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feeling wen talking to a jap person (1 Viewer)

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pLuvia

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hey.. does neone have a wierd feeling wen talking to a pure nihonjin.. like wen u speak u feel quite nervous and like wen u make a mistake or say it rong u think that they'll laugh at u?? oh yeh how do u say "i dont no" in nihongo???

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"I don't know" in jap is "shiranai" or "shirimasen", I think.

And yeah, it is weird. I went on exchange for a month last year to Japan and stayed with this host family. I just froze up and ended up speaking english at first. But then after a while, it was okay. They kind of laugh at you, but it's coz they think you're cute, that's all :)
 
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pLuvia

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sweetsweetcandy said:
"I don't know" in jap is "shiranai" or "shirimasen", I think.

And yeah, it is weird. I went on exchange for a month last year to Japan and stayed with this host family. I just froze up and ended up speaking english at first. But then after a while, it was okay. They kind of laugh at you, but it's coz they think you're cute, that's all :)
lol... oh yeh.. it is shiri masu... coz shiru is to know.. so shirimasen is i dont no....

i wanna go on a jap exchange.. would be quite interesting.. wat do u actually get out of it.. like how does it improve ur jap.. or does it strengthen ur speaking etc.
 
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kadlil said:
i wanna go on a jap exchange.. would be quite interesting.. wat do u actually get out of it.. like how does it improve ur jap.. or does it strengthen ur speaking etc.
Mostly, it will improve your understanding of the culture and lifestyle, that above everything. I learnt lots of new vocab though that I've never learnt at school, but a month isn't long, so it's easy to forget those words once you come back to Aust.

And also, you'll discover many new Jap bands and singers :) which rock.

So in terms of language, I think if you want to be fluent, you got to go for at least 3 months, one month isn't enough. One month is fairly enough to learn a lot about the lifestyle though. It's so awkward at first, coz the toilets are separated from the baths and the changing room X_x I remember feeling so insecure getting changed coz there was no lock on the doors.
 

Cityboy

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To say I don't know in Japanese you say shiteimasen using the teimasu pattern because not knowing something is a continuous state and needs the teimasu pattern to be grammatically correct
 
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Cityboy said:
To say I don't know in Japanese you say shiteimasen using the teimasu pattern because not knowing something is a continuous state and needs the teimasu pattern to be grammatically correct
Maybe this is just for casual form, but in Japan, they often say "shiranai" to each other. Maybe for polite you use teimasu, but I'm not certain.
 

mushroom_head

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"shiranai" & "wakaranai" is frequently used. However, i'm not sure about the -teimasen bit either. Although it could be grammatically correct, it just sounds unnatural in this situation.
 

babydoll_

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Japanese people used to come into my work (Myer in the city), and they'd have traveller's cheques or "Bank of Japan" credit cards. I'd just ask them, "Aa, nihonjin desu ka?" and they'd be like "hai!", i'd go "Watashi wa nihongo no gakusei desu!" , them: "soo desu ka?" and I'd laugh politely and that'd be it.

At uni, they bring in Japanese people (students, working holiday students etc) and get us to practise. If it's in the right context, they can be really helpful, but I think everyone gets nervous meeting random Japanese people in case you say someting wrong...
 
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pLuvia

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babydoll_ said:
Japanese people used to come into my work (Myer in the city), and they'd have traveller's cheques or "Bank of Japan" credit cards. I'd just ask them, "Aa, nihonjin desu ka?" and they'd be like "hai!", i'd go "Watashi wa nihongo no gakusei desu!" , them: "soo desu ka?" and I'd laugh politely and that'd be it.

At uni, they bring in Japanese people (students, working holiday students etc) and get us to practise. If it's in the right context, they can be really helpful, but I think everyone gets nervous meeting random Japanese people in case you say someting wrong...
i dun meet many japs... but wen they hear a non jap speaking jap their REALLY surprised... i used to do jap visits at skool.. and wenever i say a sentence their like.. aa.. sugoi.. im like.. yeh.. anata no eigo ha sugoi and their like.. still say sugoi or.. iie soudemonaidesu.. <----- hey wat does that translate to in eng.. i was taught it was to show modesty.. like "not really... " etc etc
 

AcStyle*

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Actually when i was in Japan talkin to Nihonjin i felt pretty ok cos they kno ur gaijin so they sorta expect u to make mistakes...

Whereas in HSC oral assessments, i felt more nervous cos u gotta be almost perfect..
 
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pLuvia

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AcStyle* said:
Actually when i was in Japan talkin to Nihonjin i felt pretty ok cos they kno ur gaijin so they sorta expect u to make mistakes...

Whereas in HSC oral assessments, i felt more nervous cos u gotta be almost perfect..
haha true true
 

snoopy05

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lol what happens with me, is that i'v been doing japanese for 4yrs now and im not so good at it, and last time i met this japanese people and my friends were expecting me to be able to speak japanese, but u kno, u'd get the nerves and all those pressure under u,

you endup making an embarrasment out of your self! hahah
 
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pLuvia

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snoopy05 said:
lol what happens with me, is that i'v been doing japanese for 4yrs now and im not so good at it, and last time i met this japanese people and my friends were expecting me to be able to speak japanese, but u kno, u'd get the nerves and all those pressure under u,

you endup making an embarrasment out of your self! hahah
yeh its annoying hahah
 

yupgisonyun

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i know what you mean kadlil~ you know you are capable of talking wif them but you 're scared that they might barrage you with all these words that you don't know and i think that's kinda why you hesitate or feeel weird...... kinda coz you know that they're reply is not going to the text-book style dialogues...... and you're not yet used to actual verbal interactions with another jap....
anyway there's two ways of saying i dunno.... most ppl above said shiranai or shirimasen... which means i don't know as in you don't know the answer to 2+3, whereas wakaranai or wakarimasen means i don't know as in i don't know the meaning of the title of this book.....
 
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pLuvia

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yupgisonyun said:
i know what you mean kadlil~ you know you are capable of talking wif them but you 're scared that they might barrage you with all these words that you don't know and i think that's kinda why you hesitate or feeel weird...... kinda coz you know that they're reply is not going to the text-book style dialogues...... and you're not yet used to actual verbal interactions with another jap....
anyway there's two ways of saying i dunno.... most ppl above said shiranai or shirimasen... which means i don't know as in you don't know the answer to 2+3, whereas wakaranai or wakarimasen means i don't know as in i don't know the meaning of the title of this book.....
yeh thats true
 

MangoAvocado

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Lol, I usually end up smiling and laughing nervously alot whilst going "hai, hai". My sister says my voice goes up a couple of pitches or something too...eek! It's just so intimidating!!:eek: I think meeting a jp person once isn't really going to teach you anything...knowing someone long term might get you past that initial phase where you just keep saying things you'd use when introducing yourself to someone.

kadlil said:
iie soudemonaidesu.. <----- hey wat does that translate to in eng.. i was taught it was to show modesty.. like "not really... " etc etc
I think this literally means "it is not so"...but don't quote me on it! ;)
 

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