Background: I’m an N1 equivalent Japanese speaker who lived in Japan for 10 years but left a few years back. My wife is Japanese and we still almost exclusively use Japanese in the home, so my タメ語 listening/speaking ability probably hasn’t changed much, but I almost never read, write or speak 丁寧語 or 敬語 anymore.
We’ve recently moved to a new country and so I’ve started learning a 3rd language in an immersion setting. I’ve noticed this hilarious phenomenon where I subconsciously revert to 丁寧語 or 敬語 Japanese when I’m rushed or panicked to communicate in my 3rd language with strangers.
The same goes for the other way around too: during New Year’s we did our obligatory calls to our family back in Japan and I accidentally found myself sometimes using the 3rd language with my Japanese extended family!
Interestingly, this never happens when I’m communicating in タメ語, which I guess shows that my brain has internalised it fully into my subconscious, whereas my lack of exposure to 丁寧語 or 敬語 over the past few years has pushed that out of my subconscious “quick access” memory, meaning it takes actual conscious effort for me to communicate in it, like my new 3rd language.
It’s fascinating, and kind of suggests that despite it all being one language, Japanese, the difference between タメ語, 丁寧語 and 敬語 is in fact almost like a completely different dialect that has to be learnt and memorised in isolation.
Just thought I’d share that. Anyone else have a similar experience?
1 comment
How do you know it is a separate part of your brain doing the processing? Can it not be the same place using different processes that involve neural activity from somewhere else?