Conversational Ballgames
Conversational Ball Games
In the following reading, Nancy Masterson Sakamoto explains the difference between Japanese and American conversational styles. Born in the United States, Sakamoto has lived and taught English in Japan. She is currently professor of American Studies at Shitennoji Gakuen University, Hawaii Institute. The following selection is an excerpt from her textbook, Polite Fictions(1982).
After I was married and had lived in Japan for a while, my Japanese gradually improved to the point where I could take part in simple conversations with my husband and his friends and family. And I began to notice that often, when I joined in, the others would look startled, and the conversational topic would come to a halt (stop). After this happened several times, it became clear to me that I was doing something wrong. But for a long time, I didn’t know what it was.
Finally, after listening carefully to many Japanese conversations, I discovered what my problem was. Even though I was speaking Japanese, I was handling the conversation (participating in the conversation) in a western way.
Japanese-style conversations develop quite differently from western-style conversations. And the difference isn’t only in the languages. I realized that just as I kept trying to hold western-style conversations even when I was speaking Japanese, so my English students kept trying to hold Japanese-style conversations even when they were speaking English. We were unconsciously playing entirely different conversational ballgames.
A western-style conversation between two people is like a game of tennis.
If I introduce a topic (begin talking about something), a conversational ball, I expect you to hit it back. If you agree with me, I don’t expect you simply to agree and do nothing more. I expect you to add something – a reason for agreeing, another example, or an elaboration (detail) to carry the idea further. But I don’t expect you always to agree. I am just
In the following reading, Nancy Masterson Sakamoto explains the difference between Japanese and American conversational styles. Born in the United States, Sakamoto has lived and taught English in Japan. She is currently professor of American Studies at Shitennoji Gakuen University, Hawaii Institute. The following selection is an excerpt from her textbook, Polite Fictions(1982).
After I was married and had lived in Japan for a while, my Japanese gradually improved to the point where I could take part in simple conversations with my husband and his friends and family. And I began to notice that often, when I joined in, the others would look startled, and the conversational topic would come to a halt (stop). After this happened several times, it became clear to me that I was doing something wrong. But for a long time, I didn’t know what it was.
Finally, after listening carefully to many Japanese conversations, I discovered what my problem was. Even though I was speaking Japanese, I was handling the conversation (participating in the conversation) in a western way.
Japanese-style conversations develop quite differently from western-style conversations. And the difference isn’t only in the languages. I realized that just as I kept trying to hold western-style conversations even when I was speaking Japanese, so my English students kept trying to hold Japanese-style conversations even when they were speaking English. We were unconsciously playing entirely different conversational ballgames.
A western-style conversation between two people is like a game of tennis.
If I introduce a topic (begin talking about something), a conversational ball, I expect you to hit it back. If you agree with me, I don’t expect you simply to agree and do nothing more. I expect you to add something – a reason for agreeing, another example, or an elaboration (detail) to carry the idea further. But I don’t expect you always to agree. I am just