In which I get my pout on.

[sechan19]

During today's morning class review, we played a game that was designed to test our ability to both describe grammar patterns and to recognize paraphrasing. For the most part a very good exercise. However, when Aoki-sensei started being a stickler about the pronunciation of the word nimokakawarazu, I got awfully frustrated.

There's one guy in class who just cannot say nimokakawarazu no matter how hard he tries. When the example came up in the game, this guy tried and tried to say the word and Aoki kept making him repeat it. Then it was my turn to give an example sentence with nimokakawarazu, and I did. And Aoki made me repeat the word again. So I did so very clearly and - it must be admitted - in a rather contentious tone. I had said it correctly the first time, and I disliked having game time eaten up. When he finally relented I couldn't help flashing two fingers at him and saying, "That deserves two points!"

Then I proceeded to pout, announcing somewhat jokingly that I was ticked off. (Hara ga tachimasu.)

When the game was over, and Aoki-sensei was discussing the finer points of the different examples, he apologized for being such a stickler. "I kept hearing nimokakarawazu," he bashfully admitted.

"But I said nimokakawarazu correctly!" I protested. (Nimokakawarazu chanto iimashita yo!) And that was, I have to say, extremely not the proper way to speak to a teacher in Japan. ;> But since we're all friends at IUC, Aoki laughed it off with the rest of us.

And he gave my team an extra point, too.

Comments

[lordameth.livejournal.com]

I hadn't thought about it, realized it, but that actually is pretty hard to get right if you're not really thinking about it...

[reteva.livejournal.com]

It really is... like many Japanese words. My personal Waterloo is atatakakunai; I just cannot say that word. But I did get nimokakawarazu right, dammit! ;>

[lordameth.livejournal.com]

On last weeks episode of SMAPxSMAP, they had a game where they had to try to pronounce phrases as clearly and smoothly as possible, like a newscaster. One of the hardest ones they all had trouble with was 温かかった。

[reteva.livejournal.com]

Oh, for real. And 温かくなかった is even worse! Glad to know it's not just me, though. It's somehow comforting that Japanese is hard for the Japanese. Perhaps that's why I love Hexagon so much. Nothing in world cheers me up like watching Tsuji try to do the Announce Quiz. Heh.

[xianpu.livejournal.com]

oh man, i can totally relate. language learning can be such a frustrating process, it gets to you in unexpected ways. i think it can have a serious effect on how you see yourself as a person, and how much agency you feel you have. sometimes you just want to scream "i am not an idiot! i am a full grown, intelligent adult! i simply DO NOT UNDERSTAND what you're saying!" etc. it can be mind-bogglingly frustrating to feel like your communication is inadequate, and long-term language study, especially if it's really intensive, can fray the nerves.

[reteva.livejournal.com]

That's so true. And, I don't know if you have this problem, but I've found that as my level has increased, I've started trying to periodically break grammar rules in order to emphasize certain opinions that I want to convey. But the assumption is always that I've broken the rule because I don't know it.

The other day we were talking about English becoming the lingua franca of modern globalized society, and I said Eigo ga kokkaiteki na gengo ni natte shimaimashita. The teacher immediately jumped on it, and I was forced to explain that I had, in fact, meant to convey a negative nuance as I'm not sure that having English be the standard is the greatest thing in the world. (For English speakers it's a double-edged sword, I believe.)

There's plenty of ways to get frazzled, eh?

[xianpu.livejournal.com]

oh yeah, i've had that happen. luckily, those experiences get fewer and farther between the longer you study. unfortunately, the fewer and farther between they become, the higher the likelihood that you'll get really frustrated when it does happen. >.

[reteva.livejournal.com]

Very true.