Talk to Japanese

koolkool · 28 Jul 2006

If i lost my way or asking direction or if i wanted to start a conversation with a Japanese man or women..what should i say in the first time ? Is it gomenasai or sumimasen ? And do the Japanese will feel irritated when i ask ,Eigo o hanasemasuka ? Arigato arigato ...I'm learning Nihongo but just in a very entry level...

undrentide · 28 Jul 2006

koolkool said:
If i lost my way or asking direction or if i wanted to start a conversation with a Japanese man or women..what should i say in the first time ? Is it gomenasai or sumimasen ? And do the Japanese will feel irritated when i ask ,Eigo o hanasemasuka ? Arigato arigato ...I'm learning Nihongo but just in a very entry level...

"Sumimasen" is most commonly used, especially when you'd like to ask people something.
"Gomennasai" is basically used for apology.

I don't think people would be irritated/annoyed if you ask "eigo o hanasemasuka" or "eigo ga wakarimasuka" (do you understand English).
There's possiblity that certain people might say "no" and walk away if they're not confident or they haven't talked with English-speaking people before. (But it's not anything against you, so don't worry.)
Most people will try to help you especially when you start the conversation with some Japanese words like "sumimasen".
I hope you'll enjoy your stay in Japan.

Damicci · 28 Jul 2006

You can also say:「すみませんちょっといいですか」[sumimasen chotto ii desuka][Pardon me, do you have a minute?]

koolkool · 28 Jul 2006

Thank u guys...It will help me a lot,i'll write the word sumimasen chotoo ii desuka..
I more thing mate,(undrentide)..what time do u think is the best for asking or starting conversation..when they're standing still or walking...ahaha..silly question but i wanna know

Mike Cash · 28 Jul 2006

People in general tend to be kind to foreigners, puppies, kittens, and other such creatures. Many will go out of their way to help you, some will go out of their way to avoid you, practically none will go out of their way to be mean to you.

leonmarino · 28 Jul 2006

Mike Cash said:
People in general tend to be kind to foreigners, puppies, kittens, and other such creatures. Many will go out of their way to help you, some will go out of their way to avoid you, practically none will go out of their way to be mean to you.

Hahaha!!

Many will even try and speak English even when you're fluent in Japanese! The problem is I, personally, can't hardly understand Japanese-English as their pronunciation is usually not that good.

Spyder93090 · 29 Jul 2006

Mike Cash said:
People in general tend to be kind to foreigners. Many will go out of their way to help you,

Haha, I went to this one KID SUMO Competition with some of my friends at my host brother's little brother's school (yes, I said Kid Sumo. Little 3rd graders in those little sumo thong things. It was kinda gross and innapropriate for their age.) And the school staff saw me and my friends just standing there lol, so they went up to all 3 of us and dragged us to the shaded referee's booth and pulled up 3 chairs for us and some green tea lol, while my host family was stuck standing lol ... Pretty funny

Mike Cash · 29 Jul 2006

Why was it gross and inappropriate?

yukio_michael · 29 Jul 2006

<offtopic>
God what I wouldn't give for an internet devoid of people who gratuitously post pictures of themselves with all the hOt aZn LayDeeZ.
</offtopic>

koolkool · 29 Jul 2006

Talking talking

Ahaha this kind of reply i juzz wanna to hear..positive things..kinda made me big hearted..

...anyone got another opinion ??

Damicci · 29 Jul 2006

yukio_michael said:
<offtopic>
God what I wouldn't give for an internet devoid of people who gratuitously post pictures of themselves with all the hOt aZn LayDeeZ.
</offtopic>

Ouch,☝ kinda why i changed my avatar back. Even if it is my girlfriend, everyone doesn't need to see it. </off topic>

Elizabeth · 29 Jul 2006

koolkool said:
Thank u guys...It will help me a lot,i'll write the word sumimasen chotoo ii desuka..
I more thing mate,(undrentide)..what time do u think is the best for asking or starting conversation..when they're standing still or walking...ahaha..silly question but i wanna know

"Sumimasen ga, chotto oshiete kudasai." is also something that should be remembered. It's like "please give me some information" for when you need to ask more directly for help.

Standing still in a group with the more people the better your chances of finding a comprehensible English speaker.

yukio_michael · 29 Jul 2006

Damicci said:
Ouch,☝ kinda why i changed my avatar back. Even if it is my girlfriend, everyone doesn't need to see it. </off topic>

Damicci-san, I know that your character is good, so you get the pass.

Back on topic, when I lived in Japan, and people found that I was from the United States, something I would like to point out that nobody assumed, people would always make a great effort to shake my hand, as if it were our local custom, and they were expressing a great interest in recognizing that.

I never thought about it that much, but I suppose that Japanese (unless in business w/ non Japanese) do not shake hands very often.

Spyder93090 · 30 Jul 2006

Mike Cash said:
Why was it gross and inappropriate?

To me, it was gross and innapropriate since I'm not used to seeing half-naked little 3rd grade boys in thongs fighting each other. I don't know, it just brought a veil of uncomfortability over me ... It was a cold day too, so they were shivering and had red marks over their pale bodies from "fighting" each other ...

Mike Cash · 30 Jul 2006

Well, where did you think big sumo wrestlers come from?

They come from little sumo wrestlers.

I can understand your subjective reaction of "gross", but not the objective judgment of "inappropriate". It has to be "inappropriate" in relation to some standard and/or context, while "gross" is entirely a matter of personal taste.

Damicci · 30 Jul 2006

yukio_michael said:
Damicci-san, I know that your character is good, so you get the pass.
Back on topic, when I lived in Japan, and people found that I was from the United States, something I would like to point out that nobody assumed, people would always make a great effort to shake my hand, as if it were our local custom, and they were expressing a great interest in recognizing that.
I never thought about it that much, but I suppose that Japanese (unless in business w/ non Japanese) do not shake hands very often.

Woot!
Yeah I remember meeting Rieko's friends for the second time and grabbing his hand like we do hear with friends and saying "Sup?"(what's up)!
I love the look of shock on his face as he asked Rieko "Sup? sup? what is "sup""

koolkool · 31 Jul 2006

Talking to Japanese

Is it appropriate to bow or just shake hand when i want to talk to a Japanese ppl?

Spyder93090 · 31 Jul 2006

koolkool said:
Is it appropriate to bow or just shake hand when i want to talk to a Japanese ppl?

They rarely shake hands but they bow every 5-seconds to show respect when you say something nice or of the like. So yeah, bowing is fine.

Talk to Japanese

koolkool

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undrentide

Japa'n vagyok

Damicci

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koolkool

後輩

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

leonmarino

Back

Spyder93090

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Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

yukio_michael

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koolkool

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Damicci

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Elizabeth

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yukio_michael

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Spyder93090

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Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

Damicci

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koolkool

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Spyder93090

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