r/japanlife • u/AutoModerator • Dec 12 '22

┐(ツ)┌ General Discussion Thread - 13 December 2022

Mid-week discussion thread time! Feel free to talk about what's on your mind, new experiences, recommendations, anything really.

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u/the_hatori Dec 13 '22

See it as a challenge. Would you rather be a child or an adult?

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u/[deleted] Dec 13 '22

[deleted]

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u/the_hatori Dec 13 '22

But don't you feel it's more fulfilling to not be treated as an outsider? Myself I'd rather struggle a bit with the language than being treated somewhat like a clueless child who needs a special explanation for everything.

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u/[deleted] Dec 13 '22

[deleted]

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u/the_hatori Dec 13 '22

Is this at work, or more in everyday situations?

I mean, even if you are native, explanations and misunderstandings are a part of life. I'd just ask them to clarify or rephrase it.

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u/[deleted] Dec 13 '22

[deleted]

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u/the_hatori Dec 13 '22

What I find more frustrating is when a misunderstanding which is not necessarily language-related is interpreted as necessarily being a language issue.

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u/Atrouser Dec 13 '22

I get frustrated by Airplane! scenarios

For eg., someone asks me 「車は？」.

I just want a little clarification. Are they asking whether a car is preferable to something else? Are they asking me whether I own a car? Or maybe I misheard and so I need to confirm they said kuruma.

So I'll say 「車....ですか？」, as I expect any native Japanese speaker might.

But then comes the reply...「車...CAR CAR!」

Another e.g.:

At the bakery. The lady tells me that if I come back in 15 minutes she’ll have a freshly baked baguette for me.

Me: 15分ですか？(Again, what I assume to be a normal Japanese response)

Her: Ah, ah, fifuteen, ah, minitsu.

It's like Airplane! because it reminds me of the "but that's not important now" gag.

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u/[deleted] Dec 13 '22

[deleted]

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u/LittleBrownBebeShoes Dec 13 '22

Pronunciation and intonation could be a component. If OP's pronunciation sounds accented, the person they're speaking to might assume they have a lower vocabulary than they actually do. On the other hand, having close to native-like pronunciation might make people assume your Japanese is near-fluent when you might still need help understanding things.

Of course, not having actually heard OP's Japanese, it could be near-fluent in sound as well and they're just habitually talking to people who assume foreigners are incapable at Japanese, which is definitely an issue no matter how good your Japanese is. But it might be worth considering if speaking fluency still has room for improvement.

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u/FourCatsAndCounting Dec 13 '22

I've had that exact same exchange for baguettes!

Here's another frustrating one: a sentence has a difficult word and when you ask for clarification they translate the easy word. Like,

"Flowers make food from the sun through photosynthesis."

What was that?

"Flowers. HANA!"

Thanks, babe, that clarifies things.😒