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wintersweet
Joined: 18 Jan 2005
Posts: 345
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
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 Posted: Sat Oct 14, 2006 4:55 pm Post subject: |
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| gaijinalways wrote: |
| Don't think that listening to different accents applies only to non-native ones, also accents that are from different areas, especially when they are quite different from your own area and you have had little exposure to that accent. |
Quite true; when I started watching British TV shows I had to have closed captioning (subtitles) turned on for several of the shows, especially "Last of the Summer Wine." But I'm much better at listening to regional British accents now, which demonstrates the skill component of comprehending accents. (Rather than the patience/sympathetic listener component--though, of course, the reason I developed the skill was because I was interested in these shows, so I was trying. Otherwise, I would be like my mom, who won't watch Britcoms because "the sense of humor is too different" and "they're too hard to understand."  ) |
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gaijinalways
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279
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| Posted: Sun Oct 15, 2006 6:22 am Post subject: |
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I can relate. I met a nice bloke in Hong Kong with a C*ckney accent, and I had a hell of a time understanding him in the beginning. As to understanding the humor, it's not that different, just your mum may not always find it that funny. Then again, what passes for North American shock value humor I don't find very hilarious sometimes, more like warped at times.
Last edited by gaijinalways on Mon Oct 16, 2006 2:09 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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luckyloser700
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
Posts: 308
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 3:26 am Post subject: hakkiri utte! |
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Here's an example of what many Japanese do; They bring up a subject that they're interested in, but never will never clearly state what they want to state or seem to be unsure about their positions at all. Many regard this kind of aimai speech as one of the more wonderful parts of the language, but some go too far. Check out the article with the link below. Mr. Nakagawa clearly suffers from diarrhea of the mouth here.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20061016a1.html |
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kdynamic
Joined: 05 Nov 2005
Posts: 562
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 4:23 am Post subject: |
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| I don't see what that article proves at all, in relation to this discussion. The one guy said the issue should be debated in light of recent events, and the other guys said no, we should stick to what we've been doing and not debate changing it. This kind of exchange goes on all the time in politics and this one didn't seem different from how they go down anywhere else in the world. What exactly were you trying to point out here? |
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luckyloser700
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
Posts: 308
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 5:00 am Post subject: |
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| kdynamic wrote: |
| I don't see what that article proves at all, in relation to this discussion. The one guy said the issue should be debated in light of recent events, and the other guys said no, we should stick to what we've been doing and not debate changing it. This kind of exchange goes on all the time in politics and this one didn't seem different from how they go down anywhere else in the world. What exactly were you trying to point out here? |
Come on, Kd. The guy did what lots of Japanese people do all the time; he wanted to push his agenda, but he wasn't sure about how it would be received so his wording wasn't strong ("I'm just saying let's talk about it, you know?"), but everyone knows where he stands and they've blasted him for it. He's been backtracking ever since by saying the he didn't say he thought nuclearization was a good idea, he just wanted to talk about it. Sorry if this bores anyone not familiar with what's going on the political world here and what the big players are like.
Yeah, Kd. It's loosely related, at best. More of a cultural thing, I guess. Sorry if I f'd up your thread. |
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kdynamic
Joined: 05 Nov 2005
Posts: 562
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2006 11:40 am Post subject: |
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No worries mate  |
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