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Have you ever been called a weeaboo.. | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| P0nd3r Bilingual Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5205 days ago 30 posts - 35 votes Speaks: English*, Persian* Studies: Swedish, Japanese | Message 1 of 17 19 July 2011 at 7:54am | IP Logged | ||
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For learning Japanese? I know what weeaboo means, but I can't believe it thrown around so loosely and why it is even a word. So what if someone likes anime or something, not a big deal. It especially hurts me because I have a lot of pride for being Iranian. I'm Persian man, and I am proud. I would never throw away my culture. I know Persian and I speak Persian to my family, but why does learning Japanese make me such a weeaboo?
I'll be honest, I'm learning Japanese in order to expand and broaden my horizon in terms of video games. There are a lot of video games that I would love to play but there is a language barrier. Asia, especially Japan has their own "gaming industry" if you know what I mean, similar to South Korea. But usually it's just South Korea having global offices in Japan and so in turn they make the games into Japanese as well, but some don't make it to North America. Hey man, if Iran made video games.. I would dig into that first, but they don't because the Islamic religion took over. Iran wasn't even suppose to be Islamic. Japan happens to make good games. Also there should be a more exact definition for weeaboo, honestly it should be termed "a person who disregards their own culture for Japan." Keep "obsession of anime/manga" out of the definition. If they like anime and manga let's them have fun. I don't care sheesh. I hope someone here understands how I feel. Edited by P0nd3r on 19 July 2011 at 7:54am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| nway Senior Member United States youtube.com/user/Vic Joined 5416 days ago 574 posts - 1707 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean | Message 2 of 17 19 July 2011 at 8:53am | IP Logged | ||
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I've never been called a weeabo, but I can't stand the type of people who would use a word that reflects such an ugly mentality. I have no idea where it originated from or who most often uses the term, but I'd venture to guess it's either culturally ignorant and xenophobic whites or jealous and insecure non-Japanese Westernized Asians. I personally have never experienced the term in "real life", but I do know that on the Internet I unfortunately have seen a lot of hatred for non-Asians who are into Japanese culture expressed by certain Asians (invariably male) born and raised in the West.
Anyway, I don't like manga or anime or video games, but I do like a lot of Japanese music, and if someone uses that to justify calling me a weeabo, then screw 'em, because I also enjoy my fair share of Bruckner and Sam Cooke. And as you're apparently learning Swedish in addition to Japanese, you could probably use that as a "hedge" against accusations that all you think about is Japanese culture. Edited by nway on 19 July 2011 at 8:54am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| Lightning Groupie United Kingdom livelanguagelove.bloRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5339 days ago 58 posts - 70 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese | Message 3 of 17 19 July 2011 at 10:52am | IP Logged | ||
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My friends call me a "weaboo" all the time, it's their sort of joke. I often argue back saying, "If I was interested in Finland, I would play games, listen to music, read books, watch TV...in Finnish! Would I be a Finnish-boo?" but they continue to laugh it off and say that would never happen.
"Weaboo" is just an internet term, in all honesty, I find there's a lot of people who aren't aware of the "stereotype" outside of certain internet communities. At least the people I know, apart from my friends, aren't aware of what it means. That said, I don't even fit the weaboo stereotype. Not that I'm quite aware of what the stereotype is these days, since it's anyone who shows an interest in Japan gets given the title, but I don't cosplay, read manga or watch anime. But that doesn't mean to say those who do, are weaboos. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| P0nd3r Bilingual Diglot Newbie United States Joined 5205 days ago 30 posts - 35 votes Speaks: English*, Persian* Studies: Swedish, Japanese | Message 4 of 17 19 July 2011 at 6:57pm | IP Logged | ||
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Yeah I'm glad you guys understand. ButI just tend to ignore it when people do say it. It's only happened like 4 times.
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| Hampie Diglot Senior Member Sweden Joined 6660 days ago 625 posts - 1009 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English Studies: Latin, German, Mandarin | Message 5 of 17 19 July 2011 at 7:57pm | IP Logged | ||
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To me weeabo, or wapanese, means a person that has a very unrealistic vision of Japan and sees the country, the
culture and everything to do with Japan as superior, the paradise on earth. Such people do indeed exist: I’ve met quite a few of them. I would never sat that Japan is bad per se — but Japan is not better in every aspect than any other country and Japan does indeed has its faults (Amnesty does not like Japan’s treatment of prisoners senteced to death; the phenomenon called wet leaves, the school system and how it gives young people stress form kindergarten and on, etc. etc.). One does not become a weeabo simply by studing Japanese — most weeabos don’t bother and if they do it’s usually simplified ‹useful› animé-esque expressions. I’ve seen people who put -san or - chan after their name, ends Swedish sentences with ‹desu› and greet eatchother with ‹konnichiwa› and (tries to) insult eatchother with ‹urusai!› and ‹baka!›. Such things to me is ludicrous — and a totally different thing from learning the Japanese language and reading about its culture. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| starrye Senior Member United States Joined 5095 days ago 172 posts - 280 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese | Message 6 of 17 19 July 2011 at 8:28pm | IP Logged | ||
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No I've never been called one... but I see it online all the time on message forums. Not on this website, thankfully.
It's used mostly online by young people in their teens or early 20s. I don't have any idea where it came from. Probably from someplace like 4chan. It was an internet meme that came to replace the more offensive word "Wapanese" to refer to white people who wish they were Japanese. I have indeed come across people like that, but they are usually just kids going through an awkward stage and they get over it. And they almost never make any effort to learn the language, so I find it ironic that you would be called one for actually attempting to. Edited by starrye on 19 July 2011 at 8:32pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Fiveonefive Diglot Groupie Japan Joined 5694 days ago 69 posts - 88 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: Swedish | Message 7 of 17 20 July 2011 at 2:34am | IP Logged | ||
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I've lived in a rural part Japan for the last three years teaching English and we gaijin tend to group together quite a bit. Over time we start throwing in random Japanese words into our English conversation. It's kind of funny because every year new teachers come into our community and they must think we are total otakus and weaboos and within a few months start talking just like us.
How to talk like an English teacher in Japan 1. Convert all prices over 10,000 yen into Japanese but convert prices under 10,000 into US dollars. For example, "I got a speeding ticket and had to pay san-man (30,000)." "Ferry ticket to Osaka is about 30 bucks (3,000)" 2. Never say the word convenience store. It's now konbini. 3. Toilet/bathroom -> Toirei 4. Please -> Onegai 5. Awesome -> Sugoi And so on. Edited by Fiveonefive on 20 July 2011 at 2:35am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Lucky Charms Diglot Senior Member Japan lapacifica.net Joined 6950 days ago 752 posts - 1711 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: German, Spanish | Message 8 of 17 20 July 2011 at 5:41am | IP Logged | ||
These people absolutely do exist, and I used to be one of them when I was about 13-15 years old! It was a phase I got over years before taking my first Japanese class. I'll spare myself the embarassment of giving you all the details, but I think Hampie paints a pretty good picture :) They sprinkle Japanese words and suffixes into their sentences, wear cat ears to school, unabashedly declare their wish to be Japanese/Asian, wonder aloud why some aspect of their country is not as perfect as Japan, and compete with each other as to who can name-drop the most obscure anime series or underground Japanese rock group. If they join a Japanese class, they seem to be convinced they already know everything, and then most of them drop out once they realize that 1) a beginner's level is already enough to impress their friends, and advancing beyond that would require a lot of work without a proportional increase in bragging rights, and 2) not everything in Japan is about anime, samurai, and the like. There's a lot of everyday, boring stuff too. Learning about the tradition of New Year's greeting cards or the changing identity of women in the workplace from an obasan in her 50's does not feed into their fantasies of Cool Japan. It's unfortunate that a boom in these type of Japanese learners within the last 10 years or so has given a reputation to all Japanese learners of our generation. Even young Japanese people themselves are aware of the stereotype. Here's some strategies I use to disassociate myself from it: 1) There's nothing wrong with liking anime, but I'd avoid making it the first thing that comes out of your mouth when you introduce yourself or your reasons for learning Japanese. Instead, It's better to let the topic come up sometime after they've already gotten to know you and are less likely to stereotype you because of it. (In Japan, I think there's somewhat less stigma attached to manga, and much less attached to video games, so you shouldn't have any qualms about talking about these.) 2) Don't wear clothes with kanji or Japanese motifs. In Japan, you would be labeled as "weird otaku foreigner who is crazy about Japan" before you opened your mouth; in English-speaking countries it's not so uncommon, but in combination with the fact that you're studying Japanese it would tend to give the same impression. 3) This one might be controversial, but if you're particularly attracted to Asian women or men, I wouldn't exactly shout it from the rooftops. I'm not saying it's fair, but a little tact might be necessary in order to avoid giving people strange ideas about you. 4) If people tease you about liking Japanese movies or listening to Japanese music or anything, tell them, "Of course. How else am I supposed to learn Japanese?" Framing it this way, so that these activities are a means toward to end of learning Japanese instead of the other way around, seems less ridiculous to some people, so it works well to shut them up. The "it's possible to enjoy these things for their own sake without being a Japan-obsessed weirdo, ya know" line of reasoning, on the other hand, unfortunately doesn't satisfy them so well. These tips have helped me avoid getting a lot of crap for studying Japanese. I don't suggest anyone changes who they are or hides what they like, but just be aware of the signals you're sending out and how they might be interpreted by some, and adjust the impression you make accordingly. If this sits uncomfortably with you, then maybe you'd prefer Khatzumoto's philosophy: "F*** what anybody thinks; those who can't accept your interests aren't your real friends anyway." He has some good things to say on the subject over at AJATT. Edited by Lucky Charms on 20 July 2011 at 5:45am 7 persons have voted this message useful |
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