I can still speak Japanese!
How it's nice to know knowledge still exists somewhere inside you
This summer, I went to the World of Barbie in Santa Monica with a huge group of adults and children.
It was super fun! Then afterward, we all went out to dinner. To understand how Japanese fits into all this, here are two facts:
One of our group was a man—“M”—from Japan. English is his second language.
Many MANY years ago, I lived in Japan. I learned enough to start watching soap operas in Japanese.
When I first met M, I greeted him in Japanese. The conversation followed what is typical for me in these situations.
Me: Hajimemashite! Yoroshiku onegaishimasue! (It’s nice to meet you.)
Him: Eeeeeee! Nihongo hanasu ka? (Wow! You speak Japanese!)
Me: Nihon de sundeiru. Ninenkan. Demo warui ni narimashita. (I lived in Japan for 2 years, but my Japanese isn’t as good anymore.)
Ok! We’re back to dinner. To entertain the kids, I kept making up drawing challenges for them, i.e. draw me Christmas on the moon OR it’s an undersea birthday party.
I tried to invite “M” to participate, but he admitted that he wasn’t understanding in English.
Him: Can you try in Japanese?
So I did. Gesturing to the pictures, I said:
“Do-ra-in-gu cha-ren-jii desu.” (This is a drawing challenge.)
Then, I pretended to think 🤔. I said:
"Ku-ra-jii i-dee-ah o shite.” (Do a crazy idea.)
Him: I get it!
YATTA! I thought. I still speak Japanese!!!
Method Behind the Madness: The Japanese language has absorbed a lot of English. So in the beginning of my life in Japan, I found that if I didn’t know a word I should just say it’s English equivalent in Japanese. And use lots of non-verbal body language for context.
THE END!