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English in Japan

This book, 'Japanese English: Language and culture contact' by James Stanlaw (2005), is fascinating! :)

If you are interested in Japanese 'loanwords'/wasei-eigo, or the use of English in Japan, then this book is a must :) You can read a good amount of it via googlebooks.

3 件のコメント:

匿名 さんのコメント...

Really interesting read.
While the author says it's not bad that Japanese has so many foreign words, I disagree. While I realise you can't protect a language completely, there should be steps taken (like with French and Icelandic) to create native words for new concepts, and curb the use of foreign words in advertising.

From what I've seen, the worst culprits for using English when Japanese would do perfectly well are business and to a lesser extend advertising. It's seen as the "cool thing" to use English for almost everything in the workplace, from what I've heard from my Japanese and English friends in Japan.

If it's already at 10%(!!) foreign words, what will it be like in 100 years?
僕はスクールにゴー
ユーがドゥーイング ナニ?
ゆかこはリーリー クール
I can't do it justice, but some bilingual kids already speak in this weird mess.

Ah well. I'm to blame too, I just use English words when I can't remember the Japanese, and half-expect them to understand.

匿名 さんのコメント...

The more I read this, the more depressed I get. It's worse than I'd thought... it's everywhere. I wonder if it's as bad in other languages/countries.

I feel so guilty, it's like watching a train wreck. They're destroying their own language with stupid adverts for "It's So Coke" and using テイスティー

karekora さんのコメント...

haha, i like your examples.. surely it couldnt get that bad could it? English won't overtake will it... nooooo!