Writers Read Their Early Sh*t Podcast

I recently had the chance to be a guest on the fantastic Writers Read Their Early Sh*t podcast hosted by the amazing Jason Emde.

We talked about the world of online travel writing along with a range of interesting topics such as the coolest places to visit in Japan and whether Aussie space-rockers The Church are the best band to ever come out of Australia. We also had a chance to delve into some of my very early blog writing.

Today, Jason has returned the favour by guest posting on Japan Australia to tell us all about his wonderful new podcast, but before we get into all of that, let’s find out a little about the man himself.

Jason was born in Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada, and grew up in the Okanagan Valley. He received his BA from UBC in 1995 and moved to Japan, where he taught English to students of all age groups. He also bartended, edited scientific journals, officiated at hundreds of weddings, played bass in a KISS tribute band, made amateur films, won his debut boxing match by TKO in the second round, and traveled extensively in Japan, the rest of Asia and Europe. His first book, “My Hand’s Tired & My Heart Aches: Letters from Japan 1995-2005,’ was published by Kalamalka Press in 2005.

A young Jason Emde in the middle 

Now, let’s hear from Jason about the inspiration for the Writers Read Their Early Sh*t podcast.

The idea for the Writers Read Their Early Sh*t podcast first came to me while I was working on my Master’s Degree in Creative Writing and happened to read a poem I wrote in elementary school about a tree. It wasn’t much of a poem (“Emphatic!” reads my teacher’s only comment) and I realized—or remembered—that all writers, famous and obscure, are probably sitting on treasure troves of undeft early work, shitty first drafts, and undeveloped and unsophisticated efforts, all of it stuck in a box in some closet or drawer. I know I am: there are whole filing cabinets back in my hometown overflowing with frothing journals, notebooks full of utterly pretentious waffle and twaddle, stacks of mind-humpingly primitive poetry, and old letters full of flatulent bombast and smut. Some of those early attempts and experiments, I thought, might do at least three things when exposed to the air: provide a charming autobiographical snapshot of the writer, with space for entering into friendly relations with early ineptitude or artistic immaturity; encourage considering everything an experiment, and release some artistic pressure; and do their splendid to entertain. Early, unripe work might provide an opportunity to confront a former version of oneself, and maybe even forgive him or her, and it might delight and divert other artists, no matter what stage of the game they’re at. That, in any case, was the idea.

I launched the podcast in the summer of 2021 and have interviewed—and vastly enjoyed the early sh*t of—poets like Sarah Tsiang and James Tyler Russell, songwriters like David White and Dave Antich (otherwise known as DJ Max in Tokyo, who provides all of the podcast’s music), memoirists like Victoria Taylor, novelists like Adam Lewis Schroeder, and travel writers like John Asano from Japan Australia. One legendary episode featured my sister, Alison Emde, reading gems from her teenage journals. The conversations so far have been freewheeling and funny and unpretentious and intimate and moving, fueled by a love of language, a fascination with craft, and a kind of broad-minded sympathy. There have also been digressions into such things as literary pilgrimages, the best and worst punctuation marks, macrame soap holders, secretly rooting for the monkey, how The Church is (possibly) the best band Australia ever produced, why Japan is so ace, and kabuki thunder-rockers KISS. I’m very much looking forward to talking to more writers of all kinds (and all levels of success and achievement) and exploring the occasionally unruly pleasures of their early, wet-behind-the-ears work.

You can listen to all the episodes of the podcast at the Writers Read Their Early Sh*t podcast page, and give Jason and the podcast a follow on both Facebook and Instagram. 

Study Japanese with Nihongo Master

I have been studying Japanese for over 20 years now and in my time, I have discovered a lot of helpful books, amazing websites, and useful applications to make that studying process that little bit more fun and engaging.

The biggest challenge for me has always been trying to stay motivated when being bogged down in all the books. I truly believe that one of the best ways to stay motivated is by having fun with the language. After all, you are more likely to remember something and retain it if you are enjoying the study process while having a blast.

I am also a very competitive person and like to test myself by setting goals, whether that be an upcoming Japanese test, or simply beating my friends in Japanese.

One of the best resources that I have found for studying Japanese is Nihongo Master, a fantastic Japanese learning website to help you study Japanese in a fun and easy way.

Here are a few reasons why I like Nihongo Master:

The curriculum has been designed by native Japanese instructors, so you know that you are getting the best Japanese possible. People new to the Japanese language, can start with the introductory lessons to learn the basics of reading, writing and speaking Japanese. There are hundreds of lessons for all levels of language learners from beginners to advanced.

The audio is also produced by native Japanese speakers, which is perfect to get your pronunciation just right and sounding natural. You can listen to the correct pronunciation from the audio, then use the microphone button to record your own pronunciation of the word or sentence and compare it to the native speaker by playing back your voice. It is a really cool way to improve your pronunciation. I found it really useful for nailing those hard to say words or phrases. 

The drill system helps you learn new words and Kanji quickly and simply. The study drills use spaced repetition (SRS), a learning technique that involves reviewing and recalling information at optimal spacing intervals until the information is learned at a sufficient level. This method of learning has been proved to accelerate your mastery of vocabulary. 

The drills allow you to learn in the fastest way possible. As your studying accelerates new drills unlock. The learning is also supported by periodic quizzes, a key to help challenge and motivate your language acquisition. 

One of the best features for me is the Kanji look-up dictionary. This dictionary contains over 150,000 words and 13,000 kanji and is a great tool to look up Japanese words, or English words to find the correct Japanese equivalent.

Users can also print and customize handy character practice sheets and study word lists.

The site is set up like a competition with points and achievements making it challenging as well as highly motivating. As you take the drills and quizzes, you score points based on how well you do. Earn enough points and you will soon move up to the next level.

One of the extra benefits of using Nihongo Master for me is the fantastic community of friendly Japanese language students on the website. There are other Japanese learners there who are always willing to help and answer any questions that you may have.

The website also has a blog, which is useful for anyone looking for how-to articles, Japanese cultural tips, Japanese language lessons and much more.

They have some really interesting articles on learning Japanese such as “How to Shorten the Time to Learn Japanese” and “Top 10 Japanese Animal Noises you should learn right now!”

Nihongo Master also have their own YouTube channel and a popular podcast to help you learn Japanese on the go.

If you are looking to learn Japanese, improve your current Japanese level, or simply just need some extra motivation like me, Nihongo Master is the right tool for you.