Quote:
Originally Posted by MMM
It's always dead serious.
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I'm pretty sure you're being sarcastic... and I hope you are. Either way, just for a little anecdote:
I don't think language learning should be taken as seriously as it is at all. I think that taking things too seriously is a cause of some of the failures of English education in Japan (some teachers are way cool though... but some are a little on the debbie downer side).
I've learned a LOT of ridiculous words in non-formal situations that I would've never learned in class. I think I would never have gotten away with it in class either.
When I was learning Japanese in college (after the head teacher had told me I should think about a different major... that's how bad I was), I decided to find Japanese friends on Skype. I think I must've just learned what the word "~っぽい" meant. My friend showed me a new pair of rainboots that she'd bought recently and they just happened to be really colorful (maybe you guys have already figured out what I said). I basically said her boots were "いろっぽい", which is like saying "hey sexy rainboots!". I'm glad she didn't take it seriously! Getting laughed at was definitely humbling, but it was an experience I'll never forget.
There was another time when I was talking to one of my ex's (who happened to be Japanese) and I think she was complaining or making a joke about my chest hair, to which I responded with, "what, you don't like my man毛?!". I immediatly realized what I had said and was quite flustered as her mom was in the room! I meant to say "man", like "男", but said it in waseieigo which resulted in one of the greatest いいまつげ's of all time. (Although it's not quite rated G
). Incidentally, I had never heard the word I had said at that point, but had built up enough intuition by then to realize what it meant. The expression on her face was also pretty indicative...
I have countless stories like this. The thing is, when you're learning a language, you can't be too serious all the time. You have to kind of let go and let it all flow out. If you make mistakes like I've made, you'll NEVER forget those words.
What you're looking for is a response. If you get a good response it's a success. If you get a bad response, then you have to think it over and just think of it as an experience. There's no possible way to be perfect while learning a second language. Taking things too seriously can be detrimental to your progress. Even natives make mistakes that are embarassing.