Language: Practice with your Teacher

I am learning Japanese at the moment. Japanese has a lot of formalities and politeness. It’s true that other languages also have formal or polite forms, but it seems like it is very easy to offend in Japanese. I was listening to a lesson on polite Japanese and I remembered an encounter I had this week when I was talking with another teacher at the Japanese Language Center. I was offering him New Year’s Greetings, which I had learned only an hour before. “Agemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu! Kotoshi　yoroshiku onegaishimasu!”
あげまして　おめでとう　ございます！ことし　よろしく　おねがいします！

I was being formal-ish in speech so he indicated I should say the whole greeting… which I really mangled and skewed. A classmate hit me and told me to try it again. When I finally finished the phrase, this time correctly, we laughed and joked about it.

While I was listening to the lesson, I realised only a teacher or a classmate or a close friend would excuse such mistakes. In Japan, first impressions are everything, so if you want to make good first impressions, practice with a teacher who can correct you before you offend accidentally.

Tags: japanese, language, short note, study