日本語 Localization Surprises

WELCOME: Students of English and Japanese Languages
and ALL interested in Communication & Localization

“Must know” differences (surprises!?)  in Japanese and English…

  • NEGATIVE QUESTIONS seem to be OPPOSITE: but the differences do make sense with a simple shift of perspective. When in doubt, an expressive face and positive gesture can over come a grammatical technicality.
      • “Didn’t you say you’d to at 7 AM?” (Technically this is a statement to be confirmed or denied.)
      • “Wouldn’t you like some custom sushi?”  (Accept the offer with ‘Yes’ in English and ‘I accept’ (｢itadakimasu!｣)
    • Japanese logically answers the statement implied by the two words “didn’t you…”
      But English answers the negative accusation INVITING correction or denial. “arrive at 7“… sidestepping the difficulty
      (In either case Yes or No is best replaced with an friendly clear sentence , “Actually I arrived 5 minutes before 7”
  • YES and NO
    In professional, cross-generation conversations, Yes and No are often replaced with LESS DIRECT alternatives in Japanese. These are counter-intuitive to English speakers

      • No (thank you):  “Ii desu”, “mo ii desu”, “kekko desu”, “daijobu”, often along with a facial expression and hand gesture. (See video – more 7/30/2019)
    • Yes (thank you):  “Onegai-shimasu”, “Domo”, “Un!” (not professional, but common with casual friends)
Japanese Proper Confused with similar Example / Note
kawaii cute kowaii == horrible “Your baby is so ‘kawaii’ ”
ningen People ninjin == carrot “Look at all the people [carrots?!] riding bicycles home from work.”
written:  会う(au)
会いましょう(aimasyou)		 written:  meet ai愛 == love Texting can be more delicate than speaking: when in doubt use kana.
7(Nana)-Ji Shigoto mae, Otaku ni aimasyoo ka?  Do not use the kanji for “love” instead of “meet”. They’ll probably know what you mean, but why not save your friends’ patience for your more complex blunders?
Yes “unh” (To the westerner it may seem as a guttural negative) It is Proper, but please exercise care
No textbook equivalent “iie” (short vowels) alternatives include: “ii desu”, [mo] ii desu, “daijobu”, “kekko desu” good, already good, I’m ok, it’s enough
You arrived 30 minutes early but are asked, “you didn’t arrive late again did you?” (mada osoku sukimasendeshitaka?!)

(or “Mata osoku tōchaku shinakatta nodesu ka?“”)

 Japanese: “hai, I did not arrive late” English: “No, I was NOT late at all!” Avoid use “chigau” (it’s ‘different’ , ‘au contraire’!)
Better to avoid one word answers, and restate the fact
(see this Stackexchange item