In Japanese, there's a whole subset of polite language called keigo which can be quite a challenge for foreigners to learn, since we don't have anything like "exalting" and "humble" verb forms for raising up the person you're speaking to while lowering yourself in comparison to them. I recently had instance to write an email to a certain company in Japanese, and to make sure I hadn't made any serious mistakes -- I'm sure there's nothing more amusing to Japanese people than foreigners screwing up their language -- I asked Yasu to check the email. He made quite a few changes, making the overall tone of the letter more formal and catching some of the little things I'd missed, but before I sent it out, I found myself replacing some of the extremely polite and accurate language he'd added with what I'd originally written. I think that gaijin have a certain reputation as being passionate and emotional, and I wanted to preserve some of that spirit in my email, even if it meant the Japanese I was writing wasn't as "proper" as it should have been. One important part of learning this strange and wonderful language is developing a personal balance between the various aspects of it.
The use of polite language between human beings is an interesting side of Japan.
3 comments:
Exalting the other person can lubricate communication. People respond favorably to flattery of all kinds. However, I can't imagine taking a page out of their book and using exalting English for the other person. While the Japanese have their own protocol for dealing with it (you give, they refuse politely, everyone feels better), in America they just might take the compliment and actually get uppity!
Ah... This is always an interesting issue for me. I tend to have a habit of sticking with using keigo when it comes to writing letters and speaking to higher ups, but when it comes to having conversations with my workplace colleagues who are several years older than me, I always get teased by them for using keigo. They told me hearing keigo all the time whenever we converse sounds awkward to them, and encouraged me to speak in a more casual manner (I'm a gaijin btw ^^). And we only knew each other for a year, which I suppose is enough time to build a friendship rather than a working relationship I suppose. Well... At least that's what they told me. Then again, we shouldn't take these things for granted unless the other party (usually the seniors) offers the hint and the invitation to be on more friendly and less professional terms with them.
Corban, yes that is true. On the other hand, I've had success with older or higher-ranking Japanese people by ignoring some of the rules for politeness and calling them by their first name (with -san on the end where applicable). Gaijin get to bend the rules a little, which is nice.
Keiri, interesting points. If you're not at least a little casual with people, you send signals that you consider the relationship to be a more formal one.
One thing that's interesting is how keigo can exist between romantically involved people. Like how Godai calls Kyoko "Kyoko-san" (polite) but forces himself to call her by her name (Kyoko) only after getting married to her, despite the fact that he'd been porking her for a year or more at that point.
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