Japanese teacher of Kazakh language at KazNU

Among foreign teachers teaching at the Faculty of Oriental Studies of the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, there are many teachers who speak Kazakh.

Most foreign citizens who have arrived in Kazakhstan learn Kazakh and try to communicate with the local population in Kazakh. Most of them, especially linguists, aim to learn Kazakh. Among them is Mr. Takashi Ninomiya, a Japanese language teacher. Mr. Takashi Ninomiya from Japan's University of Tsukuba started teaching Japanese language at the Department of Oriental Studies since May 2014 at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. Takashi Ninomiya's specialty is linguistics, focusing on Arabic and Semitic languages. In his doctoral studies, he studied the phonetics of a Semitic language called "Jibbari in Oman" and the lexicon and grammar of a Cushitic language called "Hadiya in Ethiopia".

After defending his doctoral dissertation, his supervisor's colleague Professor Usuyama Toshinobu offered Ninomiya Takashi to work in the office of the University of Tsukuba in Central Asia. Then he would familiarize himself with information about the Republic of Kazakhstan and come to Almaty. Ninomiya Takashi was a little upset at first because he did not understand Kazakh and Russian. Since September 2014, he has been studying the Kazakh language for two years at the Faculty of Pre-University Education of Kazan (VUZ) and continues to work in Kazakhstan. "I studied Kazakh language at the Faculty of Higher Education and taught Japanese at the Faculty of Oriental Studies during the day. In the first year Ms. Gulbagiza Musayeva taught Kazakh, and in the second year Ms. Raihan Duisenbayeva taught Japanese. When I studied the language, I was interested in Kazakh grammar and pragmatics. Currently, I am interested in researching auxiliary verbs in Kazakh and comparative studies in Kazakh and Russian," says Takashi Ninomiya.

After mastering the Kazakh language and gaining some experience, he was more often invited for interviews for television and radio as a foreign citizen. During the interview, the audience of journalists asked: "Why did you choose Kazakh, how did you learn the language?". Prof. Usuyama warned that the people of Kazakhstan speak Kazakh and Russian, and advised to learn Kazakh in the future, saying: "in Kazakhstan, the Kazakh language will be more important than Russian in the future. So if you want to stay in Kazakhstan longer, learning Kazakh will be useful for you, and it will be useful for you to talk to cab drivers". Following the professor's advice, Mr. Takashi not only often talked to the drivers when he later got into a cab, but also always introduced himself in Kazakh, told them what country he was Japanese from, had a habit of setting up store, and finally learned Kazakh quickly.

Takashi Ninomiya was born in the village of Ichinomiya near the city of Nagoya. The town has a population of about 379,000. "A few years ago I went to my country, visited my parents, and three months later I came back, missing Kazakhstan," Takashi Ninomiya said. According to him, "in Japan all conditions are created, close to relatives, but a person who recognized the Kazakh country, does not want to leave there, and such a country as darkhan kazak, there are practically no traditions, food, hospitality and inherent steppe philosophy. Kazakhstan is just like a native country for me".

Mr. Takashi had recently married a Kazakh girl. -I don't know how to do it," I said. - I don't know how to do it. It turns out that such weddings do not take place in the Japanese country, and the relatives do not seem to get along. Mr. Takashi's Kazakh-speaking wife has a good command of Japanese and is a teacher. After learning Kazakh, Mr. Takashi, who is now a Kazakh son-in-law, teaches Kazakh to other Japanese people. He uses Kazakh not only in his daily life, but also at work and while teaching. Now he gives lectures and prepares reports in Kazakh on Japanese culture and society at the Faculty of Oriental Studies, Faculty of Higher Education, Faculty of International Relations, Faculty of Philosophy and Political Science, as well as at the Scientific Orda, National Library.

For the last ten years he has written about 20 reports and articles in Kazakh language, scientific works, published in Japanese books "elementary level of practical Kazakh language", "basic Kazakh-Russian dictionary: issues of writing and communication". Today Takashi Ninomiya teaches undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students. His students participate in linguistics competitions and regularly win prizes. Every year, students from the faculty visit Japanese universities on programs such as double-diploma and academic mobility to consolidate knowledge and gain experience. Already this year, 20 students of the faculty have been sent to educational institutions in the country of the rising sun.

Mr. Takashi has big plans on close acquaintance with Kazakhstan, Kazakh culture.

The professor noted that in the future he would like to specially visit the sights of Kazakhstan, visit all cities and try Caspian sea fish.

We wish success in further plans of Ninomiya Takashi, who speaks Kazakh language, teaching Japanese language at the Faculty of Oriental Studies of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.

Prepared by the journalist Gul BAYANDINA