"Your Japanese is really good!" Part 2

And now it spreaded to non-Japanese people:

I wouldn't really call myself very smart. But I am apparently good at speaking Japanese, at least considering the fact I've only been learning for 2 and a half years.
Which is something to be happy about. And proud. Right?

Lately, people who I'd consider my friends come up to me with: "It's really unfair that your Japanese is sooo much better than mine."
Um, thank you for being happy for me. And for appreciating my effort.

At first I tell them, "ah, that's not true, I severely suck at kanji." In other words, I force myself to pay attention to my weaknesses all the time. Make myself smaller so other people are happy.

Then they go, "How did you get that good?" Um, dunno? Studying?! Talent? Either those people don't study enough or are lacking talent, but I can't say that to their faces, right? So I go, "Dunno?" And then some people get mad because I won't reveal my secret. Some keep asking, and at some point, to shut them up, I say that I watch a lot of dramas. (I don't even watch a lot, just the normal amount, I guess.) So half of the people I know now treat me like a total drama freak. Great.

So some people try the drama thing. And it usually doesn't work for them. So they come back. "I still don't get it! It's sooo unfair your Japanese is so much better than mine."
And this is where I lose my patience. And where I lose lots of my friend lately.

If you're not satisfied with your Japanese, please do not blame it on me. It's not my fault. It's your own. There's always someone better at you in any subject of the world. I chose Japanese because I knew I'm good with languages and learn them easily. I would never have chosen something I'm not good with because I have a pride. And Japanese wasn't only my strong point, but also my dream. I guess I'm lucky.
So, if your dream happens to be to learn Japanese, but you're not good with languages? Then, I'm very sorry, you have to study a lot harder.
How about using your precious time to study instead of complaining?
Thank you.

I know I sound annoyed, which is because I am. I am annoyed by people who grudge me with my Japanese. If you're my friend, be happy for me. If not, at least feel pushed by it. And I am annoyed by whiners who steal my time. If you have time to whine, you have time to study.
Don't get pissed off at me for being better in Japanese. That way, I should have been pissed off at my whole maths class in high school. Which I wasn't. I was pissed off by myself because I sucked. Then I studied, and I sucked a bit less. I still sucked, but I made it somehow, and chose Japanese, where I would never need maths again.One possible solution, right?

How about you give me a break and start being mad at yourself, so you can push yourself?

俺、知らないわ！

Some of you might remember an old post of mine here where I talked about the difference between men's and women's words in Japanese. As I learned a lot of my Japanese from TV dramas, that sometimes use weird dialogues or mark characters as male/female by letting them use explicitly female language (as if the viewers were all blind ^^;), I kinda let some わ or のよ slip from time to time.
So when I was out drinking* with some Japanese people from the German language department (ever tried not to mix Japanese and German after the third drink? xD), I asked them about their opinion on the topic. They confirmed my recent observations: Phrases like わ have become something men use now, whereas women younger than, hm, 40, don't really use those anymore.
This would actually be an interesting topic for a term paper or something like that, wouldn't it?

*For all those who now frown upon me for drinking, let me tell you I drink very rarely, I never drink so much I lose my memory or can't get home anymore, and I used this gathering for research purposes!

So much for onnakotoba ^^;

In my previous post, I have stated that I like the feminine way of speaking a lot more than the masculine or "neutral" one. (Neutral in a sense that many young girls nowadays speak more and more "masculine" or at least avoid typically femine expressions.)
Well, as I have been spending more and more time with Japanese people and thus spoke a lot of Japanese, I, too, have adopted that way of speech. It's easier, and I didn't want to be regarded as weird.
So far for that. ^^;

Partying with Japanese students and exchange students from Japan is fun. :) But I'm lacking sleep lately.

My first task for Japan!

I don't know how many of you know about the differences between Japanese spoken by males and by females.
Please see this article for further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onna_kotoba

While watching japanese TV a lot, I have picked up a rather feminine way of speaking which, according to some people, is kind of outdated. Not to say, only few female Japanese of my age speak like that. (So do I sound like a woman in her thirties/fourties? *shudders*)

So my task from a friend who often muses my use of わ (feminine marker) is to find out how awkward people will think my way of speaking is and if it will change if, say, I find a japanese boyfriend who will of course speak male language and might influence me. Apparently, it is common nowadays that girls speak more and more like boys.
But I like my feminine way of speaking. (>__<) It sounds much softer.

Well, we'll see! I'll keep you updated for sure.