My life hack when I was in Japan and trying to speak to someone that didn't understand my shoddy Japanese was to just legitimately say the English word but in the thickest Japanese accent I could pull off. Worked like 80% of the time.
Ok but that feels very uncomfortable to do.. and I'd imagine it'd also be hard for Japanese to speak Japanese with a thick foreigner accent like "soomeemahsen"
No it's true.. idk if you speak Japanese, but if you ask them, "motto gaijin no namari de hanasemasuka?" most would find it uncomfortable to do. It's the same reason why most would find it uncomfortable to, "speeku in a japaneezu akusento raiku disu", it just feels kinda racist.
Guarantee that most people here wouldn’t care if you put on the accent to try and communicate; especially in places where the English language isn’t exactly commonplace
That's not what I'm saying though. I'm saying that THEY would feel uncomfortable to speak Japanese in an foreign accent. Right, they wouldn't feel uncomfortable if we spoke in a Japanese accent, it'd be all in our heads. But even being aware of that fact doesn't just suddenly make someone comfortable with putting on a Japanese accent.
Regardless, I don't think I could bring myself to speak in a thick Japanese accent. I mean c'mon... would you really go up to a Japanese person and say "do yu nō we-ah izu za neeresuto torein sutēshon?" I think I'd rather just use a translation app or try to speak is slow English with gestures.
I think the main issue is communication, so it is less about you doing an accent and more getting the point across. Japanese people are not going to understand standard English a lot of the time. They aren’t going to find it racist that you’d be using their sounds rather than English sounds. It’s just an attempt at communication.
I think for certain key words that sound quite different in Japanese like 'McDonald's' and 'milk' people should definitely try to say it in a Japanese accent. Or else oftentimes they'll have no idea what you're trying to say. I don't think speaking in broken English would be perceived racist either. So something like, "Sumimasen(everyone should just learn this word before coming to Japan), makudonarudo... where?" might honestly be the most effective and wouldn't be racist at all.
You are taking it as a racist thing when its not. It might be hard to understand now because you didnt experience it yet. Obviously if you over do it it might sound racist if you play it up but if your trying to use katakana and speak similarly to how they do it can help them understand more easier your english. Also simplify what you want to say dont ask "Im sorry do you know where the nearest bathroom is" just say "Sorry but where toilet?".
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u/Reddity65 9h ago
My life hack when I was in Japan and trying to speak to someone that didn't understand my shoddy Japanese was to just legitimately say the English word but in the thickest Japanese accent I could pull off. Worked like 80% of the time.