So me and two of my best friends will be going on a trip to Japan pretty soon. The thing is that they have absolutely no idea that I‘ve been learning Japanese for the past few years. I‘ve been keeping it a secret since I always thought it would be really funny to reveal it to them when we‘re finally in Japan for the first time lol
So now that the trip is approaching I realize that I still don‘t really have any concrete plan about how I would go about the reveal. One idea I had was ordering food and drinks in Japanese at a restaurant, maybe pretend to struggle with the menu first then suddenly switch to Japanese when the server comes over.
But really I‘m open to your suggestions as this is kind of a once in a lifetime opportunity and I‘d like to make it super memorable haha
Also I would like to film their reactions, would that be alright in a restaurant / bar / etc. setting?
4 comments
“Accidentally” slip and fall, demonstratively hit your head, switch to speaking exclusively Japanese thereafter.
pretend you can only speak Japanese when you had some é…’
Start with simple phrases like “Konnichiwa” and “Arigatou”. When your friends will ask, “Do you speak Japanese?”, you reply:
“No, I just watch a lot of anime.”
When handed an English menu, ask for a Japanese menu. Read and order from said menu. When your friends ask if you can read Japanese, just say:
“No, I just watch a lot of anime.”
At some point, you will not understand something someone says to you. Do not switch to English. Do not pantomime. No Google Translate. Continue everything in Japanese. And always reply to your friends:
“No, I just watch a lot of anime.”
If you actually speak Japanese to a decent level it’ll be pretty easy to surprise them.
I’ve pulled a book out and started reading it on a train and one person was shocked I could read it.