Tuesday, January 8, 2008
LEARN JAPANESE, LESSON 18 - ADRESSING PEOPLE. (1) In Japanese society, addressing people is something you don’t want to mess up. When you meet someone new at work and you know the person’s occupational title, such as company president, professor, or division manager, use the title along with his or her family name – for example, “Tezuka-bucho, ohayo!” (Good morning, captain Tezuka!). Following are some examples of occupational titles:
ü shacho – company president
ü bucho – department manager, captain of a team, leader
ü gakucho – university president
ü kocho – principal
ü sensei – teacher
ü tencho – store manager
If you don’t know the person’s occupational title, the safest way to address him or her is to use his or her family name plus the respectful title –san, as in –Fuji-san (Mr Fuji). Sama is even more polite, but it’s too formal and businesslike for most social situations.
Other titles include –chan and –kun but they must be used carefully. Table below shows you which titles are appropriate for friends and acquaintances.
| chan | For children, used after a boy’s or girl’s given name |
| kun | Used after a boy’s given name |
| sama | Used after a superior or customer’s name, regardless of gender. Also used when addressing letters, (Dear…). |
| san | The most common title used, especially when the person’s relationship to you is unclear. |
When introducing themselves, the Japanese give their name first and given name second. Most Japanese people realize that Western names aren’t in the same order, and they don’t expect you to reverse the order of your own name to match the pattern of their names. If you use the Japanese word for “you” – anata – you’ll sound boastful or rude. Japanese uses names or titles where English uses “you”.
Instead of “you”, you can use age- and gender-sensitive terms when addressing strangers in friendly contexts. For example, “ojisan” literally means “uncle”, aged man. The table next to be posted will shows other general terms you can use to address strangers.Labels: 15, lesson
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どこか。なにか満たされない。
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