Exposé
Today I was called to write an essay in class on the theme "My japanese language". "Write about how your japanese has changed since you came to Waseda", the teacher adviced. Like the perfectly obedient student I am, I did what I was told.
My japanese language
Compared to my ability in September, when I had just arrived in Japan, I have certainly become a lot more proficient, but at the same time I think the japanese I use has also become weirder.
Back in Finland, when I spoke japanese, I used to answer politely. Now I use phrases like なんとなく 'for some reason', 別に 'not really', or 何もない 'nothing'. My friend Yuki told me "Wow, you've gotten really good! Those phrases are really handy, right!". However, the person I'm seeing groans in despair every time he hears me answer with a "for some reason" or "nothing really". If you were to ask him, these phrases aren't handy at all.
The person I'm seeing refers to himself with the word 俺 (ore). Lately I've thought that, like him, I'd like to use 俺 as well. When I speak finnish, the language I use is somewhat masculine, so I find the fact that when speaking japanese I should use feminine language unpleasant. This is because I'm gender dysphoric.
The human brain is like a sponge. It's absorbs different things like a sponge does. When I told the person I'm seeing 説明せよ! 'explain', he laughed out loud (note: because the verb imperative form is archaic, most commonly used by samurai). Not very ladylike. One day he put his hands on my breasts, squeezed the right one and said "I want this". When I told him 好きにしろ 'have it your way', he asked me where I'd learned such old geezer -like language. The thing is, -せよ is the imperative form used in omikuji (fortunes sold at temples and shrines), and the line 好きにしろ I learned from the movie Go!
As time goes by, I wonder if my japanese will get even weirder. When I return to Finland, my sensei may be disappointed.
As I handed it in, I told the teacher that I'd written some things that might've been better to not write. She read it and grinned.
Poor Koushi.
My japanese language
Compared to my ability in September, when I had just arrived in Japan, I have certainly become a lot more proficient, but at the same time I think the japanese I use has also become weirder.
Back in Finland, when I spoke japanese, I used to answer politely. Now I use phrases like なんとなく 'for some reason', 別に 'not really', or 何もない 'nothing'. My friend Yuki told me "Wow, you've gotten really good! Those phrases are really handy, right!". However, the person I'm seeing groans in despair every time he hears me answer with a "for some reason" or "nothing really". If you were to ask him, these phrases aren't handy at all.
The person I'm seeing refers to himself with the word 俺 (ore). Lately I've thought that, like him, I'd like to use 俺 as well. When I speak finnish, the language I use is somewhat masculine, so I find the fact that when speaking japanese I should use feminine language unpleasant. This is because I'm gender dysphoric.
The human brain is like a sponge. It's absorbs different things like a sponge does. When I told the person I'm seeing 説明せよ! 'explain', he laughed out loud (note: because the verb imperative form is archaic, most commonly used by samurai). Not very ladylike. One day he put his hands on my breasts, squeezed the right one and said "I want this". When I told him 好きにしろ 'have it your way', he asked me where I'd learned such old geezer -like language. The thing is, -せよ is the imperative form used in omikuji (fortunes sold at temples and shrines), and the line 好きにしろ I learned from the movie Go!
As time goes by, I wonder if my japanese will get even weirder. When I return to Finland, my sensei may be disappointed.
As I handed it in, I told the teacher that I'd written some things that might've been better to not write. She read it and grinned.
Poor Koushi.