In this podcast, Tomo Akiyama, a fascinating expert linguist and well known Twitter user from Japan, discusses the difficulties of learning Japanese, common mistakes non-native speakers make, the importance of learning Japanese phrases, the connotations of 'nerd' and 'geek' in Japanese, the declining birth rate in Japan, the importance of speaking Japanese and setting goals for language learning, the limitations of Google Translate, the significance of katakanaization in Japanese, and the controversy of whitewashing in movies.
