Ethnography: "Chotto..."

 

Today I read a "Level 0" story in Japanese called "ちょっと…". This short story follows a day in the life of college student Marina, and how she uses the Japanese expression "ちょっと…" ("chotto...") throughout her day. 

From context clues throughout the story, we learn that "chotto..." has several different meanings. It seems similar to the English phrase "a little bit...", which can also carry a different meaning depending on the context.

  • It could literally mean "a little bit" as in "a small amount". In the story, when Marina makes an omelette, the recipe requires a little salt:
    ”しおをちょっといれます” - Add a little salt.
  • It could be used paradoxically, to mean the opposite. In the story, Marina has to ride her bike to the University, because it's "a little far", meaning it is too far to walk:
    ”だいがくはちょっと遠いです” - The University is a little far.
  • It can also be used to say "sorry" or "excuse me" without requiring details on the literal excuse. When Marina is asked out to dinner but doesn't want to attend she responds that "Tonight is a little. bit.." as in, "Sorry, tonight won't work for me. / Tonight is a little bit difficult."
    ”今日の夜はちょっと。。。” - Tonight is a little...


Yūsuke gets shot down.

I was pleased to read this story because my reading has improved so much since I started learning Japanese. I remember after studying Hiragana for a few weeks, I felt that my character identification was good, but it was time to start practicing reading so I could string sounds together. It was so difficult! A simple sentence such as ”しおをちょっといれます” above would take a long time to decode. I would start sounding out the characters "shi...o...o..ch..yo, chyo.. to. chyo to... ii re... mas." Reading in that manner was still Baby Step Level 0 because I by the time I finished the sentence, I couldn't recall what it was about. I was reading for pronunciation and not for comprehension. Now I am able to get through sentences much more quickly! I try to congratulate myself after completing any reading, because every bit of practice adds up, and I'm already so much better than I was!

It was fun to reflect on the use of the expression "chotto" as a way to not be specific or explain yourself, because we do the same thing in American culture.  

「何読んでるの？」「うん、ちょっとね。」 "What are you reading?" "Um, something."

I remember once I had left home to run some errands in preparation for my wife's birthday. When I returned home, she inquired about what I was up to:

"Welcome home. How did it go?"

"Oh, fine..."

"What did you get?"

"Just... some stuff."

"Stuff?"

"You know. Surprises."

Sometimes it is necessary to be vague in conversation. Sometimes we don't want to explain something. Doing so might hurt the other person's feelings, or it may not be appropriate to say. Perhaps you just don't want to be fully descriptive. I enjoyed seeing how Japanese uses "chotto" in this way, because sometimes... it's just not anyone's business! Making connections like this is fun because it helps you realize that some things aren't cultural behaviors, some things are just human behaviors. :)

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ethnography: "Chiwawa no Hanasuke ~ Onesan Gomenasai" (チワワの花すけ～お姉さん ごめんなさい)

Image
  Today I read another Level 0 book on Tadoku.org , called "Chiwawa no Hanasuke" (Onesan Gomenasai!), or "A Chihuahua named Hanasuke (Sorry Older Sister!)".  It was a funny little story about a Chihuahua named Hanasuke who is left to his own devices once his owner, (whom he calls "お姉さん") leaves for the day. Once  おねさん leaves the apartment, Hanasuke decides on what he wants to do for the day. He finds that  おねさん has left her purse behind, and decides to play with it. Unfortunately for Hanasuke, that's when disaster strikes... the bag was torn! "Oops," Hanasuke says, "Onesan's bag broke ( / Onesan's bag is in a difficult situation)". 😅 Hanasuke decides to lay low until Onesan gets home. Upon her return, Hanasuke greets her at the door and declares "いいこだったよ!" (I've been a good boy!). This of course is not completely true, as Onesan soon discovers when she finds her bag totally taihen'd in the next room. When...
Read more

My Day 　私の一日　わたしのいちにち　

Image
 My First Japanese Essay March 3rd marked a new milestone in my Japanese journey: I wrote my first essay in Japanese! Now, even though: It was not incredibly long. It was not incredibly interesting. It was incredible that I could do it at all! These nine lines are awesome because of all that they mean beyond the words themselves. Being able to write a short description of my day meant I knew how to write the language, I knew enough grammar to properly construct the sentences, and I knew enough vocabulary to communicate the ideas. And most of all, that I had worked really, really hard to learn enough in those three areas to do it!  So what does the essay say? Here's the English translation: Every morning I wake up at 7:00am. Around 7:30 I get in the shower. Around 8:00 I eat breakfast. I like eggs. I go to work at 8:30. At 12 in the afternoon I eat lunch. Afterward, the dog and I go for a walk. Around 1 in the afternoon I work again. Interesting, isn't it? :) As I said, not ...
Read more

Self Assessment

Image
I) Intro: In which a crazy person does something crazy I began studying Japanese in December of 2020. We were nine months into the COVID-19 pandemic. I had spent the majority of that year indoors in a two-bedroom apartment with my wife and dog. When shit hit the fan, I was working as a manager of a software development team for a Kansas City company, and we transitioned into "remote working" nearly instantly. In a matter of days nearly all of my daily socialization was gone. (Later, I would replace it by buying houseplants to attend to. Still later, those houseplants would receive names. But that's a different story...) As the months whirled by, the "pandemic week" began to settle into a bizarro-normalized routine.  My work schedule was the center axle around which my daily life spun, and I was the anxiety-ridden, wide-eyed hamster running within the wheel. We're all going to die! But maybe not tomorrow! So I need to keep working! Gotta have money to buy foo...
Read more