Ryo`s Blog is making me think...
(Translated from Ryo`s NEWS JWeb blog `200701272059`):
愛してる (I love you)
好き (I love/like you)
How are these different?
Can someone tell me.
For parents, it`s definately 愛してる (I love you), right?
What about boyfriend-girlfriend relationships?
Husband and wife?
Friends?
Hmmmmm.
It`s tough.
That`s all
----------------------------
I went to go read it after I heard about the hub-bub he was causing over on OYE...I`m kind of curious what light-brown-haired Ryo would look like! :D
But this entry about love...It`s really interesting. And a question that I have asked myself sometimes...
Back in June, when I was going to see K8 in Tokyo, and I decided I was making a Yoko uchiwa, I didn`t know what I put on it. A friend suggested `キミが好き`, which was what I ultimately ended up putting on it. However, I was kind of wary of putting that on there for a couple reasons...Mostly because I know that there is just a stronger connotation to the word 好き in Japanese. Yes, it means that you like someone, but those of you who watch dramas, anime, or listen to music know that it has the heavier meaning of `I LOVE you` as well.
Maybe I am just strange, but I don`t like to throw around words like that because words are powerful, and when used unwisely can cause problems. Even if that problem is only my embarassment at having such an obvious statement on a piece of paper I wave at a concert.
Something else that Ryo`s entry reminded me of was a story my Japanese teacher, Endo-sensei, told when we were in class one time:
A person that she knew was making a pillow for their mother, and wanted to put `I love you` in multiple languages on it. So this person asked Endo-sensei how you say `I love you` to your mother in Japanese...And Endo-sensei found herself at a loss. Where in places like the US, we say `I love you, Mom!` quite often and readily, it`s not quite the same in Japan. She told this same thing to the person, and explained that it`s a cultural difference, telling the person she had to think about it and to come back later.
When the person came back to see her again, she told them that she had thought about it quite a bit, and came up with this:
ありがとう
Now, the story has gotten a bit garbled in my mind over the last 4 or 5 years since I heard that story, but it still makes me think. Actually, if you notice, after K8 sings `オニギシ` on Heat Up!, Yoko talks about the Parent-Child section and says that we should all remember to tell our moms `Thank-you.`
Love has so many different forms of expression...Words, gestures, actions, looks...
To go back to Ryo`s question though, those two words present an interesting conundrum. When you first start learning Japanese, you are taught that 愛してる means `(I) love (you)` and 好き means `(I) like (you).` In English, it`s that simple. Of course, you can argue that `like` can be strong and mean love, but you understand what I mean. However, once you learn more, get to know the culture more, you learn that it`s not so cut and dry...The lines are blurred a bit, and you find out that 愛してる just isn`t used as freely and as much as `I love you` is used in English.
So, I`m wondering the same thing as Ryo...Where do you decide which word to use where?
For me:
Parents = I love you
Boyfriend-Girlfriend relationship = I like you
Husband-Wife = I love you
Friends = I love you (but it`s a different kind of love from parents, husband, boyfriend...)
What do you guys think? Where do you think there is a difference between like/love? What words do you use? Do you think there is a difference? Has this entry confused you even more?
<3
愛してる (I love you)
好き (I love/like you)
How are these different?
Can someone tell me.
For parents, it`s definately 愛してる (I love you), right?
What about boyfriend-girlfriend relationships?
Husband and wife?
Friends?
Hmmmmm.
It`s tough.
That`s all
----------------------------
I went to go read it after I heard about the hub-bub he was causing over on OYE...I`m kind of curious what light-brown-haired Ryo would look like! :D
But this entry about love...It`s really interesting. And a question that I have asked myself sometimes...
Back in June, when I was going to see K8 in Tokyo, and I decided I was making a Yoko uchiwa, I didn`t know what I put on it. A friend suggested `キミが好き`, which was what I ultimately ended up putting on it. However, I was kind of wary of putting that on there for a couple reasons...Mostly because I know that there is just a stronger connotation to the word 好き in Japanese. Yes, it means that you like someone, but those of you who watch dramas, anime, or listen to music know that it has the heavier meaning of `I LOVE you` as well.
Maybe I am just strange, but I don`t like to throw around words like that because words are powerful, and when used unwisely can cause problems. Even if that problem is only my embarassment at having such an obvious statement on a piece of paper I wave at a concert.
Something else that Ryo`s entry reminded me of was a story my Japanese teacher, Endo-sensei, told when we were in class one time:
A person that she knew was making a pillow for their mother, and wanted to put `I love you` in multiple languages on it. So this person asked Endo-sensei how you say `I love you` to your mother in Japanese...And Endo-sensei found herself at a loss. Where in places like the US, we say `I love you, Mom!` quite often and readily, it`s not quite the same in Japan. She told this same thing to the person, and explained that it`s a cultural difference, telling the person she had to think about it and to come back later.
When the person came back to see her again, she told them that she had thought about it quite a bit, and came up with this:
ありがとう
Now, the story has gotten a bit garbled in my mind over the last 4 or 5 years since I heard that story, but it still makes me think. Actually, if you notice, after K8 sings `オニギシ` on Heat Up!, Yoko talks about the Parent-Child section and says that we should all remember to tell our moms `Thank-you.`
Love has so many different forms of expression...Words, gestures, actions, looks...
To go back to Ryo`s question though, those two words present an interesting conundrum. When you first start learning Japanese, you are taught that 愛してる means `(I) love (you)` and 好き means `(I) like (you).` In English, it`s that simple. Of course, you can argue that `like` can be strong and mean love, but you understand what I mean. However, once you learn more, get to know the culture more, you learn that it`s not so cut and dry...The lines are blurred a bit, and you find out that 愛してる just isn`t used as freely and as much as `I love you` is used in English.
So, I`m wondering the same thing as Ryo...Where do you decide which word to use where?
For me:
Parents = I love you
Boyfriend-Girlfriend relationship = I like you
Husband-Wife = I love you
Friends = I love you (but it`s a different kind of love from parents, husband, boyfriend...)
What do you guys think? Where do you think there is a difference between like/love? What words do you use? Do you think there is a difference? Has this entry confused you even more?
<3