Posts Tagged ‘language barriers’

International Relations on the Homefront

Monday, August 31st, 2009

I live with two Japanese girls, both called Aya. I used to think that Aya 1′s English speaking abilities were lacking, until I met Aya 2. Let me preface all of this by saying, I know how hard it is to learn another language. I lived in Japan for a year and am pretty sure there are a bunch of Japanese people dining out on stories of the various gaffs I made while attempting to speak their language.

Aya 2 has been here for six months, learning English. I’m not sure what they’ve been teaching her, but I think it’s fair to say, progress has been slow. Her sentences are typically made up of three words and some charades. It’s on you to fill in the blanks.

A few weeks ago, she was showing me some stuff she’d picked up at a flea market. One of them was a old set of knives. She took one out of the box and said ‘For when I have boyfriend!’ and then made some stabbing motions with the knife. I was a little taken aback. ‘You’ll….kill him?’ I asked, now a little scared of my seemingly innocent roommate. She looked confused and conferred with Aya 1 in Japanese. They both giggled. Aya 1 clarified ‘No, she cook for him!’ So now we know both her English and cooking skills are shitty. When even the charades are confusing, you know it’s bad.

It’s gotten so I dread being alone with Aya 2. The awkward silences, the desperate scrambling in my head trying to figure out what the hell she’s talking about. Aya 1′s English isn’t great, but next to Aya 2 she looks like Barack Obama’s speech writer. Mind you, I don’t help much. I do all the embarrassing things we English speakers do in these situations. I start speaking in pigeon English too, thinking this will help her understand me better. I talk louder, as if her hearing is the issue.

Over the weekend, Aya 2 and I crossed paths on the doorstep as I was taking my bike out to run some quick errands. She said ‘Have a romantic time!’ Umm, what? What does that even mean? I couldn’t even hazard a guess at what she was trying to say. I mean, I love my bike an all, but not like that. But rather than question it, I greeted it with a smile and a nod and said ‘Thank you, I will.’

One day, Aya 2 will grasp the basics and before you know it, she’ll be chatting it up with the people of Toronto like never before. I, on the other hand, will still suck at Japanese.

Whatever you’re doing today, don’t forget to have a romantic time.

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