jt_ said:I've never heard you speak Japanese, but I doubt you sound like a (Japanese) girl. More likely, you sound like an American guy trying to speak Japanese.
This reminds me of a classmate of mine back in my college Japanese class. He somehow got it in his head that the audio materials we were using were giving him a Kansai (western Japan) accent, instead of the "proper" and "standard" Tokyo intonation that he wanted to learn. Never mind that he hadn't been studying the language long enough to distinguish between various accents/dialects, much less accurately imitate them.
He brought this up one day in class in a somewhat insulting and accusatory manner. Our instructor's response was, "Let me assure you that the speakers in the audio materials are Tokyo natives who were chosen specifically so there would be no traces of dialect in their speech. Even if you were to somehow acquire a Kansai accent, though, I guarantee you that it would be preferable to the Miami, Florida accent that you have right now."
The moral of the story is: get a basic working proficiency with the language before you start concerning yourself with what "flavor" of the language you're speaking. If you're still at the point where putting together a basic grammatical sentence is a struggle, whether or not your speech is "masculine" enough is really the least of your worries.
RockLee said:Japanese women speak more polite than Japanese men.It's the way things are.
Glenn said:Heh, I just had a conversation tonight with my Japanese friends about when to use な and 俺. They were telling me to be careful at first, but after a little while when I explained to them when I thought each was appropriate, they finally said "oh, well, you understand pretty well." It was quite an interesting experience, mostly because they were saying "I'm not even sure when to use what." I guess that's one of those things where if you use the language natively you just speak it without realizing what you're doing.
MeAndroo said:I found that to be the case when I was teaching English. I'm comfortable with grammatical rules, but trying to explain the "why" was difficult for me. Must be that rigorous English education I got en route to my marketing degree.
My dad's friend used to learn Japanese from hostesses and stuff at a local sushi spot. The cooks would make fun of his Japanese because of how feminine he spoke. I guess it's pretty humorous to see an American guy in a sushi spot refer to himself as "atashi."
Glenn said:Heh, I just had a conversation tonight with my Japanese friends about when to use な and 俺. They were telling me to be careful at first, but after a little while when I explained to them when I thought each was appropriate, they finally said "oh, well, you understand pretty well." It was quite an interesting experience, mostly because they were saying "I'm not even sure when to use what." I guess that's one of those things where if you use the language natively you just speak it without realizing what you're doing.
the way i see it is that these "words" are generally used more by males. 俺 is especially used a lot by kids. 俺 is a very informal term for 私 and 僕 though, yes.Shigehisa said:な & 俺 are less polite forms of ね and 私/僕 respectively right ?
I have heard kansai women using な (not the ka na or na as a prohibition or negative command) but it is more commonly a masculine particle of assertion or emphasis (?). Sorry I can't help more -- my guys friends are more the 'ne' and 'boku' types.Shigehisa said:な & 俺 are less polite forms of ね and 私/僕 respectively right ?
J44xm said:In day-to-day use, when speaking with people on the street, is "boku" all right for a 28-year-old male to use?
For example, if I ask for directions and a conversation ensues, would "Boku wa Amerika kara desu" offend anyone (from kids to the elderly)?
Simply Americajin or America desu is best. They are also most likely going to abbreviate it to "Dochira?" or "Dochira no kuni?"J44xm said:In day-to-day use, when speaking with people on the street, is "boku" all right for a 28-year-old male to use? For example, if I ask for directions and a conversation ensues, would "Boku wa Amerika kara desu" offend anyone (from kids to the elderly)? I can't find much in the way of straight answers on the Web (though I know the answer to a question like this is rarely straight).
You need a DABoku wa Amerika kara desu
単になぜ アメリカ人 のか聞いているのかなと思います。もちろん、言い方にもよりますけどね。You need a DA
amerikajin DAkara desu
~~
To throw out my idea, I'd go with
"Amerika-jin nan desu." "I'm an American," it also gives the feel, "that is why I don't know."
If your not Asian, they will be able to tell, so you really don't need to say it at all...
I don't think they'd be able to tell what country I'm from, though, eh? I'm studying the explanatory "no" and "na no" right now, so the "nan" actually makes sense to me--enough to understand, at least. Thanks.Gaijinian said:To throw out my idea, I'd go with
"Amerika-jin nan desu." "I'm an American," it also gives the feel, "that is why I don't know."
If your not Asian, they will be able to tell, so you really don't need to say it at all...
そうですね。確かに、「オレ」は１００％否定的ということではありません。Gaijinian said:Sometimes when I talk, I naturally use "俺." It just comes out...
So, I usually try to avoid it entirely (unless the say 俺 to me)...
However, when I do say it in times that I don't want to, Japanese people almost never even react (I have said it to teachers before, ect..) because I'm a "Gaijin..." Then again, I'm also 16. If I were 25 or something, then it would be embarrassing.
Gaijinian said:Sometimes when I talk, I naturally use "俺." It just comes out...
So, I usually try to avoid it entirely (unless the say 俺 to me)...
However, when I do say it in times that I don't want to, Japanese people almost never even react (I have said it to teachers before, etc..) because I'm a "Gaijin..." Then again, I'm also 16. If I were 25 or something, then it would be embarrassing.