So I met this japanese teacher on hello talk who is super kind and sweet ,she also speaks decent English (or at least texting,didnt hear her talk) , when I ever have a question she goes over her way to answer me ,corrects me and even gives examples , but she’s nitpicking every little thing I say , specially punctuation . (OH don’t use (？) oh we don’t have these brackets ( ) but we use those 「 」 ,it’s not like I’m studying for jlptn1 , I’m mean English isn’t my first language ( prolly u have already figured it out buy now ) and I don’t follow the punctuation rules that much , not even in my original language its not like I talk formally or anything. Not only that , when I made less mistakes in punctuation she started reforming and change what I want to say
Example
先生おはようございます
元気でしたか
僕に説明をしてください
( and then I asked my question here )
She replied:
先生、おはようございます。
ご機嫌いかがですか。
教えてほしいことがあります..
Wtf ?Like I can let all slide fine but what the duck is wrong with 元気でしたか
5 comments
That genki phrase is more like an American thing translated into Japanese. It’s not that common in Japan. And a lot of other countries.
Whether it makes sense to correct all the beginner nonsense from textbooks… I don‘t know. It‘s meant to be an easy introduction into the language and after a while you figure out by yourself that nobody talks like that.
In this specific example, it doesn’t really seem like she’s nitpicking. But maybe you can try communicating your frustration with her? She probably wants to make sure she teaches you correct and natural Japanese, but doesn’t realize that she’s overdoing it
She’s trying to teach you more natural and more polite Japanese, which I think is the entire point of having a teacher, but as other people commented you can definitely communicate your feelings of frustration and ask her to adjust her corrections so as to not tear down your motivation too much.
As for what you said, the 僕に説明をしてください part, while it’s gramatically a correct sentence, it isn’t really the natural way to bring up that topic in Japanese. Her suggestion will help you learn smoother, more “Japanese style” communication, that will ultimately help you later down the line should you continue studying into intermediate and beyond levels of Japanese and/or wish to talk more regularly with Japanese people in general, for what it’s worth.
I agree with other commenters because this teacher does seem like she’s teaching you a more natural way to convey your message, plus how you should address her (very important). However, I’m not sure if I would recommend actually asking her to not correct you as much because although she might comply, it definitely won’t be helpful for you in the long run. Imo, if you want to learn Japanese to only interact with let’s say, Japanese media, then maybe booking classes on italki isn’t the best place. A lot of teachers, especially those that really care about you becoming fluent, will want to correct you in some way. Using the language however you see fit could lead to confusion and misunderstandings when talking to people irl. Worst part is, a lot of people *will not* be upfront about it either, so I think this is a really good opportunity to adjust your choice of words. It might be a bit annoying if you’re already used to writing/speaking like that, but I’m sure it will pay off eventually.
Edit:
My bad, I confused hellotalk with italki, a different platform. I totally understand why you used the word lucky now lol. Either way, a good teacher will correct even the smallest things to make sure you sound more fluent and understandable. This is probably why I confused both platforms because that’s exactly what the tutors do. Since you’re on hellotalk, you could always talk casually with other people, and learn formally with her.
Let me make something clear: DON’T ASK HER TO STOP CORRECTING YOU. Having a native giving you real-time feedback on what is and is not natural in your spoken output is absolutely valuable feedback gold you will not easily get anywhere else.