Watching when Japanese meet Japanese for the first time in Japan appears to be an uncomfortable experience for all involved. It can be most certainly uncomfortable for Japanese when meeting foreigners for the first time. Westerners being frank and sometimes a little aggressive can scare or intimidate Japanese. For me, meeting Japanese who have had little experience with foreigners can be an funny interaction. It is something similar to meeting a very shy child. There is usually no eye contact and not much is said. In Japanese this is called “Enryo” – Holding back.

Enryo is a form of politeness, a device for maintaining a certain distance from those one does not know well or one considers as one’s superiors. When Japanese meet someone for the first time, they tend to avoid close contact, such as a hand shake or embrace. A polite bow is the usual greeting. The distance does not necessarily mean unfriendliness, but it can certainly come across that way to new comers to Japan.

Enryo can be a somewhat time wasting and confusing social custom to foreigners. In the Westerners mindset it is Japanese being unnecessarily polite. For example, when offered a drink or food, it is courteous for Japanese to refuse what is offered at least once in order to show that they are holding back. This is being polite in Japan. What is important is show that you are not really declining the the offer, but just trying to show that you are being polite. So rather than saying a flat “no”, Japanese say something like “that would be troubling you to much”. The person making the offer will not take the response at face value . He or she will repeat the offer, saying, “please don’t hold back” with the result of the offer finally being accepted.

Most young Japanese would agree that the logic behind “enryo” at times doesn’t really add up. More and more Japanese are finding the subtle exchanges of courtesy, the art of holding back, too difficult to perform perfectly . However, enryo is still a integral part of social behavior in which Japanese take extreme pride. In casual social encounters, holding back, is highly prized and praised.

Enryo can cause a multitude of problems in the world of international relations and business. Japanese business men are acutely aware that their custom of holding back is the exactly opposed to the Western way of “holding forth”. Depending on where and how business is being done “enryo” can benefit or handicap Japanese. What Westerners should know that if they are playing by Japanese rules, then being too forward and forthright is putting yourself at a disadvantage. Japanese are more impressed with people who talk the least and who make their point by manner rather than their mouth.

Here is a Japanese video lesson on common questions. These are the top ten questions Japanese ask foreigners in Japan. The first question might surprise you, but it was definitelty the question I was most asked by Japanese.  Japanese generally think that most foreigners are American.  It can be a little frustrating or annoying  if you are not American, when the people around you assume you are American all the time.  So, if you go to Japan expect to be asked this question all the time.

My Japanese uncle in-law even gave a speech about his idea of American lifestyle how it related to my wife and I on an important family occasion.  He thought he was doing me a great favor with his speech. I was somewhat frustrated and wanted to tell him how ignorant he was. Even though he knew my nationality, Australian, he just amsumed we shared the same culture. I certainly don’t have anything against Americans. I have many good friends who are American. I just got sick are being asked if I were American by almost every Japanese I met for ten years.

Japanese will also speak to you s if you are new to the country. This can be a little annoying, too, if you are a long term resident.  You end up having the same conversations all the time. I would occassionally avoid conversations with the locals just to have a break from the top ten questions you will hopefully memorize.

Hey there,

We have just been through the worst heatwave in Melbourne and Victoria. Two weeks ago, we had three days of 43 degrees in a row. Then, last Saturday we reached 47  degrees. You may have heard about the terrible bush fires in Victoria. Devastating stuff – probably over 200 dead, 750 homes destroyed and whole communities lost. And to think some of the fires were lit on purpose. How could someone go out and intentionally light a  fire knowing the possible destruction it could cause. So please spare a thought or two for the many people who lost family, friends and just about everything else.

In  this post we have a short video lesson on “commenting on the weather”.

To speak Japanese fluently is usually the ultimate goal of anyone studying the Japanese language. To reach the level where you can speak Japanese fluently can become quite a time consuming challenge. Not because the language is so difficult, but because most of the methods people use to learn or study Japanese are unproductive and too confusing. In my experience the best foreign speakers of Japanese are usually people who have taken no formal Japanese classes, can’t read or write hiragana or katakana, don’t  know any kanji and don’t have a clue about Japanese grammar. They are also usually non-English speakers as well. How are they able to speak the language so well? They are forced to because of there job. Due to their environment or situation they have no option but to speak Japanese.

When living in Japan I met hundreds of English teachers who could speak Japanese, but never at a fluent level. They were taking classes, studying for the Japanese Language ProficiencyTest, and investing quite a lot of money on text books and audio programs. They studied hard but just couldn’t get to a fluent level. Then occasionally I would met someone from Turkey or India. They would speak the language like a native. Yet, they had taken no classes or purchased little in the way of study material. These speakers of Japanese wouldn’t learn or study the language in the traditional sense. They wouldn’t spend time learning hiragana or katakana. They certainly wouldn’t learn kanji or study grammar. In fact they would no nothing about the language except they could speak fluently. They would just soak up and use the language from their environment. They learnt the language from example and experience. The fastest and most effective way to study anything, especially a language.

In order to speak Japanese fluently you need to surround yourself with Japanese speakers and also not speak your native language. If you put yourself in a situation where you are forced to speak the language daily your Japanese will improve in leaps and bounds. If you spend too much time on rules about the language you will become knowledgeable about the structure of language and whatnot, but your speak ability will progress very slowly.

To develop the ability to speak you must observe how Japanese interact and then basically model what you see over and over. You have to become a bit of a actor and become Japanese. Japanese has to become a part or most of your life. Now, the problem is not many of us can just drop what we are doing and  fly of to Japan. So how can you learn to speak Japanese without studying the language?

Surround yourself with as much Japanese as possible. Immerse yourself in real language as much as possible. This means making Japanese friends, getting a Japanese girlfriend or boy friend, watching Japanese television and listening to Japanese radio. You need to listen to Japanese speaking the real thing. Don’t listen to podcasts that are designed to teach you Japanese. There is too much in the way of explanation and unrealistic examples. Most of what is taught is too formalized anyway. Focus your life on mimicking Japanese. Speak to yourself in Japanese. So now you know what you need to do if you want to speak Japanese fluently. If you follow my advice you end up saving yourself a whole lot of time and money.

Everyone knows some Japanese. You probably have heard or know the meanings of these Japanese words; kamikaze, keisha, kimono, karaoke, samurai and so on. Many Japanese words and phrases have deep cultural significance which can make it hard for students to learn Japanese. However, Japanese words aren’t  always deeply culturally rooted – there are some wacky words.  While living in Japan I came across some ridiculous Japanese words that could only exists in Japan. The Japanese have a knack for stealing foreign words and giving them new meanings. Let’s learn a few.

My pet hate Japanese word is juice, in katakana  ジュース. In Japanese “juice” basically means soft drink. It can even mean canned coffee.  How could they get this word so wrong. So if a Japanese offers you “juice” in Japan don’t be surprised if you are giving a glass of coke.

Snack, スナック, is an other word Japanese give new meaning to. Instead of relating to eating food the word is all about drinking. In Japanese snack means bar. But not just any bar. Snack bars are small drinking places usually for the older generation where Japanese can drown their sorrows with whisky or beer and belt out some enka. These places are very popular with men as they are sort of a hostess bar where you’re charged quite a lot to drink with female company. Enka is traditional Japanese music- songs about lots love. These places are probably the most depressing places you could ever visit in Japan.

Vikingis one of my favorite’s. It is pronounced “Bye -king” and written in katakana バイキング. Japanese most likely wouldn’t know who the Vikings were. Yet, at least one Japanese picked up on their eating habits and coined the phrase to mean buffet. Viking means “all-you-can- eat” .  It can also mean ”all-you-can-drink”.

Icecomes close. It means ice cream. In katakana  アイス. This is an example of how Japanese will take English words and shorten them or abbreviate them.  Japanese generally like to communicate with the least amount of words. They will take a foreign word shorten it, give it a new meaning, and eventually it slips into main stream vocabulary.

When you first learn or discover these words you will feel dumbfounded . You will either feel amused or annoyed.  It is quite hard to believe that the words I just taught you are meaningful and common words in the Japanese language. It certainly took me a while to accept and use them.  One of the most frustrating things is many Japanese believe that they are speaking English when using these loan words. Good reason enough not to even consider teaching English in Japan……just joking.

In this lesson you will learn the On (Chinese) and Kun (Japanese) readings of 5 common Kanji characters.  I have provided an example sentence for each one.　I am assuming that you can read Hiragana and have some basic Japanese under your belt. If you are unable to read hiragana please subscribe to our youtube videos – http://www.youtube.com/user/sodapencil

Learning Kanji is a great way to build vocabulary quickly.  Also, I find Japanese writing to be quite beautiful. It is actually a pleasure to be able to write in Japanese.  Learning to read and write Japanese characters is very worthwhile and something you should consider doing immediately if you are serious about learning Japanese. Don’t bother wasting your time with romaji. Get straight into learning Hiragana, Katakana and Kanji.

 Common Kanji Charaters

　なつ　のとき　よく　水　を　のみます。

I drink a lot of water in summer.

　本　を　よむ　のは　好きです。

 I like to read books.

　あの　人 　 あなた　の　ともだち　ですか

 Is that person your friend?

　気　に　しないで　ください

 Please, don’t worry about it.

　元気　ですか

 How are you?

 
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