I find myself thinking a lot about the subject of sprinkling another language into conversation with people who don’t know the lingo. Many people are familiar with Spanish and use little snippets of it in speech regularly. We use these expressions and if someone doesn’t understand a word or phrase, we explain. In text, using any language that uses an alternate character set, you are adding another layer of complexity to the mix. There is not just a barrier to understanding what the word means but also not knowing how it sounds. When thinking about this casually it may seem like a simple issue but it’s not.
I’m deep in the new process of learning Japanese. It’s challenging and a lot of fun. I want to use it as often as possible, like interjecting when something is awesome or cool, “すごい!” Unless you know hiragana, you won’t have any comprehension of what that word even sounds like, which is the point of this discussion (don’t worry, I’ll get to how it’s pronounced). In fact, I often think of these expressions automatically, sometimes even before the English word. In person the conversation is a bit different because you say the word and provide a verbal translation, which you will almost certainly have to do with Japanese. This way, you can sound like a total dweeb - “Acktshually, it’s …”, pushing up your glasses on the bridge of your nose.
I feel that I can use Spanish to express my thoughts and they are pretty commonly understood. “Es un bonita dia.”1 or a pretty common one, “Mi casa es su casa.”2 It’s pretty common to use these expressions in everyday life without sounding too pompous.
With Japanese it’s an entirely different proposition. Other than perhaps, “Domo arigato Mr. Roboto”3, most people don’t know a lick of the language. Would I write out romaji (the romanized version) or go with Japanese characters? Either way, there are at least two layers of explanation to get through (not to mention the fact that I think it sounds pretentious and elitist). Take for example the expression for “awesome” (すごい) above. The romaji is, sugoi, but it actually sounds more like sugoi-ee with rising intonation in the middle. This results in a lot of texting for a one word expression:
“I just got the job!”
“sugoi!”
“What language is that?”
“Japanese, it means awesome”
“Oh… Isn’t Japanese… In Japanese?”
“It is a form of Japanese that would be understood by most Japanese people, romaji, but yeah, technically it would be すごい! But then you wouldn’t have known how to pronounce it. Oh, and how to say it out loud is more like sugoi-ee…”
“Ah, I see…”
“I’m sorry, let’s start again: That’s awesome man, when do you start? biru wo nomimashoka?” 4
“...”
So… I don’t use it with most people in my life. I just think it, “すごい!ビールを飲みましょうか?”4 and then text, “That’s awesome! We should get a beer!”
1 It is a beautiful day.
2 My house is your house.
3 From a song that was popular in the 80s:
4 Literally translated, that says, “beer (particle) drink (shall we) (ka is the way you end your sentence for a question, with a rising intonation). You are implying “shall we” with the “sho” (しょう) I know that’s the textbook version, but I suspect with different levels of acquaintance that could probably be reduced to “bi-ruyo?”(ビールよ?)That said, I’m only a beginner and know nothing, so that explanation may be wrong.