Communication Skills with Japanese

[Mazen]

Welcome All, Japanese Language Lovas

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone paying attention for communication skills in Japanese, and it's really an important skill we have all to pay attention for.

Japanese people are so polite in their conversation, and we can't underestimate the importance of talking with them as polite as they are. Therefore, I'll begin talking about ( How to communicate with Japanese in a suitable way ) in a series of threads and replies.

Wish You All Admire it And COMMUNICATE with this topic.

[Mazen]

Today I'll talk about those short verbal responses which the listener says to show that he have understood everything so far, so called Aizuchi

It's a skill that you all have to pay attention for, because without Aizuchi responses, the Japanese speaker will feel he's boring or his sayings don't make sense for the listener. By the way, I really admire Japanese language for this & I feel that all the languages I've learned so far have a Leakage of Aizuchi and that makes them weak in conversational skills.

We'll take an example for Aizuchi:
A: きのう　偶然　駅で　松本さんに　会って。。
(I happened to see Mr.Matsumoto at the station yesterday and ...)
B:　ええ。
A:　その後の　ことを　いろいろ　きいてみたら。。
(When I asked how he had been after that ..)
B:　ええ。　ええ。

The conversation goes like this: the Speaker A slows down slightly toward the last part of his saying. The Listener B then gives Aizuchi. Typical Aizuchi ええ　（standard), はい　（polite), うん (familiar) are used to show that the speaker is expected to go on.

There are specific suffixes often followed by Aizuchi:
。。。　て
。。。　のでーから
。。。　けど
。。。　たら
and in familiar conversation, these endings are usually followed by ね。。

Finishing up:
The listener sometimes tends to finish up the speakers sentences, and that shows his enthusiastic participation in the conversation. Try this example:
A: きのう　偶然　駅で　松本さんに。。
(I happened to see Mr.Matsumoto at the station yesterday and ...)
B:　会ったの？
( You met ? )
A:うん。

Sometimes the listener shows that he is ready for help without been asked by the speaker, and that's kind of conversation is considered ideal for many Japanese, who don't like to have to spell everything. Try the following example, the speaker is asking his Boss A for a permission to leave early:
A:　きょうは　ちょっと　帰りに　よる　ところが　あ� ��ますので。。。。
( I have some places to go on my home, so ... )
B:　うん。　じゃ、　早く　出たら？
( Then why don't you leave early ? )
A:　はい。　ありがとうございます。
( Yes I will. Thank You.)
B:　いや。
(That's all right.)
In this way, the listener offers his help without explicitly been asked to.

Notice: I'm counting on Communication Cues - I as a reference by 修　水谷　さん、信子　水谷さん。
みんなさん、どうも　ありがとうございました。

[Wasabista]

Bought a great book recently called (in English, though the book is in Japanese) Talk like a Successful Person or something like that. It's on the national bestseller list. It teaches some graceful expressions to use in everyday situations. For example, if it looks like it might rain, the ordinary thing to say is "ame ga furisoo desu ne," but it sounds more "oshare" to say "hakkiri shinai o-tenki desu ne."

Another one that stands out is: If you want to sit next to someone, say on a bus or in a cafeteria, the normal thing to say is:

Kono seki wa aite imasu ka? (Is this seat available?)

But say this and you're a star:

Dooseki sasete itadaite mo yoroshii deshoo ka? (Do you mind if I take this seat next to you?) -- (sounds way better in Japanese)

And so on. Just useful stuff to make everyday kaiwa sound more polished.