So I’ll be going to Japan soon, and I’ve reached a very decent level of late beginner Japanese in the context of material that’s made for language learners. So I know that even though I have the potential to understand a sentence, and to speak a sentence, there will probably be many moments where I’ll fail in communication.
Considering this I’m wondering what’s the best way to deal with this. I’m wondering about phrases and manners that are useful. For instance how to politely request someone talk more slowly or phrase something differently. What should I do if, no matter what, we don’t understand eachother. I’m wondering especially when it comes to service workers, since I’ve gotten the impression that service workers in Japan take their job very seriously, and I want to lessen the uncomfort of having to deal with someone that can’t communicate properly.
by HereistheWeatherman
10 comments
It will be more than fine, enjoy the time there!
Japanese people know some basic English and you making mistakes in their language will make them less stressed using it. They are a bit shy to make mistakes 😀
When I was there I mostly talked in infinitives/grammar forms, speaking and pointing as simply as possible. Even that impressed the locals and I made some short-term friends there.
My husband and I went to Japan October 2022, when the COVID ban lifted for international travel.
We were taking some Japanese classes but couldn’t understand much. We used a lot of body language and pointing at things on a menu.
We knew very few phrases. One of them was “chotto matte kudasai” which translates to ‘one moment please’. Then pulled out our phones for Google translate. We also installed the Japanese keyboard on our phones for the other person to reply back to us.
Another phrase we used is “Nihongo ga sukoshi wakarimasu. Demo mada jouzu ja arimasen.” This translates to “I understand a little Japanese. But I am not yet skilled.” It’s a humble way of expressing one’s current level of proficiency in Japanese.
We also used the phrases Ohaio Gozaimas, Konnichiwa, and Konbanwa, as well as Arrigato Gozaimas!
Everyone was very accommodating. Some were even super grateful that we made the first move to pull out our phones because in Japanese culture it would have been rude of them to ask for us to do so.
It was overall a very good experience. We stayed there for 33 days.
ゆっくり話してください (Please speak slowly）will be helpful. Along with asking them to use easier Japanese 簡単日本語が使ってください (Please use simple Japanese). Always remember that it will be fine even if you use casual Japanese since you are a foreigner. As far as my experiences, they won’t bat an eye. Remember your who, what, where, and whys and you’ll be fine. Also remember that if they see that your Japanese is a bit slow and they can’t understand, they’ll try to speak to you in English.
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Have fun!
Most tourists don’t know a word of Japanese and they get on fine.
I think the most important phrases are covered in the other comments but I’d like to add one more which made my daily travel life in Japan sooo much more enjoyable (I didn’t study Japanese back then but learned simple phrases):
Whenever you’re in the situation of ordering from a menu (e.g. at restaurant, at a counter, basically anywhere where you simply can’t read the things being written) I highly recommend to respond with 「おすすめは何ですか？」 (“What’s your recommendation?”) to the service or the chef behind the counter.
In our case(s), not only staff but also other customers started to cheerfully order food and drinks for us – it seemed everyone was happy and glad that we’re open minded for Japanese food culture. We actually made some friends in Osaka and Kyoto using this, and one time strangers not only ordered but also payed for us (!). We then went to a bar, payed for them, then went to another one where they payed for us and so on …
Oh, and also, you usually get *splendid* food!
From my experience you can just forget the grammar and use the simplest way to link the words you want to express together. And with body language they would be able to understand.
And of course, don’t forget to count the number of 日本語上手ですね you collected during the trip!
If you run into a situation that’s difficult to navigate, there’s no shame in using Google translate. It will make yours, and the clerk’s time a lot easier.
Ok, so some real talk that most people won’t tell you about.
First thing is, even though many Japanese people can’t communicate well in English, many of them (well, adults at least) will at least understand low-level English. Plus, there are pictures and signs for pretty much everything… assuming you’ll be in the big cities.
Now the part that no one will tell you- unless you run into a Japanese person trying to practice their English with a foreigner… don’t expect to get much conversation practice in. At most, as you kinda mentioned, you’ll be dealing with service workers the majority of the time. The only way to actually get Japanese conversation practice in is to find a group that is specifically for language practice. I’m assuming you’re American for this next part- Americans (and maybe other western nations too?) will talk to anyone on the street. Japanese people don’t, other than the aforementioned service workers. You have to be part of a group to get any actual attempt at conversation.
With that in mind… my personal suggestion is to just be polite with your Japanese (and expect to get a ton of すごい、日本語上手です!). If you want to ask something, start with “あの、すみません。。。” (Um, excuse me…), though I guess you don’t really need the “あの”.
Next up, remember the “magic words” you may have been taught as a kid- ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’. I assume you know what they are in Japanese. “Where is x?” is lso a handy phrase, and if you enjoyed something, there’s always “That was fun!” or “That was delicious!”
What you might get asked the most is “Where are you from”- the word to know here is 出身 (しゅっしん), which itself means “hometown”, and the way to respond to this is “(country)出身です”.
That should cover most of what you’ll really run into.
Honestly, if you’re only just around N5 level or midway through genki books, i won’t fret too much. Just go and enjoy yourself. Reality when I reached Japan, I was only able to speak one or two words. My future trips were easier with my chinese proficiency background and N4 grammar and more hours invested into outputting (speaking a little with my japanese boss).
If you want to want to have a feel of what normal japanese is like day to day, i recommend moshimoshiyusuke: https://youtu.be/oBbdUAYJWVk?si=4bEojQ8QiKtUQ-E_
If you open with the Japanese you know and then get stuck, Google translate is a lifesaver. They’ll appreciate your attempt at the language first.