Job Discussion Forums

[steki47]

I always correct my students when they use "to play" when they mean "to hang out". In my personal life, things are a bit different. "To play" sounds either childish or perverted. Being both a bit child and perverted, I say "to play" all the time. In English or Japanese. A personal joke that I keep to myself.

[elkarlo]

[seklarwia]

[steki47]

We are veering off the topic, but oh well. I have often heard Japanese say "girlfriend" when they mean "female friend", as in a friend who happens to be female. The mistaken implications are rather amusing, but I try to avoid any embarassing misunderstandings. Like when students ask, "Do you have a lot of girlfriends?". I reply, "Some of my friends are women, but I only have one girlfriend."
Feminine/feminist is another mistake I have heard with some amusing implications.

[Glenski]

[steki47]

[JL]

"You go, girlfriend!"

Actually, that's "You go, girl." Ever since Oprah started using it, it's become quite mainstream. In fact... I used it myself, on this very thread. http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?p=731189#731189
And trust me, I'm a very 'soul'-challenged, white boy.

[jonathanj]

I have been here for a few years, and can barely form a conversation. My excuse is that I don't have much time to study. I work full-time as a teacher, then in my spare time, I am at the gym or doing homework for my Masters is Accounting. I am studying, just not Japanese.

[JL]

[uberscheisse]

i just passed JLPT4. i started studying 2 years, almost a year in country. have now learned nearly 1/3 of the kanji i need for JLPT3. am dating a lovely lady who speaks very little english, so we rely on japanese and it's an incentive.

worked with a guy up until he got fired for being a jerk to pretty much everyone around him. he's been here 3 years and knows how to say 2 things: "eh toh" and "so-so-so-so-so-so-so".

those kind of people annoy me. they learn 2 conversational placeholders and then use them while conversing with japanese people. it's like me being japanese, going to toronto for 3 years and only learning how to say "um".

[starteacher]

The old adage is : It is not what you know or what you say, it is how you say it.

And that definitely applies more so to those who know the English Language too.

Never concerned if anyone does not speak Japanese or anything else.

Knowing a language does not make anyone wiser, it just makes one more aware.

[gaijinalways]

starteacher posted

[robertokun]

On defeating Eigo Bandits, Language Leeches, whatever you want to call them (from a few pages back in the thread) :

If you speak another language besides English, use that on the drunk salaryman or whoever else awkwardly approaches you. The reaction you will get is priceless.

If you don�t speak another language, you could always try learing just enough of one and perfecting the pronunciation of a few phrases to try to make it work

[GIR]

I've been here about a year and a half now. My Japanese level is quite low. I can clumsily get simple points across, and usually follow the topic of a basic conversation. As for reading, I can read hiragana & katakana, and some kanji. I started studying with Japanese Pod 101 a few months before I came, but stopped once I got here.

I am interested in learning Japanese. I'm also interested in learning German, Italian, Chinese, how to play the guitar, how to oil paint, how to make green chile, how to ice sculpt, etc. In the end, it's hard to stay motivated for something without a payoff. For me, there isn't much payoff in learning Japanese. Learning katakana had a HUGE payoff. I can read a ton of things now, and it comes in useful all the time. But I rarely ever speak Japanese.

As for Eigo Bandits, I've never actually had this problem. Though I am wearing headphones about 99% of the time I'm outside of home or work, which I imagine makes me pretty unapproachable. What irks me is the people (always men or boys, actually) who toss a "Hi, how are you?" or "Nice to meet you." at me while they're walking by, just to demonstrate to me that they can speak English.

[Apsara]