Most of what I see are interjections, to be honest.))

[Pierrot le Fou]

For train names and school years, there are most certainly English translations.

For instance, on JR the 各駅（普通）is a 'regular service' train 'stopping at all stations'. And anyone who rides regularly would likely understand 'regular service' as well as kakueki. 特急 on Hankyu is 'Express' I believe (or used to be). 三年生 is a 'third year student' which is perfectly understandable as well (so long as you couple it with their school level -- junior or high school).

If the person you are speaking to speaks Japanese, then it's fine to use these words, just like people from Singapore regularly mix Chinese and English together. The problem is when you don't know appropriate English, or try to use the same words with a non-Japanese speaker.

[japanat]

Angela Aki's father is the founder of the eikaiwa I work for!

My hard work helps pays for her production costs! Damnit!I used to work for the guy (met him at HQ many times), and let me tell you, he really wastes the money. He has vacation homes all over, paid by the company as "training facilities" (employees used to be able to rent one on Maui if he wasn't using it at the time - you should check it out). He also paid her a huge salary when she was the poster girl, then in the TV ads.

[Riinuka]

...The problem is when you don't know appropriate English, or try to use the same words with a non-Japanese speaker.

I like how 'sannensei' isn't bold. xD I'm pretty sure saying that rather than "junior" or "third year" would confuse people who don't speak Japanese.




That is what I said. :boggled:

The main thing I was getting at was the different methods of mixing I tend to see here, and the difference between throwing in nouns compared to verbs and adjectives. I still find it a little less sensible to toss in Japanese adjectives (compared to verbs), as I said earlier.. Maybe it just wasn't clear enough. :box:

[koku]

Speaking English - English pronunciations

Speaking Japanese - Japanese pronunciations.

It really is that simple. You really shouldn't CHANGE the way you are pronouncing all your sounds just because a loan word is coming in. If you want to speak Japanese accurately, then you would say it the way a Japanese person would (and that would be a katakana pronunciation). It really sounds silly speaking 90% Japanese using only a i e o u vowels and then all of a sudden saying an English pronounced word that sounds SO different. Why would you switch languages?

[Televisions_Nick]

When you're speaking, aren't you speaking for someone to understand you? So if you're speaking to a Japanese person, shouldn't you katakanize the English words that are common Japanese katakana words? You know... so they UNDERSTAND you?

Right?

Right.

[Wedge]

I really think we are talking about two completely separate things. When you use a foreign word that is accepted and used in a language, you use that language's pronunciation (such as katakana and loan words). But if its something not accepted why use katakana? If the person needs to know English to understand it, then they can understand the English pronunciation, you don't need to make up a butchered version of it.

I think the moral of the story is, don't randomly borrow words from another language to throw into your sentences.

[Riinuka]

YES. Thank you. Don't borrow words that you don't need - like the whole habit of sticking "kawaii" on to the end of EVERY SINGLE DAMN SENTENCE.

/cough

Sorry.

[koku]

I really think we are talking about two completely separate things. When you use a foreign word that is accepted and used in a language, you use that language's pronunciation (such as katakana and loan words). But if its something not accepted why use katakana? If the person needs to know English to understand it, then they can understand the English pronunciation, you don't need to make up a butchered version of it.

I think the moral of the story is, don't randomly borrow words from another language to throw into your sentences.

I'm sorry but have you BEEN to Japan?? EVERYTHING gets pronounced with a katakana pronunciation if it's in English.

[Wedge]

I'm sorry but have you BEEN to Japan?? EVERYTHING gets pronounced with a katakana pronunciation if it's in English.

And it bugs the crap out of me. If its some loan word like, I dunno, マイカー, then that's fine. But if there should be an effort made for actual English words. If its an American or some other English native especially, use the damn proper pronunciation (Or don't use the word at all). I'd prefer it if singers would just use Japanese in their songs, but that's a personal preference.

[Digital Masta]

then japanese people won't understand you. If you give them the proper pronunciation they likely will not get it. Plus you have to take into account their speech and alphabet. Certain sounds they just do not have. It was near impossible for japanese people without a good grasp of english to pronounce the "bra" in brandon. so thus my name becomes bu-ran-don.

[Wedge]

then japanese people won't understand you. If you give them the proper pronunciation they likely will not get it. Plus you have to take into account their speech and alphabet. Certain sounds they just do not have. It was near impossible for japanese people without a good grasp of english to pronounce the "bra" in brandon. so thus my name becomes bu-ran-don.

If an English word isn't in common usage in Japan, most people won't know the word. If they somehow DO know it, I would think that the proper pronunciation wouldn't be that hard to understand.

Names are fine, because there isn't really meaning behind it beyond association with the actual person. I wouldn't want all of us to turn into Hispanic newscasters.

[japanat]

Don't you think you're being ethno-centric? English is a massive collection of loan words, the majority of which have had their pronunciation and/or meaning changed. Why should Japanese be different?

If the word has been imported into Japanese and is in common use, such as ホットカーペット,テレビ or パソコン, then it's a Japanese word and should be pronounced as such. If it is supposed to be "English", like the Tigers' "Never Give Up!", then it's English and should have English pronunciation.

Whether the sound irritates you or not is immaterial. Can you communicate with the people for whom this word is being used? If not, you're wasting your time.

[koku]

then japanese people won't understand you. If you give them the proper pronunciation they likely will not get it. Plus you have to take into account their speech and alphabet. Certain sounds they just do not have. It was near impossible for japanese people without a good grasp of english to pronounce the "bra" in brandon. so thus my name becomes bu-ran-don.


Yup. Basic reason is their language does not have those sounds EVER. To demand they somehow use different sounds, vowels, etc. is pretty extreme.

[ELM]

Friend introduced me to them back in late 06, been a fan ever since, good for them.

[MNJetter]

I think the moral of the story is, don't randomly borrow words from another language to throw into your sentences.
Oh, don't say that. If we didn't randomly borrow words from a whole bunch of languages to throw into our sentences, there would be no English in the first place! :D

[ミュー]

I honestly do not give a damn what whitefolk say in their Japanese language songs, but personally I say English words in katakana when speaking Japanese.

The reason is simple, Japanese people (who aren't proficient at English) don't tend to catch English words even if they know the カナ訳. Same way an English speaker does not know what お酒 means, but if you pronounce it 'sah-key' then minds will click.

[Pierrot le Fou]

Race Traitor.

(I totally agree)

[mikem]

For train names and school years, there are most certainly English translations.

[snip]

三年生 is a 'third year student' which is perfectly understandable as well (so long as you couple it with their school level -- junior or high school).

No it's not!

A third year student in high school is NOT a sannensei!

[Pierrot le Fou]

What universe are you living in that a sannensei is not a 3rd year high school student?

[Digital Masta]

What universe are you living in that a sannensei is not a 3rd year high school student?

I think he's confused with thinking about their American equivalent which of course is a 4th year high school student. If not then I have no idea what he's talking about.

If I were talking to an American about a sannensei high school student I'd say they were a "3rd year high school student" and then I'd probably say "which is the equivalent to a senior in high school."

[MNJetter]

I don't bother with first-year student, second-year student, etc., etc....I just directly translate the word into whatever grade they would happen to be in America. So a junior high school sannensei would be a ninth grader, and a senior high school sannensei would be a high school senior. For 6th grade and 8th-9th grade, you have to sort of mention the type of school in parentheses so they know Japan still works on the 6-3-3 system like America did 20 years ago, but "9th grader -- junior high" is a lot shorter than "3rd year junior high school student which is the equivalent to a ninth grader in America"

[Pierrot le Fou]

Which is great if you're talking to an American, but not so great otherwise Ms. Ethnocentric ;)

[mikem]

What universe are you living in that a sannensei is not a 3rd year high school student?

Yeah, in America high school is four years. This creates some confusion occasionally.

[Riinuka]

Not everywhere.. my town still goes 6-3-3 for it's system. You have to be really specific. X x;

[Digital Masta]

Actually when I talk to Japanese people about when I was in middle school I talk in terms of 3 years because I left my elementary after 5th grade to go to my brother's school which started middle school at 6th grade and went all the way to 12th and I spent two years there for 6th and 7th grade and then moved to a different state for my last year of middle school.

And that school is still 6-12 I believe.

So I was personally a 5-3-4.

[japanat]

Yeah, in America high school is four years. This creates some confusion occasionally.Not all. I went to a 3-yr high school, and it still is.

[mikem]

Not all. I went to a 3-yr high school, and it still is.

I actually remembered that there was a city near where I grew up that did:
5-3-2-2

They had High School and Senior High School. They also often had one of the better football teams in the state ...

[Pierrot le Fou]

So I believe the point is that if someone really cares (and does it really matter if she's a 3rd or 12th or whatever grade kid 99% of the time?), they will ask, and that their mileage may vary.

My point is that if you can communicate it in Japanese with no problem, go ahead. If you can communicate it in English because the other person doesn't know Japanese, you should do that.

[rameek]

just heard together by this group... was impressed never heard of them before. but i am not really into japanese music too much but the kids at the schools try to put me on.... i watched a few of their vids through the links and i am thoroughly impressed with the music it was quite refreshing....