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Tonight, a quick Japanese tip from our head teacher, Rie. As everyone knows, Japanese is very different from English, and one of the biggest mistakes people make is assuming that expressions in English can also be used in Japanese:
When I used to go out with this guy from U.S., we often went for a drive in his car. He was so sweet that he always came to pick me up after work. However, he didn’t know how to say “I’m coming to pick you up!” in Japanese. He used to say “ore ga kuruma de tori ni iku yo!” (“I’ll come and take you.”). Can you imagine what we feel like when somebody says that? The word “tori” is only used for taking objects, not people. I used to feel like I was a thing- “mono”. Everytime he said that I asked him back “Then where do you want to put me?”
I don’t know when he learned the right word for it, but now he says “ore ga mukaeni iku yo!” (“I’ll come and get you”). Much better!
Make sure you don’t make the same mistake! “toru” is for objects, “mukaeru” means to pick someone up, or come and get them.
When I used to go out with this guy from U.S., we often went for a drive in his car. He was so sweet that he always came to pick me up after work. However, he didn’t know how to say “I’m coming to pick you up!” in Japanese. He used to say “ore ga kuruma de tori ni iku yo!” (“I’ll come and take you.”). Can you imagine what we feel like when somebody says that? The word “tori” is only used for taking objects, not people. I used to feel like I was a thing- “mono”. Everytime he said that I asked him back “Then where do you want to put me?”
I don’t know when he learned the right word for it, but now he says “ore ga mukaeni iku yo!” (“I’ll come and get you”). Much better!
Make sure you don’t make the same mistake! “toru” is for objects, “mukaeru” means to pick someone up, or come and get them.
