On Saturdays I volunteer at the Shiraishi Island Kindergarten, where I teach English at high volume. That's because Japanese kindergarten students are taught to shout everything in unison. So, a simple "good morning" becomes "GOOD MORNING!" Multiply that by 15 students and it's kind of like an alarm clock.

However, this could be handy if any of these students should ever travel to the United States, where people speak English much louder than in other countries. In the U.S., even if someone is in the same car with you, you still have to shout. This is because in the U.S., holding a conversation is done simultaneously while doing something else more important, such as ordering an Egg McMuffin at the drive-through window while listening to your favorite CD. Conversation is something that happens accidentally. I also suspect that Americans are born with megaphones implanted under their tongues that are automatically turned on when they sit down at a table in a restaurant.

But if my kindergartners are any indication of the future, soon Japan will no longer be a country where you can walk into a room of 100 people and hear a pin drop. Nor will you be able to walk into a restaurant and hear the entire conversation of the American sitting across the room. Instead, you'll hear "GOOD MORNING!"