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Originally Posted by steven
I'm gonna stray a little bit and go as far as to say that I've heard people say that Japanese is a culture of holding back expression etc etc zen peace yadayadayada. While that might be true on some levels, I think there are many areas language wise that allows a Japanese person to really let out what they're feeling more so than English speakers. The opposite is also true of course, but I find myself trying to say a certain Japanese word that I use in English more so than trying to say a certain English word I know in Japanese. It could just be a result of me using Japanese more than English though too.
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Yes, like 'Chan' "Momokochanwa do?" Vs "Momokosanwa dodesuka?"
Then, English has two wonderful word 'you' and 'I'. In Japan you have to use the correct form of 'you' or 'I' or it comes off sounding wrong. A lot of older first generation Japanese-Americans speak in Japanese but use 'you' or 'I'. like, " YOUwa ne, mochoto..."
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Originally Posted by Columbine
Yeah, we use things quite differently, even if we can translate it! I still might say "do your best" to a friend who was worried about an exam or something though, and I don't think that would be odd. It's easy to get confused between American English and British English uses of words too. I used to get so annoyed at my American friends when they'd say "Oh, I'm sorry," after telling them bad news. I kept thinking "Why are you apologizing? It's got nothing to do with you!" but it's just how some Americans like to express sympathy.
Amongst some of my japanese-speaking friends, even if we're speaking english, we don't bother to translate some Japanese words like 'genki' any more. It just makes more sense left in Japanese.
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Yeah that new post amazed me. I didn't think about the real world difference of American Vs British English. In America, the 'sorry' stems from the phrase "I'm sorry for your lose". now, its shorten to 'sorry'. Instead of an apology, it means an expression of sorrow here in the U.S. Is "sorry' used mostly for apologies in the U.K.?
Among my Japanese-American friends, we speak in English. but a lot of Japanese words get thrown in too! Like genki, arigato, iyada, ganbare, ikuzo, oishii, umai, chikushou, etc...