Is English cool in Japan? I ask this question for a couple of reasons; Japanese people’s reaction to me and, pop music.
Doubly cool
A few years ago, Masami and I went clothes shopping, we visited many shops all the time chatting in English; “That’s nice.”, “I’m not too sure about those.”, “Nope!”, “That looks good on you.”, and so on. In one shop, the shop assistant spoke to Masami asking her where am I from, “England.” Masami answered. The shop assistant replied, “かっこいい！ (cool!)”. For the rest of the day, I reminded Masami how cool I am. She’s cool too because she can speak English, but I’m doubly cool because I speak English and I’m an English person. By the way, I don’t think I’m cool; it’s so uncool to think you’re cool.
Cool nonsense
Musicians, popstars, and performers can be cool. I sometimes hear all types of Japanese music; J-pop from the seventies until now, film soundtracks, and, some shamisen/rock fusion. Sometimes, especially in J-pop, a word or a line of English lyrics comes out of nowhere. I asked Masami if the English lyrics connect to the rest of the song, apparently, the English lyrics don’t always match and they don’t make sense. Why? Does it sound cool even when it’s meaningless?
Kanji? Can’t-ji!
I guess it’s similar in the U.K., some people like the look of kanji. Well-written kanji can be beautiful and artistic without knowing how to read it. Kanji looks cool and some foreign people get kanji tattoos however, the kanji can be poorly written, the wrong kanji can be chosen, or the kanji can be written backward! Is that cool?
For me, English is not cool, but people can say cool things in English.
ー オンライン英語コミュニケーションプログラム ー
【あなたの心が伝わるあなただけの英語】
英語でのコミュニケーションをあなたらしい英語で。一人一人のレベル、能力、
興味に合った教材や方法を用いたテイラーメイドの英語コミュニケーションプログラムです。
”あなたの英語”でコミュニケートしたい方は、まずは無料カウンセリングをご予約ください。
