yurayurateikokuさんの おぼえた日記 - 2023年10月31日(火)

Anime, Manga and Pop Culture (1)

Sumimasen, Kyohei-san, are you genki this morning?
I’m super genki. Arigato. And you?
Just a skoshi fatigued with the flood of Japanese words swirling around my house. My teenage son and daughter are hooked on anime and manga. They’re constantly dropping Nihongo words into conversation, whether or not others understand them. They even call my wife and me “okaasan” and “otoosan.”
I’ve fallen into the habit of saying “Kawaii!” every time I see something adorable. Fans of Japanese anime use kawaii so often, I think it’s becoming part of American English.
Colloquial Japanese words that have caught on among American teenagers also include cosplay, otaku and senpai. My kids are really into anime and Japanese culture and language, but I hear that some of the slang they pick up isn’t always appropriate for polite conversation.
The popularity of anime and manga has helped make Japanese one of the most popular languages to study in the U.S. But many people are finding it harder to learn than they expected.
My kids want me to take them to Japan on vacation. I’ve always encouraged them to become multilingual, and they’ve been studying Japanese.