Читать книгу Kansai Japanese - Peter Tse - Страница 8

FOREWORD

Are you living somewhere in the western half of Honshu? Like maybe Ōsaka, Kyōto, Kōbe, Okayama, Hiroshima, or just about anywhere west of Nagoya? Are you planning a visit to either the Kinki (Ōsaka-Kyōto-Nara-Kōbe) or Chūgoku (Okayama-Hiroshima-Shimonoseki) region? Do you want to understand the gangsters, geisha, and samurai who always appear in Japanese movies? You’ll find, if it hasn’t confused or maddened you already, that the everyday Japanese spoken in Western Japan is totally unlike the Japanese you have been studying. They understand your textbook Japanese just fine but you can’t comprehend a word of what they say back to you; “they” meaning just about everybody speaking informally. They might be old people with all their stories to tell, your girlfriend or boyfriend, children, students in school uniforms, truck drivers, or just the regular people you meet at pubs, parties, or on the street. Think of all the listening practice you’re missing by not understanding the real language spoken around you all the time.

If you really want to get to know Western Japan’s people, you’ll have to supplement your study of standard Japanese with Western Japanese. And with this book, you’ll have all you need to understand what you’re hearing in Western Japan and to communicate with friends, lovers, and foes in the language they really use.