Japanese has a lot of different suffixes for names, the most well known being ~san (Yamada-san, Honda-san, etc). In the past it was often translated as Mr., Ms., Mrs., or Miss. However, we obviously don't seem to use these in normal conversation! Well for me at least, the last time I did was in High School. Of course we still see it regularly in letters.
I have one JTE who hasn't realised that this little part of English has changed, and there is no need to translate ~san anymore. All the students in her classes are now referred to as Mr. Okada, Ms. Yamaguchi, etc. I want to correct her on this; friends are calling each other Mr and Ms and it's really odd for me. But now I feel it is too late...
But what I was getting at! There is another suffix, very famous among anime fans. This is ~chan. It's basically a cute way of saying someone's name. Amon friends, they shorten their name and add on ~chan. For example, Su-chan (Suzuka), Non-chan (Nozomi), and the list goes on. I think it's not a very unique way of giving nicknames, but that's Japan for you.
The other day I gave a talk on Maori culture, in particular Maori clothing. The class I spoke to really enjoyed it, more than I though they would. When I explained my family history about having a little Maori and Japanese blood, they went berserk.
Today I went back to that class and discovered that one of the students (non-Japanese by the way) has now given me the nickname Maori-chan. It's hilarious for me and them, so I like it! The student who has decided to call me this is one of the most enthusiastic kids in the class when answering questions; always love that in Japan. His name is Gabrielle, he speaks English in a thick Japanese accent, but I think he is from Brazil or somewhere. At first I thought he was putting on the accent but now I think it's real!
Random Maori lady. Can you see the resemblance? Hehe...
I have one JTE who hasn't realised that this little part of English has changed, and there is no need to translate ~san anymore. All the students in her classes are now referred to as Mr. Okada, Ms. Yamaguchi, etc. I want to correct her on this; friends are calling each other Mr and Ms and it's really odd for me. But now I feel it is too late...
But what I was getting at! There is another suffix, very famous among anime fans. This is ~chan. It's basically a cute way of saying someone's name. Amon friends, they shorten their name and add on ~chan. For example, Su-chan (Suzuka), Non-chan (Nozomi), and the list goes on. I think it's not a very unique way of giving nicknames, but that's Japan for you.
The other day I gave a talk on Maori culture, in particular Maori clothing. The class I spoke to really enjoyed it, more than I though they would. When I explained my family history about having a little Maori and Japanese blood, they went berserk.
Today I went back to that class and discovered that one of the students (non-Japanese by the way) has now given me the nickname Maori-chan. It's hilarious for me and them, so I like it! The student who has decided to call me this is one of the most enthusiastic kids in the class when answering questions; always love that in Japan. His name is Gabrielle, he speaks English in a thick Japanese accent, but I think he is from Brazil or somewhere. At first I thought he was putting on the accent but now I think it's real!
Random Maori lady. Can you see the resemblance? Hehe...
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