Newspaper Page Text
I
■ JUST FOR YOU
Could you repeat that? If you're having trouble communicating,
you can have your hearing and speech checked at the Tate
Student Center on Tuesday. Screenings are from 9 a.m. to 12
p.m. In Rooms 143 and 144. Students and faculty screened free.
Quadralingual professor teaches Japanese
By JENNIFER PETERSON
Staff Writer
PROFILE
Dezao Benedek ia an extremely
soft-spoken man, but, given the
chance, he can talk your ear off in
juat about any language you pleaae.
Benedek, a professor of compara
tive literature, grew up in
Transylvania, where four languages
are spoken regularly.
“1 grew up quadralingual, so I
didn’t really know they were differ
ent,’ he said. “I just realized I had to
swear differently with different kids.
“It launched me on my way as
as language learning is concerned
He is.fluent in about 121
including English, Ja
German, Rumanian, Chinese
Russian.
In addition to teaching compara
tive literature, Benedek is the coordi
nator of Asian languages in the
College of Arts and Sciences.
and
He taught himself to speak
Japanese at age 17 by using a book Dr. Deszo Benedek, professor of comparative literature, teaches Japanese using the com-
n* "The^iibra^vTOuidnTiend^out^iw puter program he developed in order to devote more class time to writing characters.
book because there was only one copy,* Benedek
said. “So I copied the book into a very large nota
book. I look at it with great noetalgia now. r
Since there were no native Japanese people in
his hometown, Benedek learned the pronuncia
tion from shortwave radio reports out of Tokyo.
Then one day a Japanese traveler got off at
train station in Transylvania and Benedek
him.
"I took him home and kept him for about a
month," he said. That was the first time I spoke
Japanese to a Japanese person."
The man was quite surprised to find him so
fluent, Benedek said. “He said I talked like his
grandfather, so I knew it was a very old book I
had used," he said.
Benedek has been to Japan several times and
speaks of the country and the people with great
affection.
He said he is still learning about the language
every day.
“Learning Japanese is a lifetime job, especial
ly for someone who doesn't live there," he said.
Every foreign language contains easy and
hard parts about learning to understand it, he
said.
“In Japanese, grammar and reading are fair
ly easy, but polite language is difficult to master,"
he said. Polite language in Japanese requires dif
ferent forms of address used for different status-
For example, people address their bosses,
their friends and their employees in three com-
ent wayq
language]
ronmenk
Chiq
grammar j
language!
jation ik
me to the 1
has degrees in comparative literature and cul
tural anthropology.
He teaches classjMf^|u>anese, using a
Macintosh computo^nvram developed with
the help of native mpaMse stJaents.
“I realized thaA/fc^ch aWour areas of lan
guage - speaking, IWwning^ading and writing
- you need classroom time, he said. So the so
lution was to remove reading and writing from
the
Ben
teach
opposite, he
but ho
versity in 1'
clasi
time and put it on
ter won’t
d.
still
substitute,
a, a gradui
from Japan,
and hel
ter, he said.
id
to pronounce words
the character on the screen.
program n
Is for the students as they see
Students are required to practice twice a week
for 30 minutes on the computers, but many stu
dents ask for more time, she said.
"It keeps a record of all the students’ mistakes
so the teacher can see where they have prob-
* ms," Mtyima said.
The program won the 1990
UCOM/NCRIPTAL Higher Education
Software Award for Distinguished Software in
Foreign Language.
He said students from a wide range of majors
are interested in the classes, including business,
journalism and law.
"If you look at the role of Japan in today’s
world, it’s absolutely clear they are long-term
partners in so many things," Benedek said.
Benedek, along with others at the University,
have established a one-to-one exchange student
program with Japanese students. Six University
students are in Japan on the program now.
“The student is sucked into mainstream
Japanese society and from day one learns what
it means to be Japanese," he said.
Studying in Japan is so expensive that a
whole year’s tuition at Georgia wouldn’t buy one
semester in a Japanese university, he said. The
student pays his or her regular tuition for the
University, but goes to Japan. The Japanese stu
dent uses that tuition to attend here.
New format
Canting tU 4.00 every night
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1992 BENEFIT
KQOS
TOURNAMENT
for the
ATHENS AREA HOMELESS SHELTER
Tuesday, May 12th
11:30-3:00
Tate Center Plaza
WHAT IS KOOS? Koos is the
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is unknown, although it is confirmed to be sev
eral thousand years old. The object of the
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Its unique board design, 28 playing pieces,
and 4 sided dice offers challenge and excite
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strategists and rediscover the art of enjoy
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For more info call #546-6304
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Games available at Gizmos (downtown Athens) and
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The Red and Black « Thursday, May 14,1992 • 8
YOU
■ APPLAUSE
Grad student wins fellowship
Kim Conger, a gradu
ate student in advertising,
won the Cox International
Fellowship Abroad. The
fellowship awards $10,000
to an undergraduate or
graduate student to travel
anywhere he or she wants
to go.
"It's up in the air, but
I’d like to work at an ad-
vertising agency in
London or Prague," said
Conger, who is from
Dayton, Ohio. "It depends
on where I get a job, but
any European city really."
Applicants must sub-
mit proposals about what
they would like to do dur
ing their travels abroad.
This award marks the
third year the fellowship
has been given.
Professor competes for magazine award
Robert Rhoades, the head of the anthropology department, is one
of 77 finalists in the 1992 National Magazine Awards. “It’s sort of
like the Academy Awards," he said. “Being one of the finalists is
an honor in itself." Rhoades was nominated for his “National
Geographic" article titled, “World’s Food Supply at Risk." It was
published in March 1991 and nominated for public interest and
general excellence.
Senior honored by Georgia Legislature
University senior Geoffrey Dillard was honorea by the Georgia
Legislature at its sixth annual Academic Recognition Day for aca
demic and personal achievement. One student from each school
in the University System was chosen for the honor. Dillard re
ceived a certificate and a copy of the resolution passed by the leg
islature.
Students win Phi Kappa Phi scholarships
Twelve University students are winners of the 1992 Phi Kappa Phi
undergraduate scholarships. They are: David Bain, Michael
Besselman, Andrea Bottoms, Stephen Bullock, Sara Guest,
Michael P. Jones, Kimberly McClain, Eric Overby, Jennifer Rubin,
Paige Ruseell, Katherine A. Smith and Julie Steiner.
- Jennifer Peterson
If you or someone you know is celebrating a recent personal achieve
ment, please let us know. Send announcements in care of
*Applause* to 123 N. Jackson St, Athens, GA, 30601, or call 543-
1809. Be sure to include a reproduction-quality black-and-white
photograph.
• Spacious Apartments
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• On Bus Line
• On-Site Laundry
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549-4884
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features:
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Townhomes & Flats
Cable T. V. Ceiling Fans Mini-Blinds
• Clubhouse w/ Planned • Student Sen/ices Center
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548-1188
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From: Campus, Tate Center
Downtown, The Stadium
And Buslines!
Williams Street
(Next to O'Malley's)