Animal Language
...written on 2000-11-05, @ 10:43:31
Tales of Kim's Life in Japan
Sun November 5, 2000
Yesterday after training I said we all went out to eat at Tomato and Onion. I neglected to divulge some of the conversation that we had there.
The names are changed to protect the embarrassed.
Since we just had a lecture on making lesson plans, I was exploring some ideas:
Kim: "I'm thinking about doing a class on animal sounds. I'd like to compare the differences say between the sounds used to represent a Japanese cat and an American cat."
Man #1: "Wait a minute! Do you mean that a Japanese cat speaks a different language than an American cat?"
Everyone but Man #1: :::raucous laughter:::
A little laughter is one thing, but I think someone took it a little too far and hurt Man #1's feelings. I tried to soften things a little by having the more experienced of all of us say what he knew the Japanese versions of the animal sounds to be, because if you stand up in class and go "Bow-wow", the Japanese students will not understand what you are talking about.
So, Man #2 explained the following Japanese animal sound representations. I also include the American sounds so those from other countries can compare both with their sounds as well. In fact, I would love it if you have different animal sounds, to mention them in my guestbook:
Japanese dog: wan-wan ** American dog: bow-wow/ruff-ruff
Japanese cat: niow-niow ** American cat: Meow-Meow
Japanese cow: mo-mo ** American cow: Moo-moo
Japanese pig: bu-bu ** American pig: oink-oink
However by this time, Man #1 was shaking his head. He didn't believe us. Anyway this took us into a very interesting discussion of the cultural differences of other sounds such as those made in suprise, anger, laughter, and pain.
Then of course there are the non-verbal aspects of communication as well. I remember at first when I was in the Dominican Republic that when I wasn't understanding something that the speaker was saying, I would furrow my eyebrows in a questioning manner. However, the speaker would ignore this expression and keep on talking. It wasn't until later that I learned if I wrinkled my nose that this was a signal to the speaker to repeat or explain what they were saying. The same was true with pointing with my arm and finger. If a Dominican asked me where something was and I indicated it by pointing with my arm, hand and finger, they would never look. It was only when I learned to point with my lips that they would look in the direction indicated.
I love intercultural communication!