randomwisdom.com

The plural form in English is very difficult for many language students to master, especially if their native language has no plural form. Most of the time it just sounds wrong, but plurals have some very subtle connotations that can change the meaning of a sentence substantially. Read the following sample sentences:

I like dogs.
I like dog.

The first is a statement about pet preference, and the second about your choice of cuisine. Sometimes the difference is more subtle:

Hamburger is enjoyed by many people.
Hamburgers are enjoyed by many people.

In this case it works, because "hamburger" is both a type of meat and a discrete countable food item. But usually it doesn't work:

Is pen used in outer space?
Are pens used in outer space?

The second sentence uses the plural form to express generality; a "pen" is a generic type of object which may or may not be used in space. But the first sentence doesn't use a plural, so when a native speaker reads the first sentence a specifier is required. Which pen? This pen? Your pen? The sentence as written is incorrect because that information is missing.

The complicated part is that some objects are discrete and countable, while others are not. This leads to much confusion. "Sushi" for some reason is not countable. Neither is "money"-- but you can count "dollars". "Rice" isn't discrete, but we can count "grains of rice". Animals are countable, but the meat product derived from them is not. Liquids are not countable, but containers and measurements of them are (and we go to great lengths to make plurals like "bottles of soda" or "gallons of gasoline"). Water of course isn't countable, but the waters of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers combine to flow into the Gulf of Mexico. Quite confusing, isn't it?

This morning I actually taught a middle school lesson as I wanted to for the first time. It was to a class of one, a "troublesome student" who doesn't want to study with the rest of her class. In my mind she's one of the smartest first years I've met; she's already figured out that the school system is largely a load of crap. The trouble wasn't that she thought this way-- many students slack off in class, fall asleep, or otherwise just tune out. But she actually said something about it, and she quietly maintains her position despite a lot of pressure from above. For this reason she's been put into a separate room by herself, because while she still comes to school I guess nobody really knows what to do with her. Another English teacher at the school described her as "haughty, with a superiority complex". She's a true independent thinker in a sea of drones.

The vice principal, figuring she's a lost cause and at least I couldn't do any harm, asked if I wanted to go in and talk to her this morning. I didn't speak a word of Japanese. Like any student I've met here she was nervous and afraid to make mistakes, but her pronunciation was actually pretty good. Using only hand gestures I got her to start thinking in English, just for a moment. The moment of clarity struck when I got her to not just repeat "My book, your book" but to use them correctly in context. After that I had her write her name on her textbook (which she hadn't opened or used yet) and taught her how to write uppercase and lowercase letters on a sheet of primer paper.

About halfway through the lowercase letters, after the vice principal had left the room, she stopped and made a remark in Japanese that she hated studying. I chuckled and agreed that studying was annoying, and asked her what her long term goals were. We talked for a bit about short term and long term goals, and I mentioned that in order to reach her long term goals, in the short term she would need to learn certain things in school and use those as stepping stones. I told her about my long term goals in teaching her English: speaking, listening, reading, and writing, and while I think she grasped the necessity of learning to write the alphabet, she also said that she has trouble keeping both her long term goals and short term goals in mind. We finished up quickly, and I told her that tomorrow we'd practice speaking some more.

I think that motivation is going to be the toughest part. Since she doesn't want to study, I think the best tactic is to couch things in a manner that isn't normal studying. Speaking and listening should be easy, but writing is going to be tough; I'm going to avoid directly using the textbook. I'm going to try to put into practice all the things I've wanted to-- speaking practice, using the language in context, phonics, getting her to think on her feet.... If I expect a lot I should get a lot. For the first time in awhile, I feel challenged.

Last Saturday, during the Golden Week break, I went to the Uesugi festival in Yonezawa. They hold a parade in Yonezawa every year with a parade and reenactment of a famous 1561 battle between the Takeda and Uesugi clans, the fourth battle of Kawanakayama. (Here's a wiki article with a really cool painting of it.)

Heather had told me about this festival a few days beforehand, and she convinced me to go along with her to see it. As it was also the first day of the Golden Week holidays, I was worried that the expressways would be crowded. So we wound up leaving at 6am, and got there 2 hours before the parade even started. We used the time to walk around and take photos of temples, but of course you've seen those before. At 10am the parade started, and then we had to wait around in the hot sun until the actual battle started around 3pm. But let's take a look at some authentic costumes, shall we?

Click on any cropped photo to view the full image.

The large matchlock gun these soldiers carry is called an "arquebus". In Japan, it came into use as a sort of field artillery in the 1500s before its use was banned during the Tokugawa era.

The face mask, or men, is quite a rare sight, as is the huge headpiece on the helmet.

Smoke and noisemaking arrows were often fitted to signal troops. Smoke from fire arrows could also provide concealment for troop movements.

The arquebus was a heavy and loud matchlock weapon, sounding more like a cannon than a modern firearm. As guns of that era lacked rifling the arquebus was very inaccurate, but if it hit at close range the shot would often pierce armor. Guns were never wielded by samurai; instead they were given to common foot soldiers who were then trained in their use.