Japanese class

[ehelps624]

Previously I wrote about the stereotypes in my Japanese class. But now I’d like to focus on two rather egregious mistakes that people in my class have made. Hopefully other people who are learning Japanese will gain something from this (and if you’re in my class, perhaps you’d like to stop making these mistakes. Also, how did you find this post?)

The first is the use of daisuki - 大好き. Students are taught that the word means ‘love’, and while that’s true, it’s a rather strong word and really shouldn’t be used for describing how much you like Japanese food or something like that. (Also that makes you sound like a weeaboo.) Suki (好き) is a much better word to use in most situations. It still carries the same feeling of like or love, but with somewhat less emphasis. ‘Enamored’ probably isn’t a good translation for either word listed here, but the difference between suki and daisuki is perhaps the relative difference between ‘like’ and ‘enamored’. Oh, and as a side note, aisuru (愛する) and its more common weeaboo form aishiteru, is also on the same relative level as daisuki. Unless you’re writing a love song or a J-drama, you probably shouldn’t use it.

Second, let’s talk about the word koibito (恋人). A decent translation of the word would be “lover”, but it carries a fairly strong connotation. As such, when you’re talking to the class about what you did with your boyfriend this weekend, koibito is definitely not the right word to use. You would never say, “My lover and I went to brunch” or something like that, unless you’re a weirdo. Or maybe you’ve watched far too much anime where they use the word, so you thought that was what was natural in conversation. It isn’t. In these circumstances you would use kare (彼) for your boyfriend or kanojo (彼女) for your girlfriend.

Oh, and just as a side note, don’t pronounce the su at the end of verbs. You come off as a huge tool.

[manganimefan227]

Thank you for these tips!

-Not in your clas-

[Nyororin]

Kind of right, kind of not.

大好き is certainly not too strong to use for food or something like that.
It is perfectly reasonable to use it in the same situations as you would use "love" in English. Over using it sounds just as stupid as doing the same with "love" in English. There is nothing at all wrong with saying that you 大好き Japanese food. But if you use it in place of any "like", then you have a problem.

愛してる and 大好き exist so far apart in ranking that they are literally in different worlds. A good way to think of it would be 好き = like 大好き = love 愛してる = in love with

You can say you like pizza and you can say you love sushi, but if you say you`re in love with ramen... You`re going to get stares.

As for the second part, I`ll agree on not using 恋人, but boyfriend is almost always 彼氏 - not just 彼.

Maybe pronouncing the す with a strong accent, or emphasizing it wouldn`t be good... But there is nothing wrong with saying it. It really isn`t silent, particularly in polite speech.