this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2025
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Japanese. Their language I’d the most alien to ours and vice versa, so they sound funny trying to speak English. My favorite Japanese singer, ReoNa. Look her up on YouTube or whatever covering Country Roads by John Denver. Just note that Japanese people pronounce R’s like L’s, so she says exactly what you think she says.
What little I can say in Japanese, I like to think my pronunciation is good. My penmanship however, very poor, and that’s important to them, too.
Ok yeah you ever hear a Japanese person just get really excited to get to speak English to an American again? Best part of going to Japan on business
Never been, but I hear they (some of them?) go nuts when Westerners try to speak Japanese to them. I'm sure some of them don't appreciate it much (us going there and not knowing the language and having to be helped) and I'm sure it depends on where you are (Tokyo getting more international travelers; the further out spots, not so much). But I've heard a little respect goes a long way. They see your skin colour and they wonder what to expect, and you do a half decent bow and say 'konnichiwa' (hello/good day) passably, and end with a passable 'arigatou' (thank you), I hear they love seeing it, the effort to attempt their language.
I can't read the symbols worth anything, but I can say about three dozen words in Japanese. Can't string together too many sentences though. I feel like I'd be saying 'gomenasai' (sorry), 'baka desu' (I'm an idiot; lit. "this idiot") a lot — and possibly catching some laughs.