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During my time here in Japan I have experience cultural miscommunication and “lost in translation” moments. There are many times here when I don’t understand the Japanese pronunciation of English. It also works the other way around as the Japanese have trouble understanding our pronunciation of English. I have found that many Japanese people have trouble with the letter L and R. They constantly mix it up. It makes out for some interesting conversations. One of the students from Meiji University asked me if I liked rice, but he kept pronouncing it as lice. So I ended up talking about how I never had lice my whole life and how I wash my hair every day. The student thought I was joking by talking about something random. At dinner that day, he pointed out the fact that I ate a lot of “lice.” That’s when I finally understand what he meant. Lastly, Japanese people do not understand sarcasm. One time I was like “I’m so hurt” in a sarcastic manner and the person actually though I was serious so he started apologizing.
There are many new phrases that I learned in Japan. My favorite phrase has to be “Sumi-ma-sen.” I love this phrase because it means “excuse me.” This phrase is really versatile in Japan as you can use in almost any situation. It can even been used in place of apologizing. There are times when a person will speak Japanese with you and if you keep repeating this phrase they eventually understand that you don’t understand the language. I have been addicted to this phrase. I do not know how I will not accidentally use this phrase when I return to America.