I Don't Get it, I Really Don't

▼My New Channel: Let’s ask Seki Sensei | Kobudo Asayama Ichiden Ryu▼
Are you a Japanese budo martial art lover watching this video? Then I am now running the best channel for you to learn more about samurai, katana, and budo martial arts from a Kobudo master who is running a 400-year-old Ryuha. Our goal is to achieve 100,000 subscribers by 2023, so please check it out!

▼Please support me through Ko-fi (a donation platform like Patreon)▼
The management (filming, editing, etc.) of the new Asayama Ichiden Ryu's English Channel "Let's ask Seki Sensei" is completely my voluntary work. If I am not able to pay for the expensive bullet train fare from Kyoto to Ibaraki Prefecture (where the main Dojo is located), and hotel/filming expenses, this activity will cease. Please help us spread and preserve this 400-year-old martial art. In return, I will try my best to create the most educational and exciting content about Japanese Kobudo.

▼The BEST online katana shop for martial arts (Iaido, Kendo, etc.): Tozando▼
Everything I use for my katana training is bought at this shop! I still use the first training katana I bought in 2016, and it is still in good shape!

▼The recommended online katana shop for decorations and cosplay: Mini Katana▼
*Get 15% OFF off all their products by purchasing through my affiliate link

▼Where you can meet me in Kyoto, Japan | Yushinkan Samurai Experience with Modern-day Musashi▼
A 90-minute experience in Japan where beginners can learn how to wield, draw, sheath, and swing the katana from the modern-day Musashi! I, Shogo, will be your interpreter to lead you into the wonderful world of samurai martial arts!

▼Let's ask Shogo Merchandise Shop▼
Where you can buy t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, stickers, etc. of cute Ukiyoe animal characters and logos of Let’s ask Shogo:

▼Who is Shogo?▼

▼Related videos on this channel▼
-My Crazy New Challenges of 2023 | Great News for Budo Lovers
-Meet the Modern-day Miyamoto Musashi | Where You Can See Shogo in Kyoto
-My Battle Against My Sickness | Raynaud's Disease

▼MY DREAM▼
“To make every Japan lover’s dream come true, by making Japan a more secure, comfortable, and safer place for everyone to visit, study, and live in”

▼Join our Membership▼
The ticket to the front row seats to Shogo's rapid adventure to make his dream come true! Through the limited videos and live streams, your ideas and opinions will be adopted for Shogo to make the right decisions for his challenges!

●Membership benefits
-Limited behind-the-scene videos every week
-Limited live streams every two weeks
-Priority reply to comments

▼Sub-channel: “Shogo’s Podcast”▼

▼Instagram▼
*Please ask me questions through the DM here!（⚠️I do not use e-mail）

#letsaskshogo #thankyou #forlistening

[tomislavnagy]

I have noticed a Thing that is for me Very Strange: In many European Countries that don't have English as Official Language, for Example Germany and France very much, and Croatia less, English Words are entering those Languages, and not the Original English from England, but English from USA. So in German Language you will hear Sentences like this: "In meiner Job höre ich oft diesen Song."; eventhrough it shoud be: "An meiner Arbeit höre ich oft diesen Lied.". That is very Strange for me that many People put English Words in other Languages with an American Accent. So, I can understand why some People might want to here the Japanese pronunciation.

[teflondrunk]

Keep doing what you are doing. People just love being butt hurt about little things these days.

[deanmcintyre]

English is what I call a franken-language, as in Dr. Frankensteins monster.
We steal words from other people's lexicons all the time.
Off the top of my head, "Tsunami" is definitely a borrowed word

[lauraazure]

I would pay them no mind you clearly have a better understanding of language then they do

[safaa]

Honestly i'm one of those people, but i've never said anything about it xD
I don't think it makes sense. You know perfectly well how to say it, and just because you're speaking in a different language it doesn't mean you have to pronounce that word in a different way. I'm spanish, and if for some reason i have to pronounce a spanish name, i will say the way i know. What is unnatural imo is to force yourself to pronounce it differently

[eepyJay]

Shogo I feel like you have some of the most rude viewers...my first thought when you apologised if you have mentioned this issue before? How many times you must have gotten these comments!

I really believe that you are NOT doing anything wrong in altering your accent when speaking English or Japanese, the metaphor about it being like skipping a step is so true. I honestly think the people leaving these comments are know-it-alls, they will find some issue with anything you say no matter what, even if you are Japanese, live IN Kyoto, they will find something to try and prove they are smarter or know better.

Pay them no attention, you are right!

[AmbiCahira]

I'm bilingual working on my third language and I don't think people know the feeling in the brain of language switching back and forth. It's just simply more comfortable to not skip around between languages mid sentence. The people that critique this just don't know.

[BGomez-tklu]

I think you're right to pronounce it the way you do, you're speaking english not japanese afterall. I've run into similar situations with other spanish speakers where someone pronounces some english word with the original pronounciation and it does sound very weird. A lot of people from Mexico or Venezuela do this a lot and I think it's very funny

[DominicanStud]

I struggle with this. I grew up speaking English and Spanish, and sometimes I say words in Spanish even when speaking English (like countries and cities). When it comes to Japanese I say manga the original way. I used to karaoke the Japanese way then I stopped. It sounded too weird even though I wanted to say it the original way.

[rolandgdean]

I AGREE WITH YOU on this so much. However, I hear people do this A LOT...especially in the media. For instance, a person on a news cast will be speaking fluent English but when they say a Spanish word like "latino" or a city like "Guadalajara", they will pronounce it in the Spanish accent and rhythm...it DRIVES ME NUTS and I've wondered why myself. Honestly, I think it's just to be pretentious about things and a head-trippy way to sort of "own" the culture or something...I don't know but you're NOT ALONE in this for sure.

[danfrost]

Clearly a lot of people in the comments of some videos have far too much time on their hands!

[Tirza_]

Takeaway from this episode: Japanese surprisingly does not have a Japanese term for cabbage.
I'm joking. Many words come from different languages and will get morphed into their language.
The people commenting about this are either scared that the foreign pronunciation is considered 'correct' or they just really need to badger you for no reason.

[MarkusTronsg]

How do these critics pronounce “Paris” and “Amsterdam” ?

[larissaortiz]

I love how you said “tequila” 😂
I get what you mean, it is easier to stick with one way of pronunciations.
I do think people may say that to you because they are probably wanting to hear how the word is pronounced in Japanese for them to learn how to pronounce it properly. When I talk I do pronounce my Spanish words in the accent but only the words that do not have an English translation, like tortilla or tequila. For the speaker, it does feel choppy and weird. You described it well. But for the listener, it makes me feel I am learning.

Keep doing you Shogo! ❤ we love your channel! Also love how you do your intro in Japanese!

When you do speak Japanese, it sounds so freaking cool 😎

[tiffanygriffin]

I'm as lost as you are about why they are complaining about.

[maryhildreth]

There is a YouTuber who makes a point of speaking every foreign sounding word or name with the foreign accent and it is the most annoying thing ever. I agree with you Shogo.

[ararebeast]

I think that there's somewhat of a notion amongst English speakers that pronouncing an English version of a foreign word is lazy, and some do pronounce things as the word would be in its native language to sound impressive or fancy, but ultimately it can be a little clunky. That said, I do wish the West could make an effort to call countries by what they call themselves, although I've never lived in a country where I have to remember two names for it, so I don't know how they feel about it (ie Deutschland vs Germany)

[kaisersickle]

I think Your English is impeccable and this is partly why. Most complaints towards Japanese people speaking English is about their pronunciation, and you take care to talk like a native speaker would. I try to do this when learning and speaking Japanese as well. It is understandable to have an accent, but why not try our best for each language?

[arkangalesk]

I'm sorry you've been getting comments like that from some people. It must be intensely frustrating! The only thing that I can think of for why people feel the need to attempt to correct you in this way is because they feel you're somehow "less authentic" for using the English pronunciation? I've known many language-learners (in multiple languages, not just Japanese) who take that position, that it's not "real" or "authentic" if you're not using the original (or "proper") pronunciation. Alas, back in my younger days, I was one of those people and I deeply regret it!

As a descriptivist, I don't think that's the right approach to take to language, and it certainly isn't okay for people to get on your case about it.

The process of switching pronunciations/speaking styles between languages or dialects is called code-switching. Some multilingual people do it and others don't; sometimes they do it in a certain situations and not others.

You're speaking in English, and there are many Japanese words that have been loaned into English and have English pronunciations that are distinct from their original pronunciations. The English pronunciations are fine, so there's no need to code-switch on these words, unless you wanted to. It's up to the speaker's personal preference (in this case, your personal preference) whether or not you want to code-switch.

That's my two cents. Sorry for such a long comment (again)! As always, thank you for sharing your thoughts with us! ありがとうございます!

[FQuainton]

Shogo san, it is most likely people who speak only one language. I admit that I do use the German pronunciation for some of the cities, especially when I am speaking with someone who speaks German. To be fair, some of the smaller cities don't really have an English pronunciation.
I have to also admit that I like to hear the original language pronunciation of names for people, places, and things. I do understand that can be confusing though.