IRASHAIMASE!!!!....SLURP!!.....Random.ramen.order....ARIGATOUSGOZAIMASU......SLURP........IRASHAIMASE..Random.ramen.order.......ITADAKIMASU......SLURP.....IRASHAIMASE.....SLURP
 |
| Slurpy slurp slurp slurp |
Its not exactly golden silence. Now I'm not complaining, Its just all about perspective. Japanese people don't talk loudly, public transport in Japan is so quiet you could hear a ramen noodle drop. I have literally been on a train so packed that i couldn't move but i could hear the tap tap tap of a 3DS at the other end of the car.
Restaurants tend to be very similar, if people are talking (I have seen completely silent Japanese dates) it is very quiet. So you are sitting there, in near perfect silence really getting into your ramen (In a very silent, intimate way) and then a new customer comes in and you hear "IRASHAIMASE" (I'm not just spelling it out easily, it is always shouted) which means welcome, and every customer gets a welcome from every staff member, it's like the dominos effect with everyone shouting welcome.
And the funny thing is that now if i don't get an IRASHAIMASE i get a little upset. I really do go "Oh that was a little rude!" I have explained the slurping before, it really does make it better (go on, give it a shot!). And ARIGATOUGOZAIMASU means thank you very much, always shouted at you so you know they mean it. It's all very polite, but most certainly not quiet.
Today was a second ramen party, many of the people who live in my apartment block came and had their first experience of Rairaitei. I think they loved it, I even managed to order a vegetarian miso ramen, something I don't foresee myself ordering. I keep saying it, want friends? Get ramen!
 |
| You just see 5 bowls but I see that this plus 3 is all I have left |
 |
| I dunno if you can tell but I may be running short on witty captions for the same picture everyday |
Got the egg ramen today and my equal favourite side, 豚キムチ(Buta-kimchi) the pork and kimchi, spicy fermented cabbage (Honestly it is better than sounds). It was fairly enjoyable, I have started to have an increased appetite since I started this challenge which helps overcome the flavour boredom that I am currently suffering. Not long now and tomorrow I will try their cold ramen, never had it before it will be nice to try something new this month.
What is the correct pronunciation of "irashaimase"? I took a year of Japanese in college and have always wanted to continue those studies at some point. I was taught each vowel is a syllable, which makes me want to say "i-ra-sha-i-ma-se," but I feel like native speakers don't keep the sounds that separate.
ReplyDeleteI believe "IRASSHAIMASE!!! & ARIGATOUGOZAIMASU !!!"(shouting!?) are necessary at a ramen shop or a sushi restaurant. Without shouting, I won't visit that restaurant again, never...haha!
ReplyDeleteFrom my personal experience as both a teacher and student I have realised that teaching is actually just a series of lies that start with huge generalisations and then gradually you tell smaller and smaller lies till students get closer to the truth. Like I remember being told that light wasn't a wave but sound it, later i find out that light is a wave too.
ReplyDeleteLanguage is no different. While in Japanese syllable length is much important than English it isn't followed so strictly by native speakers. And just like Einglish speakers they do allow the sounds before to blend a little with the sound before it, but this is mostly the vowels. so in irashaimase most of the sounds are very distinct but not the sha-i its much more like shy than sha-i (If that makes sense).
Also, we have to be careful that when we speak Japanese we don't extend the vowels too much or they sound different in English. So when you separate the sounds like i-ra-sha-i-ma-se it can sound a lot more like ii-raa-shaa-ii-maa-see. Which means nothing in Japanese.
And then there is also the っ that makes the sha become ssha (I didn't write it cause i thought it looked weird to people who don't know Japanese) which is also important for changing the sound by making the ra before be very separate to the following sha. so it is more like ira-shaimase, than irashaimase. (I really don't think that makes any sense)
Sorry, I hope that helps but I'm still a novice when it comes to Japanese too
I think it makes sense enough. I've lost most of what I learned with the exception of a few words (My favorite is tenki). A lot of the grammar I learned has stuck and I can still read hiragana even if I don't know what the words are. I love reading your blog and trying to read the Japanese words you use.
ReplyDeleteThat was a long, off-the-point way of saying, yes, that explanation does make sense to me ^_^