Stealing from Facebook: I saw this on a friend's Facebook page today.



Way back in 2001, in the months before I left for Japan, I was trying to learn Japanese by listening to language tapes.

My college roommates thought it was the funniest thing ever, because half of the phrases would consist of an English word just pronounced with a Japanese accent, and a lot of extra vowels added.

One example that caught their attention was "Whisky Sour", which the language tape gave in Japanese as "ui-su-kii sawaa".
They had fun imagining trying to order a drink in Japan.  Imagine going up to the bar and saying "Whisky Sour" perfectly normal, and having the bartender just stare blankly at you.  Then the second time say (exaggerated Japanese accent) "Wiisukii Souroo", and presto, you get your drink.

Sounds ridiculous, right?

However, once I actually got to Japan, I found out that this ridiculous scenario was the reality.  You actually do need to pronounce English words with a Japanese accent in order to make yourself understood in Japan.

One book I was reading on learning Japanese* said that a major problem English speakers have when is that they pronounce all the English loan words as English, instead of with the Japanese syllabary.
For comparison's sake, the author said, imagine a French speaker who insisted on pronouncing all the French loan words in English with a French accent.

I guess that sounds reasonable enough.
Nevertheless, as the above video indicates, pity the poor foreigner who tries to make himself understood by saying "McDonalds" or "Starbucks" instead of "Makudonarudo" or "Sutabakkusu"

* This was years ago, so I forget the title and author.