The More You Know…
If you’re learning a foreign language in a foreign country as an adult, it is guaranteed that you’ll run into miscommunication or bizarre translations. Many native English speakers run into that issue here in Japan, and it usually ends with the English speakers giggling and the Japanese speakers looking puzzled. A perfect example of this is Japan’s infamous “Engrish” merchandise, which is basically just common everyday objects with very odd English translations. For instance, my favorite Engrish item that I’ve found in Japan is the “Nice Stick,” a sweet bread sold at many convenience stores.
Of course, there were several times when I would be listening a local speaking to me in Japanese and I would just smile and nod. Don’t do this, because it will eventually result in confusion. One story that my friends at Oberlin particularly enjoy was the time I accidentally ordered an ice cream and a massive glass of iced matcha tea.
This happened within a week of my arrival in Japan, and I wanted to try to eat at a restaurant alone, mainly so that I could practice ordering food in Japanese without depending on my host family or my friends who spoke Japanese better than I did. I found a tiny sit-down restaurant tucked away in the corner of a shopping mall and decided to try it out. Everything was going smoothly—I was escorted to a table, I could understand what kinds of foods this restaurant served (thank goodness for pictures), and I was able to clearly tell the waitress what I wanted to eat. But then the waitress said something else. I had no idea what she said, but she seemed to expect a response, so I nodded. She said something else and I nodded again, and then she smiled and left.
I was served my meal soon afterwards. After I finished it, the waitress took the empty plate away and returned with an ice cream and a matcha tea. All I could do was stare at them and wonder, “When did I order this????” I checked the bill and, sure enough, I had somehow managed to order an ice cream and an iced matcha tea. Was I confused? Definitely. Did I eat the ice cream and drink the tea anyway? Of course.
Lesson learned: If you don’t understand what’s going on, don’t be embarrassed to ask.
I have been actively try to learn more Japanese by talking to the native speakers on campus and also exposing myself to Japanese through pop culture, such as listening to Japanese music and watching TV shows dubbed in Japanese. In order to practice my Japanese reading comprehension, I have been reading manga in Japanese. The first manga I read was Your Name, which is extremely popular here in Japan. One of the words that I couldn’t understand was bosabosa (pronounced “bow-saw-bow-saw”). According to the Japanese-English dictionary, it means “unkempt, ruffled hair.” I particularly like this word because 1) it’s fun to say, and 2) it perfectly describes my hair all the time (thanks to the humidity). The more you know!
