(no subject)

[oritsu_luv]

There's this amazing Chinese food place that we order from sometimes. The food is good, interesting, and seems relatively more authentic than a lot of Chinese food restaurants, and the people are really nice. They always send special little extra desserts or appetizers.

Today I called to order dinner, and after I'd placed my order, the man asked, "Are you Nihonjin?"
I said no, but I studied Japanese, and had lived there for a bit. Then the man switched to Japanese, and we had a little chat, after which he said my Japanese was good, and wished me a good night, ending with 'Shitsurei Shimasu'.

He was nice, and it was amusing.

But I still don't really know how he guessed I spoke Japanese.

I guess...I kind of get more of an accent when I speak to people with an accent? Like, with the idea that it will help them understand better? Or because I just get drawn into speaking with an accent 'in answer' to theirs? Like after I see a movie in a certain accent like Irish or Southern, and get stuck talking in that accent? Maybe?

At any rate, I guess I was speaking English with a Japanese accent?

I don't know.

It was pretty interesting though!

Comments

Talking Funny

[(Anonymous)]

Years ago I had a coworker Al whose wife was a native Spanish speaker from Bolivia. Talking to her he apparently got into the habit of pronouncing English in a way that would be easier for her to understand. My office mate was a Cuban American girl named Daisy, who was bilingual in English and Spanish. When Al talked to Daisy he would sometimes lapse unconsciously into that odd pronunciation. Daisy would laugh and say "Al, you're talking funny again!"

I did the same thing though when I worked with a bunch of Japanese guys here in the US for many months. When with them I sometimes found myself pronouncing English words the way they pronounced them. Such as Makudonarudo's instead of McDonald's and eyesuu creemuu instead of ice cream. ;)