Path: ccsf.homeunix.org!ccsf.homeunix.org!news1.wakwak.com!nf1.xephion.ne.jp!onion.ish.org!onodera-news!newsfeed.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp!newsfeed.icl.net!newsfeed.fjserv.net!newsfeed.freenet.de!news-feed1.de1.concert.net!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!yahoobb218120102020.bbtec.NET!not-for-mail From: Eric Takabayashi Newsgroups: fj.life.in-japan Subject: Re: Naturalization process for France Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 23:27:24 +0900 Lines: 25 Message-ID: <3FA665CC.C570CD50@yahoo.co.jp> References: <3FA4DCBB.C7681EC7@yahoo.co.jp> <94a6da7.0311030149.521cc808@posting.google.com> <5uicqvggrper0h77br2o4ufuiccsf7qbf4@4ax.com> Reply-To: etakajp@yahoo.co.jp NNTP-Posting-Host: yahoobb218120102020.bbtec.net (218.120.102.20) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-2022-jp; x-mac-type="54455854"; x-mac-creator="4D4F5353" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: news.uni-berlin.de 1067869783 41965208 218.120.102.20 (16 [138107]) X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.79 (Macintosh; U; PPC) X-Accept-Language: ja,en Xref: ccsf.homeunix.org fj.life.in-japan:7228 Chris Kern wrote: > On 3 Nov 2003 01:49:23 -0800, rcaetano7@yahoo.com (Rafael Caetano) > posted the following: > > >The funny thing is that all this discussion (between Eric and cc) > >started with a misconception. Namely, that to be fluent in Japanese > >you need to "understand 100% of the Japanese culture". Nonsense. > >Speaking a language fluently means being able to speak it naturally, > >"smoothly", without unnatural pauses, etc. I know many people who > >speak fluent Japanese but who don't understand "100% of Japanese > >culture", whatever that means. > > I think that few, if any, native Japanese speakers could be said to > understand "100% of Japanese culture". Would even 50% be possible? > I'm not sure. I am sure it is not possible for an average human being, as we are not walking encyclopedias, computers or libraries. But there must be for example, some Japanese equivalent of _The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know_ (but note even such volumes are called "thumnails", "lists" or a"basic reference") which people can strive for.