betsu ni (nothing in particular)

Like many of my coworkers, Sayuri-san speaks English well enough to carry on a conversation with either myself or Robin. But, like most everyone, she’s unnecessarily apologetic for her “lack” of ability. To be honest, I’m the one who feels like a dork; I know much more Japanese than the average American, yet I’ve never studied the language seriously enough to feel comfortable conversing in it while I’m here. Sayuri-san shouldn’t apologize for her poor English. Rather, I should be apologizing for my poor Japanese!

Of course, even when I do speak in Japanese, I’m often met with blank stares (or startled looks). And I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve started speaking to someone in Japanese, only to receive an English response. The role reversal is really bizarre at times.

August 11, 2005 | 2:51 PM | Posted in Life, Photography, Places

Comments

Mohammad | August 11, 2005 | 11:39 PM

Lost in Translation ^_^

I think the Japanese acknowledge the fact that their language is hard to learn (at least relatively). We all remember how some of them complain that they can’t remember a certain kanji character. That’s why they find a foreigner who knows Japanese to be rather fascinating (and weird). Some of them may also feel guilty when they see a foreigner speak Japanese in front of them even though he is not fluent in the language and so they start to speak in English to relieve him/her of that burden.

phossil | August 17, 2005 | 12:44 AM

Lost in Translation 2 ^_^

Japanese is in fact a very difficult language, so i guess they realize English is very easy and they try very hard to speak in English. Probably thats why theyre apologizing every time they sense a mistake.

^_^

Young Wayne | August 23, 2005 | 4:50 AM

I’ve heard that as a foreigner you don’t want to act like you know a lot about japanese language and culture even if you know a lot, because that can be seen as being cocky, for the lack of better words.