TQ 052 Masato from Japan

Masato is only 20 years old, but he is on a round-the-world trip for six months! He is taking a break from his university studies so that he can travel and see new things. He is from Fukushima Prefecture, which is where the terrible earthquake and tsunami hit a few years ago. Listen as we talk about his trip, two interesting places (Kyoto, Japan and Mongolia) and Ramen noodles.

Please note that Masato speaks English with a strong Japanese accent. It might be hard for some of you to understand everything he says. This will be good practice in understanding someone with a strong accent. Like many Japanese, when he speaks English he often changes the "l" sound to an "r" sound. "I like" becomes "I rike", and "climbing" becomes "crimbing", for example. This is very common. When I told him about this problem, he thanked me and said he would work on it. He also says "How to say" a lot. My students do that, too. That is not correct English. You should say, "How do you say . . .?" Or, "How do you say it?"

Here are some words that he uses in the interview that you may not know: sophomore, gap year, tsunami, vast, nuclear radiation, sauce, Ramen noodles, shrine, dung, nomadic, nomad, Muslim hospitality.