In my last video, I talked about how Japanese people would feel uncomfortable announcing “I’m a tennis player” “I’m an artist.” It’s those occupations that you can be in heart, but you’ll need to be making a living from if you want others to buy into your claim. So if you do make a living from writing or making art, how do Japanese people say it? 田中さんは何されてるんですか？ Tanaka-san wa nani sareterundesuka? So what do you do, Tanaka-san? イラストレーターの端くれをやっております。 Ilasutore-ta- no hashikure wo yatteorimasu. I’

The biggest shock I experienced back when I was learning English was when I saw a particular sentence in a textbook. Two middle schoolers were introducing themselves and one of them said something like, “Hi, I’m Tod. I’m a tennis player.” No, you’re not. You just started tennis like a year ago. What sane mind would give yourself the same label as Federer and Nadal? His introduction came out that way probably because the language was watered down for language learners. A sane mind would say, “Hi,