With over 25 years of work put into it, Vile Parle-based educator Sneha Asaikar’s pioneering dictionary project bridges the gap between the complex language of Japan and Marathi with a simple dictionary
Asaikar travelled to Goto Islands in Nagasaki to learn O Shuji calligraphy
When it comes down to the details, it is easy to see the similarities between Japan and Maharashtra. It is more than just tea. This week, Vile Parle-resident Sneha Asaikar will release Kakehashi Nihongo Jiten — a comprehensive dictionary of 10000 words — that bridges the gap between Japanese, Marathi, and English languages.
Crossing streams
Sneha Asaikar. Pics Courtesy/Sneha Asaikar
The work is a product of a lifelong love for the Japanese language that began in the early ’90s, we learn. “I am actually a Science student, you know,” Asaikar reveals, surprising us. “I studied BSc in Microbiology, and then did my Masters in it. But I was always good at languages. Back then, French and German were the most popular ones. But a friend of mine was learning Japanese, and they suggested I should give it a try,” the educator says casually.
Illustrated panels from the dictionary
It led to a career that has spanned over 25 years as a professional teacher and trainer in the language. “We used to learn at the Indo-Japanese Association in Fort in those days. We had a native Japanese professional, Mr Sasaki who would teach us there,” she recalls. Asaikar would go on to travel to Japan thrice on scholarship from the Japan Foundation, and even spend a month in the Goto islands in the Nagasaki prefecture. “I learnt the tea ceremonies and O Shuji [Japanese calligraphy],” she shares.
Breaking it down
The term Kakehashi Nihongo Jiten quite simply refers to a bridge; suitably apt for a dictionary. She started putting together the words in 2008, but had to restart after an issue with the Marathi font. “The dictionary has 10000 words, written in the Hiragana script and kanji [a pictorial script]. Each word is followed by its Devanagari translation,” the 65-year-old adds.
A view of a framed piece of calligraphy by Asaikar
It is this Devanagari connection that makes the dictionary a rare, one-of-a-kind moment. “Even when I first started learning, the similarities in the language and the way it was used struck me as familiar. For instance, Japanese is often spoken with partial sentences. You do not repeat the subject of the conversation again and again. Much like we speak in Marathi or Hindi,” she explains.
The invite captures the two languages prominent in the dictionary
But words and grammar are a limited part of a language. There is much more to it, we point out. Pat comes the question from Asaikar, “Do you speak Marathi? It will be easier to explain.” This follows a quiet but detailed explanation in Marathi about the nature of social grammar. “You see, like us, Japan has a tradition of politeness, respect for elders, and layers of language. In Marathi, there is Tu, Tumhi, and Apan. Japanese is similar. There are different words for the same term in different contexts — business, social, and familial. The dictionary has fewer business terms, but I have tried to include and point out the others,” she explains. Then, there is the use of particles — connectors that often bridge words, not unlike prepositions.
The Asian connection
Having taught at the Indo-Japanese Association and later at her own institute, Sachi Nihongo Gakko, founded in 2001, Asaikar’s observations stem from extensive experience. She even tried it out as an experiment with willing students using Marathi as the bridge language. “It cut down the teaching time to 50 per cent,” she reveals.
Asaikar says, “It is not the script, but the rhythm. When I started thinking in Marathi, I noticed it was easier to use Japanese. They have very similar grammatical forms. For instance, you’d say ‘I go to school’ in English. The verb precedes the object noun. Whereas in Marathi, you say ‘Mee shaalela jaato’. Here, the object noun precedes the verb. Much like in Japanese.”
The book is set to be launched in Pune, in collaboration with the Japanese Language Teachers’ Association of Pune (JALTAP), on September 20. This will be followed by a launch in Mumbai on October 18. Asaikar says, “My institute completes 25 years this year. It [Japanese] is a fascinating language, and a simple one at that.”
Whatsapp: 9821334455 (for details about the book)
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