The N Word

I just had one of the most frustrating experiences in my life -- also known as my first private tutoring session with my Japanese language instructor.

After talking to my brother on Skype (he was mostly drunk, too boot) and listening to him roll off all kinds of crazy Japanese, I developed the incorrect impression of how easy or hard this was going to be. It was amazingly hard. Maybe if he would have just let me off the hook when it came to pronunciation, it might have been easier:

Tutor: Now, say this one (pointing to the sheet) -- a shi
Me: Ahh shee
Tutor: Try not to say the 'h' so much. Say A shi.
Me: Ahh sssheeee
Tutor: No, no. From the throat.
Me: Ahh Ssssherrrr
Tutor: Close, but pull your lips downward. Now, speak from the chin.
Me (making the ugliest face known to man): Awwwwwseerrrhb

And that was one damn syllable. I am supposed to memorize 70 words by next Monday. I can already tell I'm not going to have the time or patience to do this the right way.

I think later in the session, he could tell I was over it and tried to spice things up for me:

Tutor: So you always end a sentence with "ka" - that's how you know it is a question. Kind of like a question mark.
Me (yawning): Okay.
Tutor: You have probably heard people here in Hong Kong call Japanese people "deska deska deska" right?
Me (lying): Oh yeah, all the time.
Tutor: Well you really shouldn't use that term. It's kind of like saying n-i-g-e-r-o.
Me (now paying attention): Saying what?!
Tutor: You know, African American. N-i-g-e-r-o.

Maybe after this guy teaches me how to talk out of my chin, I can give him a few lessons on the correct spelling of curse words.