I was born and raised in Central Florida. Went surfing at New Smyrna beach (just south of Daytona Beach) on the Atlantic coast every weekend. Took several deep sea fishing excursions and brought back a large blue marlin and numerous other fish.

While I was stationed in San Diego for Radioman A School training, I went down to La Jolla beach on the Pacific coast a couple of times.

Then they sent me to Norfolk, N.C. for satellite tracking schooling and I went to Willoughby Beach on the Atlantic coast again.

In Japan, I went to numerous beaches in most of the ports my ship was berthed at on both the Pacific coast and the Sea of Japan coast. Went to Pattaya Beach in Thailand more than just a few times on the Pacific coast.

And for the last 3.4 years of my 4 year tour in the Navy, I spent onboard ship living on the Pacific Ocean somewhere between Japan and Australia daily. 

And now, I live just a 10 minute drive from the Pacific ocean about 60 kilometers north of Tokyo so go surfing and deep sea fishing all the time.

So I guess you landlubbers who live too far to to get to the ocean quickly, a visit to even the Gulf of Mexico would be a real treat.

For me... I can't stay away from the ocean. 

FWIW

WALTER784 said:

So I guess you landlubbers who live too far to to get to the ocean quickly, a visit to even the Gulf of Mexico would be a real treat.

And that is about 10 hours of hard driving, which means a need to make it a few days to just get enough sleep to function after arriving, and then some recuperation time after getting back home.

But that' what the successors to Jacquez Cousteau are there for - to shoot high def video and cappers to grab so I can download and watch.

At least I can still handle going up to 11,600 feet MSL and not pass out, while those living at or very near sea level sometimes struggle with elevations around 3000 feet MSL.

Although even we would have difficulty even spending months to try and acclimatize to an elevation of 29,027 feet.

Do you have a Southern accent?

What body of water is closest to you?

Showtalk said...

Do you have a Southern accent?

Yes, but I rarely use it anymore. I basically only used it around my grandparents and other relatives.

My father has one but doesn't use it much himself.

And even though I've been in Japan over 40 years, I still haven't lost it.

I do occasionally use it though to baffle Japanese who speak fairly fluent English. LOL

FWIW

They can’t understand your accent? How do you speak Japanese with an American southern accent?

Showtalk said...

They can’t understand your accent? How do you speak Japanese with an American southern accent?

Ahhhh.... you've caught on to my little secret about speaking 5 languages.

I can speak French with an American accent, a Southern accent, a German accent, a Japanese accent and a French accent.

I can speak Japanese in an American accent, a Southern accent, a German accent, A French accent and a Japanese accent.

Etc. all the way down the line.

And oh, before I forget, I can speak English in an American accent, a Southern accent, a British accent, an Australian accent, a German accent, a Singaporean accent, an India accent, a Japanese accent and probably several other accents.

That's just it... it all boils down to pronunciation and whether you pronounce it properly so that they can understand or not.

Example: Pouvez-vous Français can be pronounced as Parlevou Fransay in English but the French will diss you for your pronunciation.

Ai canu speek Engulish uisu a Japanese akusento bato ito saunds sutorengi two Americans.

And there in is my secret for learning multiple languages. It's mainly in the pronunciation!

FWIW 

That would be fun to do.  I worked with a boy who was immersed in a Spanish public school,program but couldn’t read in English.  It became very clear almost immediately, he had learned to say his letters and to sound out words using a Spanish pronunciation for the vowels.  So I worked with him on English phonemes and taught him when he reads English words, to use English vowel pronunciations and when reading Spanish to use Spanish sounds.  The problem was fixed in three sessions.  He was 6 years old so young enough that it was easy to learn the difference.  He was also very hyperactive so the sooner I got done with him the better, not for me but for him.   

Now that you mention it... and because I had learned Spanish before I came to Japan, I realized this but vowel alignment for Spanish and Japanese are the same.

In English, it's A E I O U.

In Spanish, it's A I U E O.

In Japanese, it's also A I U E O.

FWIW

Spanish and Japanese use the same vowel sounds?