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Are Japanese natives generally exclusive?

 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages (Topic Closed Topic Closed) Post Reply
66 messages over 9 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ... 7 ... 8 9 Next >>
ericspinelli
Diglot
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Japan
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Speaks: English*, Japanese
Studies: Korean, Italian

 
 Message 49 of 66
30 September 2009 at 3:58pm | IP Logged 
Sunja wrote:
I'd never heard of this holiday before but it's 敬老の日 (Sept. 21, Respect for Old Folks Day) which you find within シルバーウィーク, a new unpaid holiday. Now, why do they say シルバーウィーク "Silver Week" if they already have a perfectly good name for their holiday? Maybe it's because it helps to link the newer generation to this old custom? I can imagine "Silver Week" being a good way to make grandma (and the language) sound "not so old".

Silver Week is not simply a hip name for Respect for the Elderly Day. It refers to the rare occasion (this year, 2009, being a prime example*) when September's holidays (敬老の日 and 秋分の日) fall not only close enough to each other for a 国民の休日 (Citizens' Holiday), but also a Sunday. You can read more about it at Wikipedia in both English and Japanese.

*And the most recent stimulus for the revitalizing and popularization of the term Silver Week.
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Sunja
Diglot
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Germany
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 Message 50 of 66
30 September 2009 at 8:13pm | IP Logged 
Didn't they change the "Respect for Elderly Day" to fit within this 9/19 - 9/23 holiday period? I read it was a whole movement to keep workers at home for a week.

Sorry, I guess that's getting off the subject a bit.
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ericspinelli
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Japan
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 Message 51 of 66
01 October 2009 at 8:27am | IP Logged 
Respect for the Elderly Day has been the third Monday of September since 2003.
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Sunja
Diglot
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Germany
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 Message 52 of 66
01 October 2009 at 10:50am | IP Logged 
hmm. I probably misread whatever it was that I got that from. Forget it, it's not important. I don't want to sidetrack the thread. (I'm still learning about the holiday.)

I was trying to use シルバーウィーク to bring up a point. I don't mind when the Japanese take up loanwords. I see it as part of the living language. I think this holiday is a really good opportunity to bring up the idea of loanwords (their importance, non-importance) and I plan to get some feedback on it. I find the subject really interesting.

Edited by Sunja on 01 October 2009 at 10:52am

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mytamk
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Speaks: Cantonese*, English
Studies: Mandarin, Japanese

 
 Message 53 of 66
11 October 2009 at 11:16pm | IP Logged 
hombre gordo wrote:
[QUOTE=Ichiro]

Perhaps they will be more inclined to offer Japanese if and when they come to England.




Ichiro, I understand your point on the recent influx of lonewords. Even though I dislike them because I am a bit of a linguistic purist I understand that I still have to put up with them. However, I met a woman who didn't just use lonewords, she just clearly mixed the two languages beyond recognition when talking to foreigners. I personally found that quite offensive and condescending. I know for sure that I would never say to an Hispanic in an English conversation "oye ese yesterday I went to the tienda, me compre loads of beers, drank them went back to mi apartamiento and hice el amor with my secretaria. And then I fui a la church para arrepentarme de my sins"! That is just unhearable! It is that kind of treatment which I find unbearable.

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mytamk
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 Message 54 of 66
11 October 2009 at 11:21pm | IP Logged 
That is just too funny!!! LOL>>> But you know we, Chinese-Americans, do that all the time. It is called,"Chinglish!" Everybody from our parents, siblings, friends, anyone exposed to two different cultures understand perfectly. And in Hawaii, it is even more diverse. So no problem. Open your mind. We are all interconnected!!
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Siddy
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Australia
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 Message 55 of 66
18 October 2009 at 12:47pm | IP Logged 
I think you should read the short book, "Japanese in Action".
Its from the 1950's and it shows what you are talking about at its extreme.
Obviously a lot has changed, but its still applicable.

There is no argument Japanese people have the "Us and Them" perspective with the world.
However each new generation changes this a little.

One thing you will notice, no matter how good your pronunciation, you will always get blank faces and asked to repeat what you said many times when in Japan. This is because once you are seen as a foreigner (Gajin) a switch is triggers in their brains that expects English and anything else is just garble.

I agree, Korean are a lot more welcoming. Even if you are fluent in japanese, natives will still "compliment" you (patronizing), where as Korean seem genuinely surprised and interested even if you only know a few words.

This isnt supposed to sound negative, its just my findings. I still enjoy speaking japanese and visiting japan.
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Captain Haddock
Diglot
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Japan
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 Message 56 of 66
18 October 2009 at 2:58pm | IP Logged 
Quote:
One thing you will notice, no matter how good your pronunciation, you will always get blank faces and
asked to repeat what you said many times when in Japan.


This isn't much of a problem outside of major tourist areas — at least in my city. But then, the majority of
foreigners in this region are not English speakers, and most non-English-speaking foreigners learn Japanese fairly
quickly.


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