There’s a really popular satirical video that the creator mentioned that it is “partially based on a real event” and it got me curious:
One of the comments also mentioned that it is more common than expected where if you’d speak “Japanese-English” then natives who aren’t fluent in English will understand you BETTER than “Correct-English”.
e.g:
They will understand: “Herro, nicu to meet you, my name izu Danieru”
Better than they would: “Hello, nice to meet you, my name is Daniel” (again, with a fluent American/English accent)
My question are: do you think it’s true? Has this happened to you? If so, should I speak Japanese-English or Correct-English to Japanese natives (assuming they’re not interested in learning the language at the moment of speaking e.g: cashiers, waiters etc’)
3 comments
I think this is probably based on the fact that when speaking English, there are words that Japanese people might understand due to it being a loan word in Japanese as well. However, those words are harder for Japanese people to detect, if you pronounce it like a native English speaker would. For example, アップル contains an extra syllable in comparison to the English “apple.” A Japanese person might not immediately catch this word if said in the natural, English manner.
There are times in which I have spoken to a Japanese person in English and said a word that they didn’t recognize. When I told them what I was saying, they laughed it off and responded in Japanese 英語うますぎ (Your English is too good!)!
That being said, if there is an expectation that I am to speak English, even if the other person is not exactly interested in learning it, then I would not modify my accent in order to accommodate their understanding. I personally find that to be patronizing, so I would avoid that. If they don’t understand you, then I would simply speak slower, or if you know the Japanese for what you want to say, then repeat in Japanese.
Yeah, I think there’s a little bit of truth to it. You don’t necessarily have to go to that extreme of a satirical Japanese-English pronunciation but a little bit helps. My wife is Japanese and my in-laws understand her English better than they understand mine. Her accent isn’t that thick but it’s noticeable. So if I’m stumbling to find the right way of saying it in Japanese, I have to speak in English with a slight Japanese accent.
I think it just naturally slows the English down and spaces it out more. There’s definitely words that will be harder to understand this way, but for simple words and sentences it can be easier to here because you basically filter out the last sound and it’s like someone is pausing before each word.