[RadioKid]

* YES & NO

Do any of you learned "はい：HAI" corresponds to YES and "いいえ：IIE" to NO?

It is wrong. And most of Japanese have learned it wrongly.

Please be careful when you communicate with Japanese people depending on YES and NO. You should say "No, I did not it" instead of just only "No".

I mean "はい：HAI" in Japanese is used to say "I agree with you" or just "I'm listening to you". And "いいえ：IIE" in Japanese is used to deny what opposite talker says.

Therefore, Japanese will be confused when asked in negative form.

When I worked with an US engineer, he asked me in a morning "Didn't you change the system configuration last night?". As I did not change it, I replied carefully "Y.... No, I did not change it.". He continued "Really?" and I replied "Yes!" meaning "what I told you is REAL". He would be confused whether I did change it or not.

In that case, I wrote "Don't ask in Negative. Don't ask twice." on the white board of the lab.

With good English education, Japanese understand the correct meanings of YES and NO. However, In some degree of English learning step, Japanese still miss-understand about YES and NO.