Lost In Translation
I do not like to spend much time dwelling on the past. In fact I often find that I have completely, and sometimes deliberately, blocked the past out of my mind - until some event makes me recall chunks of my life that I had almost forgotten were there.
Relearning Japanese is bringing back a few such forgotten memories. One thing I have realised while studying is never answer a very important question in a language you do not understand.
Why? Well for example, confusing "Nande mo nai" (Its not important) with "Nande iya nai!" (No way!). A long time ago I was asked by a Japanese girlfriend one of those questions women can suddenly spring on you, you know the type. This particular question had only one acceptable answer, which was NO. Inevitably I answered "Nande mo nai".
Never answer a very important question in a language you do not understand.
Relearning Japanese is bringing back a few such forgotten memories. One thing I have realised while studying is never answer a very important question in a language you do not understand.
Why? Well for example, confusing "Nande mo nai" (Its not important) with "Nande iya nai!" (No way!). A long time ago I was asked by a Japanese girlfriend one of those questions women can suddenly spring on you, you know the type. This particular question had only one acceptable answer, which was NO. Inevitably I answered "Nande mo nai".
Never answer a very important question in a language you do not understand.
posted by --Andrew-- at
1:29 pm
1 Comments:
Andrew,
Nice blog, even though there have been fairly few posts so far. I could especially relate to the "Catch 22" post, because I found myself in that situation recently :-)
I chanced upon your blog when I was trying to start my own blog and thought of names - tried "onelife" and saw it was already taken! The hunt continues..
Anyway, I am travel freak too and would like to see more posts about the "round-world backpacking trip"
Cheers
Parul
By
Parul Gupta, at 1:15 am
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