Ahhhhh, keigo, the infamously most formal, polite form of Japanese, with different forms of usage within it based on whether you are humbly referring to yourself or using honorifics to refer to anything and anyone besides yourself or whatever group you represent. Considering how many game shows there are in Japan, there’s got to be one around here somewhere about which verbs to use in which settings and with which interlocutors. (After all, even Japanese people need refreshers and instructions on proper keigo use.)
That said, keigo is a very standard part of actively used Japanese, not a separate language. I suppose after nearly four years in a Japanese office this improvement shouldn’t be surprising, but there is a big difference in satisfaction between answering keigo questions correctly on N1 of the JLPT and actually using it in a way that sounds natural in daily life.
June 18, 2016 at 12:05 pm
I’ve gotten a bit better at it over the last year or so, but I still distinctly remember keigo at one point feeling like the bane of my entire existence. I also remember first trying it out on my Japanese teacher here, who burst out laughing when instead of saying something like “Will you please show me where the bathroom is?” came out closer to “Won’t you please accompany me to the bathroom?”
June 23, 2016 at 12:54 pm
Pfffff—-yes, keigo, it invites so many mistakes like that. Thankfully I think the worst I’ve done is use humble verbs for people I’m honoring and stuff like that…
June 18, 2016 at 10:12 pm
FIST BUMP
When I went to Japan for the first time I was just satisfied that the Japanese people I talked to could figure out what I was saying…
June 23, 2016 at 12:55 pm
Haha, yeah! Sometime I forget how much easier life is now than the first times I came to Japan.
June 25, 2016 at 9:34 pm
There are people (I mean the whole Japanese-speaking population) that can use keigo perfectly perhaps but I find not everyone has the elegance, myself included.
June 27, 2016 at 9:10 am
Yes, I notice Japanese people using mistaken keigo quite often, but I don’t feel I’m in any position to correct them!