Chotto chotto….

Like I said before, chotto is Japanese for 'a little bit'.  I thought long and hard before including a Japanese word in the title of my blog.  But first:

A Confession...

Despite 4.5 years living in Japan, my Japanese is chotto less than awesome. Actually, no, just bad. Totemo dame ('very stop'). Not subarashi ('awesome').

My favourite misunderstanding story is when I wanted to borrow a key so I could work at school after hours.  The lady had enough English to tell me I had just asked if I could borrow a shadow.  Chotto unusual, right?

Here are my main "reasons" for not being better at Japanese.

1.  I only intended to be in Japan for 6 months.

I was keen to teach in the USA and had 6 months to kill, so I headed to Japan.  I liked the lifestyle more than I expected … and I met a bloke…and then I found a job I loved.  From the beginning, I kept extending my stay by 6 months or a year and by the time I was home it had been 4 and a half years in Japan.  It can be hard to motivate yourself to learn a language that is just spoken in one country when you have plans to leave!

2.  While in Japan I lived in an expat bubble.

I had expat friends mainly.  I met lots of interesting people when I first taught at NOVA English school - there were 3 Nova apartments in my building with other teachers.  We were all young and carefree - so weekends and weeknights were spent exploring the izakaya (pubs), karaoke bars and Tokyo.  I learned enough Japanese to get by at the supermarket, izakaya and tourist places.  I also hung out with people who had better Japanese than me and would let them talk. Expats blokes seemed more motivated to learn Japanese - so they could meet local women. Plus, the Japanese people I went out with were often happy to translate - it was a free English lesson for them.

3.  When I taught at an international school, we were told to speak English only with students and parents.  

I broke this rule once with a new student in grade 4.  She was a great kid but new to English, so my science classes were a mystery to her.   On field trip day, I sat next to her on the bus - I think she was a tad lonely.  By speaking to her in my shocking japanese it really broke the ice - and I got to know her a bit better.  By the end of that year- gee, not even a year- her English had really improved and she was so confident.  A real little sponge!

But generally, my weekday life 8 am - 5 pm was conducted in English.

4. I studied for a second education degree while I was working full-time.

I studied for a primary teaching degree while I was in Japan.  During the day, I was working as a specialist science teacher (I was already a qualified secondary science teacher) and at nights and on weekends I was studying literacy, numeracy, music, art and health education.  In the Japanese Summer breaks (2 months each year), I left Japan to complete teaching placements in Australian schools.


Having said all that, the last time I was in Japan for a holiday I was totally able to get by.  But if you are expecting a fluent Japanese speaker - that's not me.  So why Chotto?



Chotto, Chotto…  (Pronunciation: "Cho" as in chocolate, "tto" as in "toe")

Chotto is a versatile word.  As I mentioned before, it means 'a little bit'.

Eg. Question: Do you speak Japanese?
       Reply: Chotto speak. (They will know to speak slowly)
       Question: Do you understand?
       Reply: Chotto understand.  (Then you can ask for more detail)


Chotto is also good to soften statements.  Who knows if it is a gross generalisation now, but when I was in Japan, people avoided being direct.  Even the word for "No" is kind of irrelevant as it is hardly used.  So softening words is a big deal. Generally, I prefer not to be too blunt as well, so I appreciate chotto for this reason.

Having chotto in the title of my blog personalises it for me.

I had a great time living in Japan and love a lot about their culture.  I'll be blogging about Japanese culture.

I also love the freedom chotto gives- being a bit something allows you to be a bit something else.  A bit Nanna, a bit young and vibrant!

Lastly, a little bit is my approach to environmentalism; I find hardcore, judgemental & aggressive environmentalists repellant.

OK, enough writing from me.

Next time: fancy photos of some awesome nanna technology.  

Until then, would love to hear of any great language misunderstanding stories you have been part of!