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Ken Tanaka: Effortless Japanese

Real life nihonjin Ken Tanaka teams up with Remi February to bring you really easy Japanese. You too can abbreviate your Japanese to sound like a native with the steps outlined in the video.

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Contributor Bio: Claytonian studies the Nihongoes in Saitama and blogs about Japan, Language, and News at The Hopeless Romantic.

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33 comments - What do you think? Posted by Claytonian - February 28, 2009 at 7:48 am

Categories: General Japan Tags:

Kitty

HA!
Sen

o my
dringo

I liked this part:

“Emi-chan, fuckking suki desu ka?”
“Fuckking suki desu ne.”

*lol* best vid I’ve seen today! haha
doodles

Its so painful to hear him speak english
ponta

I find other episodes funnier
Not that I find this video offensive but this Japanese woman might as well realize that the stereotype of Asian women as “sexually available ” is partly playing a part and being exploited in this “lesson”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotypes_of_East_and_Southeast_Asians_in_the_United_States#Hypersexuality

Ryry

I seriously think you’re reading into this too much.

ponta

1)There is a sterotype of Japanese woman as sexually available according to wikipedia .(see also “Yellow cab”)

2)She is plyaing the part as sexually available in one sense–namely in English at the same time she is not playing the part because in the video,she is not supposed to know what she is saying in English:she is just speaking Japanese.

3)Ken Tanaka use this ambiguity to make the video funny.

Thus the stereotype is in play, imo.

Ryry

Sorry, but when you say “according to wikipedia”, you lose a lot of credibility.
ponta

As you say, an wikipedia’s article is sometimes not credible but other times credible.
One of the reasons Japanese women found waiwai articles offensive is that they are creating, and reinforcing the stereotype.
The book “made in U.S.A” also confirms such stereotype exists.
http://www.ezipangu.org/japanese/navigation_j/nihonjin/emedia.html
Other Asians also confirms that　wiki’s article is likely to be true.

“All right! All right! Calm down, calm down” was always enough to placate the constantly bickering Scousers on Harry Enfield’s 1990s TV show. But it may not resolve the diplomatic row the comedian sparked yesterday after the Philippine ambassador in London accused him of racism and making light of sexual exploitation.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/08/philippines.comedy

hl

Where’s your mind? Remi is talking about going to First Kitchen for hamburgers. Sometimes restaurants like that are an acquired taste.

But I guess that Ken is one of those non-carnivorous Japanese guys that everybody’s talking about now.

_kovert

Kind of funny but I was put off by this guys accent.
Is he making fun of the Japanese or is he not a native English speaker?

_kovert

Never mind, should have googled that before commenting.
I guess he is actually from Japan.

ponta

He is David Ury, an American actor.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1352845/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kktnfg2Xs70

In a way he is making fun of the Japanese accent,but I for one find that part funny.

_kovert

Meh after seeing that I think I just find him annoying. What’s the point of the accent anyway.
ponta

What’s the point of the accent anyway.

It is supposed to be funny. Some Japanese might find it offensive. I am Japanese and I find it funny. Not that I speak English well but Ken’s accent is exactly the way I speak, (perhaps he is better.)
Humor occurs when the perceiver thinks that
things in the situation ought to be a certain way — and
cares about it — and that is Violated at the same time the perceiver has in mind a predominating view of the situation as being Normal(Veatch’s Theory of Humor)
I accept my English accent as it is, but still something is wrong, Ken’s accent make it obvious. I am not speaking English. Ken is speaking on the video. I have a sufficient enough distance to laugh at it .

But I can understand that there might be some people who find it annoying.

We’ve had a discussion before.

http://www.japanprobe.com/?p=3479

_kovert

But I can understand that there might be some people who find it annoying.

In fact it’s difficult to listen to. I would have found it more humorous without the accent.

This reminds me of a discussion I had with a Japanese friend of mine. We were discussing the differences in what Japanese and westerners find to be funny. One thing that I learned is that the Japanese (according to him) love comedy were people say things in a “funny” voice. Like that can make something funny that would not normally be funny.

I believe the American audience is exactly the opposite and most (like myself) find that using voices to try and make something funny is just not going to get a big reaction.

I could be rambling and might have no idea what I am talking about but maybe there is something to it. Either way this is what your comment brought to mind.

ponta

Thanks

One thing that I learned is that the Japanese (according to him) love comedy were people say things in a “funny” voice.

This is a little off the topic, but I echo your Japanese freind of yours.
But isn’t it also the case that westerners find funny voice funny?
“Dutch TV presenter wont stop laughing”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X1VIyZe3Ws

_kovert

But isn’t it also the case that westerners find funny voice funny?
“Dutch TV presenter wont stop laughing”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X1VIyZe3Ws

Well the thing that makes this skit funny is the hosts reaction to the guy with the silly voice (not the guy with the silly voice). In another context it might not be funny. Also I think most people when they see this clip for the first time they do not realize it is a comedy skit, and that kind of sells it. If you know the set up before watching it’s not nearly as funny.

I do see your point though. And there are examples of western comedy succeeding using a funny voice. But I believe in most cases it’s gimmicky, and might be funny for a short time but people grow tired of it quickly.

Although my Japanese is a bit limited I did begin to notice that this seems to be a standard feature of Japanese comedy I see on the television here.

Sorry about the sidetrack, I just found the topic to be very interesting.

ponta

Yeah, it is an interesting topic. Thank you for the contribution.

Rob A

Oh hells no. “Fua-kin ga ichiban suki desu yo!” I can’t tell if it’s a joke or not, but damn it’s funny. It makes it exponentially funnier to hear an American look-alike speak with such a thick accent like that.
K.

This is hilarious. I just wasted a lot of time watching more of their videos on youtube. They’re both good actors, I love fake stuff like this that’s actually borderline convincing. Reminds me of the Great JT Leroy hoax.
http://macdavidpro.com MacDavid

That last one would have any native English speaker rolling on the floor laughing. It sounding like they were saying the f-bomb. Too funny!
http://www.japannewbie.com Harvey

These guys are absolutely hilarious! I love it!

ponta

Let’s enjoy blackface next likewise.

Eddie

Only complete nerds would find this funny.
http://l33tminion.livejournal.com/ L33tminion

Wow, they really ran that joke into the ground.
Nick

he sounded very much japanese. Let’s do fucking together? haha
Donym Sue

A little hackneyed, but funny nevertheless.

People really need to stop getting their panties in a fix over things like this. Geez, such humor isn’t meant to be malicious anyway – its rather absurd to take it like an attack on whatever cultural meanings and values you might value.

Eddie

It’s more to do with the fact that they’re both ugly. Ugly people are offensive, they hurt people’s eyes.

joshing

He has a spot-on accent mixed with a muppet baby’s voice… he scares me.
This video was humorous. Someone needed to make fun of how First Kitchen is called Fah-kin. Some people call it Fa-kichi instead, which sounds better, I think… although kichi has a bad meaning as well. In all honesty, I think the best solution would be for everyone to stop eating that slop altogether.
illy

that ken guy sounded like such a DOUCHE!! so annoying
http://www.zdwonline.de Haf

If he can speak fluent English, then I wish he’d do so in the videos, because I think he’s quite hard to understand that way, and in my perception, the accent doesn’t really add anything. Even if it’s just meant to be a funny parody, it’s still meant to make fun of a Japanese video lesson for English-speaking people, doesn’t it?

Mary Althaus wouldn’t put up with thing like that!
http://denpanosekai.blogspot.com denpanosekai

Thank god it’s not just me.

Ken Tanaka: Effortless Japanese

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