Friday, February 22, 2008

 

How to do it in Japanese

A couple of examples of how I've been employing my recently-certified nihongo competence for the greater good.

First couple of examples are from my Friday night evening class:


#1 Dealing with cultural differences

Sensei: Hawaii de, snorkel o shite, kujira o mita.

Me: Oishisou datta?

Teacher: In Hawaii, I went snorkeling and saw a whale.

Me: Did it look delicious?


#2 Proving that I'm more than just a gaijin tourist at the Sumo

Me: Haru basho wa sugoi tanoshimi na... nan to iu... aitsu... Tokitsukaze no heya no rikishi ga deru to, "TOKITAIZAN!!!" o yondari, aita bin o nagetari suru zo.

Me: I'm really looking forward to the Spring sumo tournament. When wrestlers from the Tokitsukaze stable appear, I'm going to shout "TOKITAIZAN!!!" and throw empty beer bottles (and such activities.)

***

Note for Tricky: I managed to use the -tari -tari suru form, even though I agree with you that it's usually absolutely useless.


Dealing with gaps in knowledge

Sensei: Kono kanji no hatsuon wa... Okinawa no o-sake.

Me: Hebi no oshiko?

Teacher: The pronunciation for this kanji is... Okinawan alcohol. (meaning "mori")

Me: Snake's pee?

***

Fortunately, my Japanese teacher is blessed with a sense of humour similar to my own.


Expressing disagreement

This one was a cracker: the very chatty English teacher at one of my elementary schools showed me her cute pencil case, with a picture of an insect on it.

Me: Uwa! Gokiburi!

She: Gokiburi chau! Suzu-mushi ya!

Me: Goki ya!

She: Suzu-mushi!

Me: Suzu-goki!

Me: Argh! A cockroach!

She: It's not a cockroach! It's a bell insect!

Me: Cockroach!

She: Bell insect!

Me: Bell cockroach!

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