日本人喜欢那些试图说日语的外国人吗？_风闻

【来源龙腾网】

评论原创翻译：

Johnny Smith

, lives in Japan

Yes… but only to a point. Japanese people tend to find foreigners (and anyone that doesn’t look Asian, even if they were born in Japan and can only speak Japanese) cute if they speak broken Japanese (especially if they are women, and they expect them to speak broken Japanese), but if they can speak fluently, then they are no longer “cute” as if a child had suddenly grown up to be an adult who can express himself articulately. Is this some kind of racism, elitism, supremacism, etc? In a way yes and in a way no…

See, most Japanese (wrongly) believe that the ability to speak a language has to do with blood and genetics. So they believe that if you are white, then you can somehow speak English (never mind that there are other European languages) from the moment that you were born. It’s the same for the Japanese’s ability to speak Japanese, it’s supposedly in-born. In the other way, many Japanese believe that they have an inherent lack of ability in speaking English, and hence Japanese often speak in broken English. So that they are amazed when someone can speak a language that they were not “born with", as if he/she has some sort of a special talent.

However, this doesn’t really apply to say Chinese or Koreans, because they’re expected to speak Japanese fluently and they often do, especially the Koreans, because those languages are similar.

Some if not many Japanese do believe that Japanese is so unique and so difficult to learn that it’s impossible for the non-natives to master.

是的……但只是在一定程度上。日本人倾向于认为外国人（以及任何看起来不像亚洲人的人，即使他们出生在日本并且只能说日语）如果说一口蹩脚的日语（特别是如果她们是女性，他们希望外国女性说蹩脚的日语）是很可爱的，但是如果他们能够流利地说话，那么他们就不再"可爱"了，就好像一个孩子突然长大了，成为一个能够清楚地表达自己的成年人。这是不是某种种族主义、精英主义、至上主义等等？在某种程度上是的，在某种程度上也不是…

你看，大多数日本人（错误地）认为说一种语言的能力与血统和遗传有关。所以他们相信，如果你是白人，那么从你出生的那一刻起，你就能以某种方式说英语（别忘了欧洲还有其他语言）。日本人说日语的能力也是如此，据他们说是与生俱来的。从另一个角度看，许多日本人认为他们天生就缺乏说英语的能力，因此日本人经常用蹩脚的英语说话。所以当有人能说一种他们并非"与生俱来"的语言时，他们会感到惊讶，仿佛他/她有某种特殊的天赋。

然而，这并不适用于中国人或韩国人，因为他们被期望能说一口流利的日语，而且他们也确实经常这样做，尤其是韩国人，因为这些语言很相似。

有些日本人（如果不是很多的话）确实认为，日语是如此独特，如此难学，以至于非本地人根本不可能掌握。

David Kanda

I agree that Japanese do believe their language is too difficult for a foreigner to master. It’s the reason I took it upon myself to become perfect even though, at first, I was faced with many obstacles. But after having totally mastered the entire language including the ability to read, write and think in Japanese, they were no longer able to deny that I was as good as they were. For some it was intimidating, especially the older generation. But for most of my Japanese friends, they considered it to be natural and never questioned it. I just blended in with the rest. We worked and played together, and I never felt as if I was being singled out. Even those who didn’t know me were impressed and complimented me. I also had some inherent ability to pick up on the written language extremely quickly and would decipher Kanji in the same way a person having grown up with Chinese characters would which has led me to believe that in another life I was born Asian and was therefore familiar with Chinese characters already.

All in all, my experience with the Japanese language, culture and its people has been a positive one, and its important to remember that the effort you put into learning a language will determine how good you become. My having the opportunity to live and work in Japan for a very long time and allowing myself to assimilate and absorb the culture and the Japanese way of thinking resulted in my ability to overcome practically all the barriers that a common foreigner would face when attempting to breach what to many may seem so elusive.

我同意，日本人确实认为他们的语言对外国人来说太难掌握了。这也是我主动要求变得完美的原因，尽管起初我面临着许多障碍。但在完全掌握了整个语言，包括用日语阅读、书写和思考的能力之后，他们再也无法否认我和他们一样优秀。对有些人来说，这很吓人，尤其是老一辈的人。但对我的大多数日本朋友来说，他们认为这是自然而然的事情，从来没有质疑过它。我只是与其他人融合在一起。我们一起工作，一起玩耍，我从来没有感觉到我是被孤立的。甚至那些不认识我的人也对我印象深刻，并对我表示赞许。我也有一些与生俱来的能力，能极快地掌握书面语言，并能以那些从小写汉字的人的方式破译日语汉字，这使我相信，在另一个人生中，我出生在亚洲，因此已经熟悉了汉字。

总而言之，我对日本语言、文化及其人民的体验是积极的，重要的是要记住，你为学习一种语言所付出的努力将决定你变得有多好。我有机会在日本生活和工作了很长时间，并允许自己吸收文化和日本人的思维方式，这使我有能力克服一个普通的外国人在试图突破对许多人来说可能是如此难以捉摸的障碍时所面临的几乎所有障碍。

Rei Miyasaka

> Some if not many Japanese do believe that Japanese is so unique and so difficult to learn that it’s impossible for the non-natives to master.

It’s not difficult to achieve literacy, but in all my time working with bilinguals of all sorts, I have yet to meet more than a few who I can say have “mastered” the language the way, say, a French speaker can “master” English over a decade and with enough diligence. And all but one of the fluent bilinguals I know have been bilingual since at least as early as seven years old.

I also have yet to meet anyone who’s said the ability to speak a language is genetic. It’s just extremely different.

> 有些日本人（如果不是很多的话）确实认为，日语是如此独特，如此难学，以至于非本地人不可能掌握。

识字并不难，但在我与各种类型的双语者打交道的过程中，我还没有遇到过几个可以说是"掌握"了这门语言的人，就像一个讲法语的人经过十年的努力，可以"掌握"英语那样掌握它。在我认识的所有流利的双语者中，除了一个人之外，其他人至少从7岁起就开始使用双语了。

我也还没有遇到过谁会说讲一种语言的能力是遗传的。它们只是非常不同。

J.M. Adams

i appreciate your answer, and i’ve heard the sentiment before, but i’ve lived in japan for almost 20 years, in three cities, speaking japanese most of the time, and i can’t remember getting that feeling from anyone. i know that was a popular belief 100 years ago (including the first great japanese shakespeare scholar of all people), and there may be some still, but now there are just too many well known non-japanese people on tv, etc, who are disproving it every day. of course there is an inferiority complex that shows up here and there and may be related.

我很欣赏你的回答，我以前也听过这种感觉，但我在日本生活了近20年，在三个城市，大部分时间都在说日语，我不记得从任何人那里得到过这种感觉。我知道这在100年前是一种流行的观点（包括日本第一个伟大的莎士比亚学者），现在可能还有一些，但是现在有太多知名的非日本人上电视等等，他们每天都在推翻这种观点。当然，这可能和某种自卑情结相关。

原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处

Peter Skov

I’m not perfectly fluent but I can make complex sentences and get through a conversation, and Japanese people have often told me that they feel relieved that I can speak as well as I do because it means they can have a conversation with a foreigner and not feel nervous. It’s easier for them to help me explain my thoughts in their native language than for them to try to make themselves understood in English.

So, based on my experience, yes, they are pleased when a foreigner can speak Japanese.

我说得不是很流利，但我可以写复杂的句子并进行对话，日本人经常告诉我，他们对我能说得这么好感到欣慰，因为这意味着他们可以和一个外国人进行对话而不感到紧张。对他们来说，用他们的母语帮助我解释我的想法，比让他们试图用英语去理解更容易。

因此，根据我的经验，是的，当一个外国人能说日语时，他们很高兴。

Suzanne Yoon

The korean and Japanese languages are not similar in any way. Japanese language has a sing-song voice inflection whereas korean tends to sound glottal and “rough.”

韩国和日本的语言没有任何相似的地方。日语的声调如歌唱般婉转，而韩语听起来很“粗粝”。

John Buchan

The words are not difficult to pronounce. But all those characters to memorize….

单词并不难发音。但所有这些要记住的字符就….

Chris Tom

, Professional Japanese Translator

It depends on the situation and the person.

During the time I lived in Japan, I encountered people who were thrilled that I could speak fluently, those that were indifferent, and those that were blatantly disrespectful. I noticed most young people tended to be more thrilled or indifferent, whereas with older people it was a mixed bag.

I will tell a story of a thrilled person, and of somebody who turned white as a sheet when they realized I understood Japanese.

When I was working as an intern as an interpreter at a small manufacturing company in Nagoya, there was a Konbini (convenience store) that I traveled to on a near daily basis. There was a young person working behind the counter who came off as very shy but he didn’t look the type to be shy. Later on, he asks me a question in Japanese about the food I ordered that was a little bit above the usual speaking level of a foreigner. When he realized I spoke Japanese, all of the sudden he was no longer shy. He seemed very happy and told me he hadn’t really spoken with a foreigner before and was glad I was learning the language. After that, we spoke almost every day until the end of my internship.

这取决于情况和人。

在我住在日本的时候，我遇到过一些对我能说流利的日语感到很兴奋的人，也遇到过无动于衷的人，还有一些对我公然无礼的人。我注意到大多数年轻人倾向于感到兴奋或无动于衷，而对于年长的人，则是两者交杂。

我将讲述一个有人对此很激动的故事，以及一个当他意识到我懂日语时脸色发白的人的故事。

当我在名古屋的一家小型制造公司担任实习翻译时，我几乎每天都会去一家Konbini（便利店）。有一个在柜台后面工作的年轻人，看起来非常害羞，但他看起来不是那种害羞的人。后来，他用日语问了我一个关于我点的食物的问题，这个问题有点超出了一个外国人通常的会话水平。当他意识到我会说日语时，突然间他就不再害羞了。他似乎非常高兴，并告诉我他以前没有真正和外国人说过话，很高兴我在学习这门语言。从那以后，我们几乎每天都交谈，直到我的实习期结束。

On the other hand, there are people who are not so benevolent. My friend from the States had come to visit me during my winter vacation while I was studying at a Japanese university, and we decided to go out to one of the major shopping districts of Nagoya. There was this one small shop with cheap “charai” (gaudy) clothing obviously ordered from China being sold at a ridiculous price. I must admit, I wasn’t wearing my best clothes that day as I was a volunteer farmer to help the elderly with their fields. So, upon entering this store, the owner looks at me and says in English, “no second class.” Obviously, I am horribly confused and shocked, so I decide to try to clarify with him in Japanese what he meant. I asked him, “どういう意味？,” (what do you mean?) and his face goes completely white and I could see his chest retract from tightened breathing. That’s when I knew what he originally meant. Afterwards, he goes on trying to carefully explain that things are expensive in his shop and I don’t look like the type who could afford it. I decide to just quietly leave and ignore his ignorance.

But dang, even my friend couldn’t believe it.

另一方面，也有一些人不是那友善。我在日本大学学习期间，我的美国朋友在寒假期间来看我，我们决定去名古屋的一个主要购物区逛逛。有一家小店，里面摆放着明显是从中国订购的廉价 “charai”（艳丽）服装，售价却高得离谱。我必须承认，那天我没有穿我最好的衣服，因为我是一个帮助老人种地的农民志愿者。因此，在进入这家商店时，店主看着我，用英语说：“没有符合你穿的”。很明显，我感到非常困惑和震惊，所以我决定尝试用日语问他是什么意思。我问他：“どういう意味？"（你是什么意思？），他的脸完全变白了，我可以看到他的胸口因呼吸紧促而缩了回去。这时我才知道他原来是什么意思。之后，他继续试图仔细解释说他店里的东西很贵，而我不像是能买得起的类型。我决定就这样静静地离开，无视他的无知。

无语啊，连我的朋友对此都难以置信。