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From: ecl@mtgzz.UUCP (e.c.leeper)
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: Re: Getting Japanese to Believe You're Speaking Japanese
Message-ID: <1508@mtgzz.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 21-Dec-85 17:42:29 EST
Article-I.D.: mtgzz.1508
Posted: Sat Dec 21 17:42:29 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 23-Dec-85 04:21:14 EST
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Organization: AT&T Information Systems Labs, Middletown NJ
Lines: 20
Keywords: easy and difficult
Cc: ecl

> Also, no one *ever* obeyed the request "Moo ichido itte kudasai" ["Please say
> that again"]  Invariably, they either paused and then tried to say what they
> just said in English, or they said it in an entirely different way.  I varied
> it by sometimes asking people to repeat in the same words, or more slowly,
> etc., but no one *ever* did.  Why is this?  A friend has pointed out that
> Americans seem to do this, too (Amer.: "You turn right at the signal, then
> go straight for five blocks."  For.: "Could you repeat that, please?"
> Amer.: "Sure.  Go down to the light and turn right; go five blocks and you're
> there.").

There is a good reason for this.  Many people with hearing difficulties have
difficulty with only certain sounds--perhaps a sibilant 's' for example.
Changing the words used to express something can make the content intelligible
where simply repeating oneself might not.  (This is what many doctors recommend
these days in dealing with older people.)  Also, someone dealing with
non-native speakers/listeners may think they have used a word the other person
never learned and try to re-phrase what they say for that reason.

					Evelyn C. Leeper
					...ihnp4!mtgzz!ecl