Ironically, as I learned that levels of politeness and formality are governed by such factors as age, class, social position, and gender, I felt self-conscious and afraid of making mistakes. I didn’t want to be made fun of by everyone and talked about as a stupid, unrefined American. I wanted to fit in, so I was motivated to create a new Japanese persona for myself, with a softer, more refined way of speaking.
想定対象：高校２年生
Ironically,
as I learned that levels of politeness and formality are governed by such
factors as age, class, social position, and gender, . . .
>> How politely or formally you speak
depends on many factors. One factor is
age. You tend to speak politely, using keigo, to someone who is older than you,
but you tend to speak casually to someone who is younger than you. Another factor is class. Generally, a person of a higher social class
tends to speak more politely and someone of a lower class tends to speak less
politely, without using keigo. Still
another factor is social position. You
talk more politely to someone who is at a higher social position than you, like
your seniors, and talk more casually to someone who is at a lower social
position than you, like your juniors or kohai. Also, you tend to speak politely to someone
who is not so close to you. Finally men
and women speak differently, though you cannot say men are generally more
polite or women are generally more formal.
. .
. I felt self-conscious and afraid of making mistakes.
>> As I came to understand this, I
became self-conscious. That is, I became too careful. When I was talking, I was
always monitoring how I was talking. Is this word correct? Is this expression
okay? I became very careful of how
politely I should speak and I tried very hard to speak at the right politeness
level. I didn’t want to sound too polite or too casual.
I
didn’t want to be made fun of by everyone and talked about as a stupid,
unrefined American.
>> I didn’t want other people to make
fun of me because of how I spoke. I didn’t
want other people to say, about me, “She is a stupid, unrefined American who
doesn’t know how to speak appropriately.”
I
wanted to fit in, so I was motivated to create a new Japanese persona for
myself, with a softer, more refined way of speaking.
>> I wanted to be one of them. I wanted to be accepted. I wanted to be one of the community members.
I wanted to be an “insider” not an “outsider.”
So I wanted to wear a new “persona” or a “face.” I wanted to play the
role of a new キャラ; I wanted to appear to be someone who
speaks more softly and more elegantly.
