Gaikokujin/ Foreigner:Where am I? Tsuukounin: Watashi, Eigo wakarimasen. /Passer-by: I don’t understand English. Gaikokujin: (“Where” ha “doko,” “I” ha “Watashi,” dakara…wakatta!”) /Foreigner: (Where is “doko,” and I is “watashi,” so ... I got it!) Gaikokujin: Watashi ha, doko? /Foreigner: Where am I? Tsuukounin: Haah? Anata ha watashi no mae ni iru deshou. Atama daijoubu? /Passer-by:What? You are in front of me, aren’t you? Are you alright in the head? Gaikokujin: Byouin ha doko desu ka. /Foreigner: Where is the hospital? Tsuukounin: Ara sou, atama wo nantoka shitai no ne. Isoida houga ii wa. /Passer-by: I see. You want to have your head checked out. You had better hurry. Manga Explanation: Scene 1. A foreign man with long hair who looks like a tourist asks a Japanese woman for directions, saying “Where am I?” However, the woman doesn’t understand English. Scene 2. The man directly translates the phrase as “Watashi ha doko?” In Japanese we say “Koko ha doko desu ka?” (Where is here?). In other words, if you directly translate “Where am I?” it becomes “Watashi ha doko ni imasu ka?” Scene 3. The woman is surprised by the question “Watashi ha doko?” as the man asking her is clearly right in front of her. This derives from a conceptual difference between Japanese and English. Scene 4. The man intended to ask the way to a hair salon so he could have his hair cut, but he said “byouin” (hospital) instead of “biyouin” (hair salon). The woman believes the man to be rather strange and thinks that he is asking the way to the hospital to have his head checked out. Basic Sentence Patterns: Where am I? You are at Shinjuku Sanchome. Where is Shinjuku Station? Please turn right at the corner over there, and go straight. The station is on your left.
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