日本人喜欢那些试图说日语的外国人吗？
Do Japanese people like foreigners who try to speak Japanese?
译文简介
是的......但只是在一定程度上。
正文翻译
Do Japanese people like foreigners who try to speak Japanese?
日本人喜欢那些试图说日语的外国人吗？
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, 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。
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。
> 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。
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。
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。
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”。
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....
, 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。
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。
, 5+ years living in Japan
Originally Answered: Do Japanese people like foreigners to try and speak Japanese?
I've experienced the following two situations:
1. Japanese people who can't speak English well are happy that I speak Japanese because they are relieved at not having to dredge up that long forgotten English from junior high school.
2. Conversely, Japanese people who are learning English or have some interest in the language, which has been a decent percentage in my experience, are really pumped when I don't speak Japanese. It might be rare that they get to practice their English with a native speaker outside of a classroom.
* Time for a short rant. (One that I've repeated before) -- Skip if you're not into that kind of thing.
One quick note about situation 2 above: I've heard a common complaint from some people who moved to Japan, about when they try to speak Japanese in shops etc. Some people get offended and mark it off as racist when a Japanese person replies in English back to them. I've heard this so many times, "People think I can't speak Japanese just because I'm white!" Derp. I think maybe they just want to practice their English with you. So I say, don't get pissed off about it, you can practice your Japanese all day long, just cut the kid at the supermarket register a break when he wants to practice his English with you. When he tells you the balance as "four hundred and fifty-two yen", take the hint and answer back in English.
我经历过以下两种情况：
1. 那些英语说得不好的日本人很高兴我能说日语，因为他们不必再从初中时学的英语中挖掘出那些被遗忘已久的单词，从而松了一口气。
2.相反，正在学习英语或对英语有兴趣的日本人，在我的经验中占了相当大的比例，当我不说日语时，他们真的很兴奋。他们可能很少有机会在教室外与讲英语母语的人练习英语。
*是时候说些简短的废话了。(我之前已经重复过了）--如果你不喜欢这种东西就跳过。
关于上述情况2的一个简短说明。我从一些搬到日本的人那里听到一个共同的抱怨，就是当他们试图在商店里说日语等等的情况时。一旦日本人用英语回答他们，有些人就会感到不快，并将其视为种族主义者。我已经听过很多次了，"人们认为我不能说日语，就因为我是白人！"笨。我想也许他们只是想和你一起练习他们的英语。所以我说，不要为此生气，你可以一整天都练习你的日语，只需在超市收银台的孩子想和你练习英语的时候让暂停一下。当他告诉你余额是"四百五十二日元"时，请接受暗示，用英语回答。
On the subject of Japanese speaking English at foreigners, a couple of things for you to mull over:
My son is a Japanese citizen but he is mixed race and doesn't look Japanese. He speaks Japanese fluently. He really hates it when people speak to him in English in Japan and he makes it very plain he is not pleased. So tell me it is not racism when Japanese people can't even talk to a fellow Japanese citizen in their mother tongue because he doesn't look like them.
I was on a train in Tokyo many years ago and a couple of French children got on. The little boy was complaining bitterly about Japanese people speaking at him in English. Surprise, surprise, he couldn't understand it (he was French). I presume from the tone of the conversation they could speak at least some Japanese. Funny thing that — not all white people actually speak English.
Let's play the scenario out over here: how would Japanese people react I wonder to being addressed in bad Mandarin everywhere they go in the US? How about Asian-Americans — how would they feel about their fellow citizens addressing them in Mandarin?
关于日本人对外国人说英语的问题，有几件事情供你琢磨一下：
1.我的儿子是日本公民，但他是混血儿，看起来不像日本人。他能说一口流利的日语。他非常讨厌别人在日本用英语跟他说话，他说得很清楚，他对此不高兴。所以请告诉我，当日本人甚至不能用他们的母语与日本同胞交谈，只是因为他长得不像他们时，这不是种族主义？
2.许多年前，我在东京的一列火车上，一对法国儿童上了车。那个小男孩痛苦地抱怨日本人老是用英语跟他对话。令人“惊讶”的是，他根本听不懂（他是法国人）。我从谈话的语气中推测，他们至少会说一些日语。有趣的是--其实并不是所有的白人都会说英语。
让我们假设一个场景：如果一个日本人在美国走到哪里都被人用蹩脚的普通话打招呼，我想知道他们会有什么反应？还有亚裔美国人--他们对自己的同胞用普通话跟他们打招呼会有什么感觉？
I think the other reason why they would think you can't speak Japanese and try to speak English is that when they see a white foreigner, chances are he or she is a tourist and not all the tourists visiting Japan are supposed to speak Japanese.
According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication of Japan : in 2013, foreigner residents from North America + Europe + Australia and NZ (you said "white" in your exemple so I tried to pick up the countries where there are the most white people) = 127 426 people.
Tourists from the same countries in January 2013 (lowest season and just for one month) 147 987 people, almost the double in April (highest season).
Note: It happened to me sometimes that shop clercks or waiters talk to me in English in my first years in Japan, but these last years it has almost never happened again.
Note 2: I've heard some tourists complaining that they always speak to them in Japanese in shops as if everybody can understand Japanese, which is quite ironic.
我认为他们会认为你不会说日语并试图对你说英语的另一个原因是，当他们看到一个白人外国人的时候，觉得可能他或她是一个游客，而不是觉得所有访问日本的游客都应该说日语。
根据日本总务省的数据：2013年，来自北美+欧洲+澳大利亚和新西兰的外国人居民（你在例子中说了"白人"，所以我试图挑选出白人最多的国家）=127426人。
2013年1月，来自相同国家的游客（最低的季节，仅一个月）147987人，几乎是4月（最高的季节）的两倍。
注：在我来日本的头几年，有时会发生店员或服务员用英语和我交谈的情况，但最近这几年几乎没有再发生。
注2：我现在听到一些游客抱怨说，他们在商店里，店员总是用日语和他们说话，好像每个人都能听懂日语一样。这很有讽刺意味。
It's all well and fine if they are trying to speak English. The issue I have is similar to that famous youtube vid with the 4 white/black Japanese guys and 1 Asian American lady. The 4 guys are from Japan and speak fluently, but the Japanese waitress just ignores them and talks to the 'Japanese-looking' lady. I actually just experienced this in the last 30 mins.
如果对方想说英语，这一切都没问题。我的问题类似于那个著名的YouTube视频，里面有4个白人/黑人日本人和一个亚裔美国女士。这四个人来自日本，日语都说得很流利，但日本女服务员对他们视而不见，而是和那位"日本"女士交谈。实际上，我在过去30分钟里刚刚经历了这种情况。
我认为这种行为是礼貌性的，而不是什么种族主义。
Finally someone who isn’t offended by this. I think it’s rather nice from them to try to communicate with you by the language they think you speak the best. I would either think that they want to help me or try to practice English, but I would never be offended by it. I’m glad they find me friendly enough to try to communicate with me. ^^
终于有人没有被这个行为冒犯到了。我认为他们试图用他们认为你说得最好的语言与你交流是一种相当友善的行为。我要么认为他们想帮助我，要么是想练习英语，但我绝不会因此而感到不快。我很高兴他们觉得我足够友好，并试图与我交流。^^
If i get to learn enough japanese when i’m going to japan in a years time with a buddy and a japanese fellow starts speaking english to me, i would be happy to speak english with him if that’s what he wants. That way i can talk to other japanese to hone my japanese, and talk in english with others to help them hone their skills.
如果我学了足够多的日语，当我和朋友去日本的时候，一个日本人开始和我说英语，我会很高兴和他说英语，如果这是他想要的话。这样我既可以和其他日本人交谈来磨练我的日语，也可以和其他人用英语交谈来帮助他们磨练技能。
It's more common for students and earlier-career professionals to want to practice English with you. So you lose nothing by making effort to use Nihongo and are more likely to make someone happy. Nihonjin generally do not expect gaijin to know the language, and will be quite happy if you're respecting their country and culture by showing earnest effort to use it.
If they indicate they'd like to practice English, then great -- you've found a language exchange friend.
学生和职场新人想和你一起练习英语是比较常见的。这对于你努力学习日本语并没有什么损失，而且更有可能让别人高兴。日本人一般不期望外国人懂得这门语言，如果你尊重他们的国家和文化，认真努力地使用这门语言，他们会相当高兴。
如果他们表示愿意练习英语，那么很好--你已经找到了一个语言交流的朋友。
As to the folks who get angry about Japanese people replying to them in English... I think some people just really want something to be angry about. I often think a lot of white boys want to pretend they are the targets of racism for once in their lives... and again want something to be mad about. Mini-Debitos*, I sometimes call them.
This is why I nearly always avoid gaijin bars. Too many of these types gather there.
对于那些对日本人用英语回复他们而感到愤怒的人......我认为有些人真的只是想找点事情来让自己生气。我经常认为很多白人男孩想在他们的生命中假装他们是种族主义歧视的受害人一次......并且总是想要一些东西来让自己生气。我有时称他们为"小讨债鬼"。
这就是为什么我几乎总是避开老外的酒吧。那里聚集了太多这样的人。
I will add a contrary opinion. I lived in Japan for many years and found it irritating when I would speak to Japanese people in Japanese and they would reply in English. I didn’t have that many opportunities to actually have discussions in Japanese so when the person I was talking to would switch back to English, it was honestly annoying. Almost universally their English was worse than my Japanese so it also slowed down the communication. Another way to look at this issue is try speaking to a Japanese person in Japanese (language) in the US and see how that goes. I have tried several times and they were always not receptive to me practicing on them. So if it is perfectly ok in Japan, why is it not ok in the US?
我想补充一个相反的意见。我在日本生活了很多年，发现当我用日语和日本人说话时，他们会用英语回答，这让我很恼火。我没有那么多机会真正用日语进行交谈，所以当与我交谈的人转回英语时，说实话，这很令人恼火。几乎所有的人说的英语都比我说的日语差，所以这也拖慢了交流的速度。看待这个问题的另一种方式是尝试在美国用日语与日本人交谈，看看他们如何反应。我试过几次，他们总是不接受我对他们进行语言练习。那么，如果在日本完全可以这么做，在美国为什么就不可以了呢？
, knows Japanese
For my experience, Asians better stick to English while Caucasians can try speaking Japanese. The hypocrisy hidden underneath the honorifics of the Japanese language is sometimes very annoying.
I can speak some Japanese. Not so fluently though. When I was traveling in Japan, I’d usually start a conversation in English and only switch to Japanese if the talking got stuck as some Japanese cannot understand sentences in English except for a bunch of elementary words, esp some waiters/waitresses in local restaurants. You know what? When they heard me speak Japanese, their attitude changed, SHARPLY. I chose to speak Japanese just to ease the embarrassment and make myself better understood but from their perspective I was speaking broken Japanese and messing up with their ‘beloved’ honorifics. So some of them just ditched their morals and stopped using honorifics at all.
Fine. If they were such pains in the ass and ungrateful for my good intention, why bother? I never spoke a single word of Japanese during the rest of the trip:-) Seems that they deserve the anxiety dying to communicate in English.
根据我的经验，亚洲人最好坚持使用英语，而白种人可以尝试说日语。隐藏在日语尊称下的虚伪有时是非常令人讨厌的。
我可以说一些日语。虽然不是那么流利。当我在日本旅行时，我通常会用英语开启谈话，只有在谈话陷入僵局时才会切换到日语，因为有些日本人除了一堆初级词汇外，无法理解英语句子，特别是当地餐馆的一些服务员/女招待。你知道吗？当他们听到我说日语时，他们的态度发生了变化，非常明显。我选择说日语只是为了缓解尴尬，使自己更容易被理解，但从他们的角度来看，我说的是蹩脚的日语，而且把他们"心爱的"敬语搞得一团糟。所以他们中的一些人就抛弃了他们的道德观，对我完全不使用敬语了。
好吧。如果他们这么讨厌，对我的好意不领情，那我又何必强求呢？在接下来的行程中，我从来没有说过一句日语:-) 看来他们因为听不懂英语又非要说而焦虑得要死真是活该。
This answer actually speaks to some truths. Japanese do respect English speakers more. It’s not good. I have to admit.
这个回复其实说的是一些事实。日本人确实更尊重讲英语的人。这不是件好事。我不得不承认。