totemo ii
i came to a coffee shop to get some coding done and there just happens to be a super vibrant woman speaking japanese that i can (wait for it) perfectly understand. now, this is a very rare occurence. although i always understand women better than men (because they tend to speak more standard japanese) i rarely fully understand two fluent speakers at full speed, at least not for more than a few seconds at a time. i can often piece together the gist of a conversation, but usually my efforts just make me frustrated -- i get stuck on a word i used to know and by the time i've retrieved it from the recesses of my brain i've lost the thread entirely. drat!
but every word out of this woman's mouth is completely intelligible, plus i can't help but notice, she's funny. after a minute or so of eavesdropping, it becomes clear that she's a tutor. so, it's no mistake that her vocabulary is so straight forward, her voice unaccented and her syntax free of slang. of course.
well, i got really into the lesson she was giving her student. i must not have been very subtle because as he gets up at the end of his lesson, the tutor looks straight at me and starts talking, in rapid japanese. erm, i was overwhelmed to say the least, but just as before, i easily took in every word she said -- there must be something about the way tutors enunciate. anyway, she was so warm and friendly that i ended up asking her for her contact information. i don't know what i'll do with it. language tutors cost an arm and a leg, but it sure was fun to chat with her, even if my accent is now horrible and my speech is halting and flooded with "ae-to", which is a japanese "um." trust me, it's just as annoying no matter what language it's in, but she just beamed at me the whole time and said, what every japanese person i have ever met says when you try to speak, no matter how horrid you are, "totemo ii shaberemasu yo" -- you speak so well!
for some reason, this comment loses a ton of it's ability to offend in japanese. at least until you really do speak well. then it's an issue. i remember my completely fluent high-school sensei used to have fits when japanese people who she'd known for years would say of her -- the same as the greenest, illiterate gaijin -- "she speaks so well!" but that's a bridge of competence that i have never crossed so, i just nod and smile, luxuriating a little in the lie.
but every word out of this woman's mouth is completely intelligible, plus i can't help but notice, she's funny. after a minute or so of eavesdropping, it becomes clear that she's a tutor. so, it's no mistake that her vocabulary is so straight forward, her voice unaccented and her syntax free of slang. of course.
well, i got really into the lesson she was giving her student. i must not have been very subtle because as he gets up at the end of his lesson, the tutor looks straight at me and starts talking, in rapid japanese. erm, i was overwhelmed to say the least, but just as before, i easily took in every word she said -- there must be something about the way tutors enunciate. anyway, she was so warm and friendly that i ended up asking her for her contact information. i don't know what i'll do with it. language tutors cost an arm and a leg, but it sure was fun to chat with her, even if my accent is now horrible and my speech is halting and flooded with "ae-to", which is a japanese "um." trust me, it's just as annoying no matter what language it's in, but she just beamed at me the whole time and said, what every japanese person i have ever met says when you try to speak, no matter how horrid you are, "totemo ii shaberemasu yo" -- you speak so well!
for some reason, this comment loses a ton of it's ability to offend in japanese. at least until you really do speak well. then it's an issue. i remember my completely fluent high-school sensei used to have fits when japanese people who she'd known for years would say of her -- the same as the greenest, illiterate gaijin -- "she speaks so well!" but that's a bridge of competence that i have never crossed so, i just nod and smile, luxuriating a little in the lie.