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Hi there,
I'm looking for a teacher in the Nagoya area - preferably Kinko (even better Yokoyama) ryu. Some English to help my very broken Japanese would be awesome too.
cheers.
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Hey there Vibe,
I live near Nagoya in Toyohashi. I have a lesson this Friday and .. if I can remember... I will ask my teacher about people in Nagoya. How broken is broken Japanese? Mine isn't very good but I can communicate with my teacher who speaks only a couple words in English.
You can e-mail me if you want.
Chris
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Hi Chris,
That would be great. Thanks so much. Yes, my Japanese is extremely broken (and I'm not being modest). But I think that I could probably pick up the terms required for shakuhachi pretty quickly if I had to. It would be more an issue of whether a teacher would be prepared to teach me given that I can understand very little of what they're saying.
Last edited by vibe (2007-08-28 20:44:27)
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Hi Vibe,
The fact that you can't speak Japanese and a teacher can't communicate in English doesn't necessarily mean that the situation would be bad. When I started shakuhachi with my teacher of 20 years, Tsurugi Kodo , I had no knowledge of Japanese nor he knowledge of English. I decided that from the beginning I wasn't going to follow my western sense to ask many questions and just listen, watch, imitate and practice. I' now have my own students. In retrospect, I don't think that our inability to verbally communicate was a real hindrance in either of our cases. If patience is one of your virtues, along with a real interest to grow into this instrument, then I suggest that you go for the best teacher you can find. It would also be very useful to open up to Japanese social manner and mannerisms. They will take you a long way. The words will come of their own accord.
good luck with it.
Jeff
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Hey Vibe, Lucky you! You have so many options. And as Jeff points out, there's no need to worry about the language barrier. I studied with four teachers when I was in Japan AND did numerous workshops. Many of the players did not speak any English and it was never an issue. As long as you can get an introduction to the teacher and have someone make a schedule of lessons, you are set. It's also important to be mindful of the customs. A long deep bow (longer than your teacher) will take you far.
Jeff Cairns wrote:
I decided that from the beginning I wasn't going to follow my western sense to ask many questions and just listen, watch, imitate and practice.
I found this to be a great way of learning!
Namaste, Perry
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Ah crap! I forgot : ( I just got back from my lesson a few hours ago and just remembered.... I'll e-mail him instead and see what he says.
Sorry about that.
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Is there anyone to help a beginner in the Dallas/Fort Worth Texas area?
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