Charming people with witty Japanese language phrases
For reasons that I will not discuss here, I learned (and then proceeded to refuse) to speak Japanese. The funny thing is, I rarely use it anymore. Today, while reading one of Nadia’s tweets about how she was translating a site, I came to realize that I am very fortunate to speak the languages I do. Being able to speak a language breaks down barriers in ways one cannot always fathom. For me, being 100% fluent in English has helped me establish solid friendships (and yes, in some cases, romantic relationships). Communication is key in any relationship, and you really need to be able to convey the words in the best way or you’re otherwise bound to be misunderstood and create problematic situations.
The phrase that immediately come to my mind when I read Nadia’s tweet was “Anata wa totemo kawaii desu yo” which translates loosely as “did you know you’re very cute?“. I remember how giggly and happy I was every time I heard that phrase… *sigh* Oh, the memories 
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Raul, you speak Japanese? (Anata wa nihongo desu ka?) Sugoi desu!
I had no idea! I used to be all about the Nippon. Sadly, I never had anyone to practice with.
Still, little phrases pop up here and there.
Baka! Kawaii … Kowai. All that.
I’m looking foward to just 1-week sans Japanese.
日本語で話さなくていい１週間を楽しみにしている！
In related news, you should be going to see Helen Hardacre at UBC. I think she’s there for a conference this week.
@ Jeremy –
@ Newmark – I don’t do Japanese history
do you *really* want me to go and see Helen Hardacre 
I thought you had some connection to her. Maybe I’m thinking of someone else then. Anyway, she is an engaging speaker on Japanese religion at least.
I tried to learn Japanese with my friend Evildeb. We did not do so well, also we tended to yell everything we said in Japanese. However, my favorite two phrases were (most likely misspelled)
Atama ga fuwa fuwa! which I learned to mean, my head is crazy or my head is confused. Happens to me all the time.
Abunai! Which means Danger! Watch out! This one is extremely fun to yell and my coworkers visiting from Japan found it very entertaining when I did so.