One of the more frustrating things about Japanese to a beginner is the multiple levels of politeness. At first glance they seem completely foreign, but I really don’t think they are. It’s baked into English as well, it’s just not so much a grammatical construct as a manner of speaking.
Contrast, for example,
Greetings, I would like to inquire as to the report dated 11/15/2019, and await your reply forthwith.
with
Yo, dawg, you got that report or no?
The first example is intentionally pretentious, but you get the idea. There are multiple levels of politeness in English as well, and the consequences for breaking those rules can be the same. I very much doubt that someone saying the second in a workplace that’s anything but majorly casual would last very long at all. Things have loosened, but not very much. We call it “professional” speech, but it serves the same function.
I kind of like the way it’s baked into the grammar in Japanese, though. I don’t generally have to learn new words in order to speak more politely, I just have to conjugate a bit differently and remember to use the correct forms when addressing someone.
There are many, many things to complain about in Japanese, but I don’t think politeness is one of them. In fact, in case you didn’t get the idea, I think English is worse in that regard, because you basically have to learn an entirely new vocabulary to speak professionally as opposed to speaking with your friends. When I write on this blog, I speak in a semi-professional manner. I could say it’s gauged to be appropriate for a blog such as this, and I’d be correct, but this is also the way I write in any professional setting. There’s a place for cursing, and this ain’t it.
(By the way, “ain’t” is a perfectly legitimate word. It’s also not professional. I never said I was consistent about it.)
Anyway, my point is this: be glad you just have to learn a few conjugations. It seems to become second nature after a while. I know, for me, when I use polite form in Japanese, it feels a bit stifling and stilted – just like professional speech should. Well done, Japanese folks.
