So strict
Since when did Japanese people become so strict? I already knew that they were. But I was really surprised.
http://lang-8.com/101433/journals/311408/%E3%80%8C%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E3%81%A7%E3%81%AF%E8%8B%B1%E8%AA%9E%E3%81%8C%E7%AC%AC%E4%B8%80%E5%84%AA%E5%85%88%E3%81%A7%E3%81%9D%E3%81%AE%E6%AC%A1%E3%81%8C%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E8%AA%9E%E3%81%A7%E3%81%99%E3%81%A8%E3%81%84%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%81%BE%E3%81%97%E3%81%9F%E3%80%82%E3%80%8D%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%93%E3%81%A8%E3%81%AE%E6%84%9F%E6%83%B3
Actually I'm going to translate some people's comments on another blog into English, because I have nothing to write today, but I still want to write something.
The entry's title was, "The no.1 priority in China is to learn English, and then Japanese.". The author is a young Chinese woman who is learning Japanese. From her profile, it seems that she is really into manga. She said that she doesn't agree with this opinion in her entry. She wants to put a priority on learning Japanese rather than English, because Japan and China share many cultural similarities. Her Japanese is really casual, which I just envy. But Japanese people's reactions in their comments were really surprising.
(1)I have read another of your entries and think you're really good at Japanese on the whole. But, anime and manga seem to have a big influence on you. It's OK if you write about them in your personal entries. But if you want to use Japanese in business, you should learn correct Japanese, not casual Japanese.
(2)I'm happy to see that you prefer Japanese to English. But I think it's better for you to be competent in both English and Japanese. Japanese people used to feel like "English is No.1 and Asia is second best.". However, Japan has developed since then, and that feeling is disappearing. Now we want to learn and absorb other cultures, while also introducing our own culture to people all over the world.
(3)I just can't understand at all why you want to write about this serious topic in such a casual way at all. What affected you? Is it the way your friends talk? You would be perfect if you wrote in more beautiful Japanese. I especially want you to stop using `~っすか`. I can't stand it anymore. Could you learn the proper Japanese, please.
(4)You are good at writing in the style of a young girl. But you can't use it in public or with elderly people.
Well, OK. I'll stop here. There are as many opinions as there are people. I'm happy to accept them.
http://lang-8.com/101433/journals/311408/%E3%80%8C%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E3%81%A7%E3%81%AF%E8%8B%B1%E8%AA%9E%E3%81%8C%E7%AC%AC%E4%B8%80%E5%84%AA%E5%85%88%E3%81%A7%E3%81%9D%E3%81%AE%E6%AC%A1%E3%81%8C%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E8%AA%9E%E3%81%A7%E3%81%99%E3%81%A8%E3%81%84%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%81%BE%E3%81%97%E3%81%9F%E3%80%82%E3%80%8D%E3%81%A3%E3%81%A6%E3%81%93%E3%81%A8%E3%81%AE%E6%84%9F%E6%83%B3
Actually I'm going to translate some people's comments on another blog into English, because I have nothing to write today, but I still want to write something.
The entry's title was, "The no.1 priority in China is to learn English, and then Japanese.". The author is a young Chinese woman who is learning Japanese. From her profile, it seems that she is really into manga. She said that she doesn't agree with this opinion in her entry. She wants to put a priority on learning Japanese rather than English, because Japan and China share many cultural similarities. Her Japanese is really casual, which I just envy. But Japanese people's reactions in their comments were really surprising.
(1)I have read another of your entries and think you're really good at Japanese on the whole. But, anime and manga seem to have a big influence on you. It's OK if you write about them in your personal entries. But if you want to use Japanese in business, you should learn correct Japanese, not casual Japanese.
(2)I'm happy to see that you prefer Japanese to English. But I think it's better for you to be competent in both English and Japanese. Japanese people used to feel like "English is No.1 and Asia is second best.". However, Japan has developed since then, and that feeling is disappearing. Now we want to learn and absorb other cultures, while also introducing our own culture to people all over the world.
(3)I just can't understand at all why you want to write about this serious topic in such a casual way at all. What affected you? Is it the way your friends talk? You would be perfect if you wrote in more beautiful Japanese. I especially want you to stop using `~っすか`. I can't stand it anymore. Could you learn the proper Japanese, please.
(4)You are good at writing in the style of a young girl. But you can't use it in public or with elderly people.
Well, OK. I'll stop here. There are as many opinions as there are people. I'm happy to accept them.
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But I was really surprised to see this.
The no.1 priority in China is to learn English, and then Japanese. (is this what you meant?)
She said that she doesn't agree with this opinion in her entry.
Her Japanese is so casual, which I really envy about.
But Japanese people's reactions in their comments were really surprising.
(1)I have read another of your entries and think you're really good at Japanese on the whole.
But if you want to use Japanese in business, you should learn correct Japanese, not casual Japanese.
(2)I'm happy to see you prefer Japanese over English.
But I think it's better for you to be adequate with both English and Japanese.
Japanese people have had a feeling like "English is No.1 and Asian is the next" previously.
Japan has developed and has been losing that feeling.
Now we want to learn and absorb the other cultures, and introduce our culture to let the people over the world know it.
I already knew that they were.
Actually I'm going to translate some people's comments on another blog into English, because I have nothing to write today, but I still want to write something. (Here I think it's better to not use the pronoun "this", because it's not immediately obvious what "this" is from the context.) :)
The entry's title was, "They have the No.1 priority in English and second in Japanese in China".
The author is a young Chinese woman who is learning Japanese.
She seems really into manga in her profile. (This makes sense, but would sound slightly more natural as: "From her profile, it seems that she is really into manga.")
She said in her entry that she disagrees with this opinion.
She wants to put a priority on learning Japanese rather than English.
Because Japan and China share many cultural similarities.
Her Japanese is so casual, which I really envy about.
But the Japanese people's reactions in their comments were really surprising.
(1)I read another one of your entries and think you're really good at Japanese on the whole.
But anime and manga seem to have a big influence on you.
It's OK if you write about them in your personal entries. ("Personal" and "private" both work well here, but "private" sounds a little like no one else can see her entries.)
But if you want to use Japanese in business, you should learn correct Japanese, not casual one.
(2)I'm happy to see that you prefer Japanese to English. (To use "prefer" correctly, we say either "I prefer A to B." or "I prefer A over B." = 「BよりAが好きです」)
But I think it's better for you to be competent in both English and Japanese.
Japanese people used to feel like "English is No.1 and Asia is second best." before.
However, Japan has developed since then, and that feeling is disappearing.
Now we want to learn and absorb the other cultures, while also introducing our own culture to people all over the world.
(3)I just can't understand at all why you want to write about this serious topic in such a casual way.
Is it the way your friends talk?
You would be perfect if you wrote in more beautiful Japanese.
I especially want you to stop using `~っすか`. ("especially" modifies "want", so it sounds a little more natural closer to the verb.) :)
Could you learn proper Japanese, please.
(4)You are good at talking (writing) in the style of a young girl.
But you can't use it in public or with elderly people.
I'll just have to accept them. ("just have to" = 「しょうがない」な感じ)
I am not Japanese, but I like -すか?^^ What do you think?
It's an interesting post.
I wonder if when Japanese people were young, their teachers or parents scolded them for speaking that way, and maybe that's why some people feel they need to scold us for speaking too casually. I get scolded for talking too boyish, saying things like じゃねーよ and 何とかしてくれーよ。 I like that style of Japanese, that's why I use it, you know? Maybe if someone made a really cool textbook or show or comic in which the characters use polite Japanese, it'd catch on more with foreigners learning Japanese. :)
Thank you for your lenient attitude towards our ways of using Japanese.
感謝するわ。
エヘン、
つまり、
感謝しております。 ;)
She wants to put a priority on learning Japanese rather than English, since Japan and China share many cultural similarities.
Her Japanese is so/really casual, which I really envy.
Oh my god, this made me laugh :)
Holy crap, did they really say that??
I'm happy to accept them.
She wants to put a priority on learning Japanese rather than English because Japan and China share many cultural similarities.
Because Japan and China share many cultural similarities.
Her Japanese is so casual, which I envy.
I'd be happy to hear them.
The polite form is used when talking to strangers so the MAJORITY of the time you will be using the polite form hence why they as well I think it should be learned first.
To make sense of the Japanese person's 3 main points:
1. Summary of what he said: "Polite form of Japanese is a big thing to learn, sure anime and manga is nice, but you really shouldn't conceptualize the Japanese way of living through anime and manga."
In otherwords... he thinks the original diary writer is being like an オタク[Otaku] and well overall is disrespecting the Japanese language/culture by thinking its all just a big cartoon.
2. Pretty much the person is saying that 'Japan is awesome, but please don't take priority of us over anyone else in the world'. In other words just Japanese humility showing itself in an interesting way.
3. The casual connotation also slightly offends the Japanese person as the discussion of "English vs. Asia" is a more serious topic and well talking about it in a non-serious manner is disrespect towards the topic, Japan, and possibly English speaking countries.
Disclaimer:
Quite honestly I am not an expert on Japanese culture so I cannot guarantee that this is what the Japanese speaker's thoughts/intentions were, but this is what I have analyzed about the situation based upon what I know about Japan/the Japanese people. If I'm horribly inaccurate I apologize to the Japanese Culture and its people.
Having said all this, I wish I could really use keigo properly and learn more of it. I think I wouldn't come across so rude if I were to use it more often. ^^;
みなさんの、反響が少し大きくて、びっくりしました。
私としては、無関心と言うわけではないけれども、
中国の人が、英語を勉強しても、日本語を勉強しても、
どちらでもいいと思っています。
(多分みんなそう思っていますよね。)
さらに思うのは、中国でもすでに英語や日本語を話せる人はいるのだから、
他の言語を話せるほうが、仕事には、「お得」かもしれません。
といいながら、私はマイナーな言語を勉強しようとは思いませんが。。
やっぱり、私には英語です!
これは、もう絶対です!!