00:00
Welcome to Kevin's English Room Podcast!
Hey guys!
Hey, what up guys?
So today, I have got a message.
You've got a message? Yes.
From AI.
A-Ox-Han.
Wait, or AI. Like...
It's AI.
The machine learning AI.
I don't know if this real person or machine...
Oh, it might be a machine then!
It might be, like, we're in 2021, so...
Yes!
It might be.
It could be this is AI.
I'm ready. I'm ready.
I'm ready for that.
To the new generation.
Yes, I'm ready.
Yeah.
So...
I'll request a podcast.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Hello, I always enjoy your content.
Thank you.
I especially like your podcasts.
I always enjoy listening to your children's stories on "Me Time".
Oh, thank you.
So this AI has...
Has a... has a children, right?
And it has a "Me Time".
Exactly.
Now, listen to my concerns.
Okay.
I've had the opportunity to speak English with a few Westerners before,
but I feel like I'm not calm because I'm not confident in my English.
Most of the time, the other person is well-built, has a deep face,
and while speaking like a Japanese person,
they don't smile or nod too much.
Wow.
I understand that they have a different culture,
but they don't seem to be able to communicate with me,
and I'm scared that they're not interested in my story.
Hmm.
I get "interesting" and "makes sense" during the conversation,
so I don't seem to be angry or make them feel boring.
Hmm.
Do you two get scared or nervous when you talk to people other than yourself?
I would be happy to hear your advice on how to overcome that.
I know it's been a long time, but I'm still rooting for you.
Take care of your health.
From Ai.
Thank you.
Thank you.
This is really similar to the episode before where Asahi-san said,
"I don't find so much Aizuchi in the Western people."
And here we go again.
Ai-san was like...
Maybe then that's...
Yeah.
Maybe that's the reality then.
Yeah.
But... Do you think so?
If that person that you're talking to online...
I don't know if it's online, but like...
is not understanding it that much, maybe that could happen.
Yeah.
Maybe if he's not a nice person,
maybe he would not show that he's in that conversation
and give you that comfort of like,
"I'm here listening."
So don't worry.
Maybe he might not give you that action.
That could be a possibility.
Right.
Right.
But I kind of understand that...
while you're talking, you don't smile too much.
03:02
Like Japanese people tend to be like,
"Hmm."
Like this face when you listen to someone's story.
Right.
Like a little smiling.
Yeah.
You know, this face.
I understand.
But the Western people don't do like this kind of smile.
Yeah.
Like they're just like listening.
Yeah.
I think that's a difference between Japan and the US.
Yeah.
That when Americans are listening to you speaking,
they don't do that smile that the Japanese does.
Yeah.
I think that smile comes from...
that Japanese smile when they're listening to another person speaking
comes from like kindness,
an act of kindness maybe.
Yeah.
Like showing that you're listening.
Yeah.
Please be comfortable speaking to me.
Kind of that gratitude.
Yeah.
I think that's showing.
But like I agree.
I think there's less of that in the US.
Right.
But I'm not saying that most people don't.
I think there's a lot of people that would smile and give you that,
you know, yes, that knob and that smile and that reaction, right,
as you're talking.
I think there's a lot of people that would do that.
And right now you're uncomfortably doing that to me right now,
which makes me very like uncomfortable, man.
Dude.
I think a lot of Americans do that.
But in terms of like actual ratio,
you know, the feel of it, I think a lot of it's less in the US.
Sure.
And also what I found when I speak to foreign people is like when you,
like when somebody couldn't like hear clearly what I told them
and they were like, huh?
You know, just let me say that again,
but it's like really like strong to me.
Like I'm now used to that, those culture,
but at the beginning, like it was what?
Okay.
Is he like angry a little bit?
Yeah.
Because it's really strong like, huh?
Right.
You know, it's a little too strong for Japanese people.
If you're in Japan, like,
"Excuse me, can you say that again?"
You have that little softness.
Yeah.
Right?
That's a little different.
Right.
On this podcast, do you think that there's like a feel of angriness
that the Japanese may feel when I speak?
Not that much, but sometimes.
Really?
Yeah.
Like when you say like, huh?
Really?
Yeah.
Like it's, I don't think that you are angry,
but...
06:00
Pressure.
Yeah, like...
You feel pressure.
Maybe I did some, I made a mistake or like I was wrong or what?
Wow.
Like a little bit.
But now I know that you're not angry at all.
Right, right, right.
Nothing at all.
I don't feel anything right now,
but at the very beginning, I was like a little...
Little...
Yeah.
Pressure.
But yeah, I do have to say that, you know, it's different cultures.
So there will be times you'll feel the differences.
Her question of like, what do you do?
Or like, how do you get over that fear of like,
if you're communicating properly with the other person or not?
I think you can, you have a lot of advice for this.
How did you overcome that?
First of all, if like I was born and raised in Japan
and speaking to American people in English,
then that's, you know, he has to think to me
because I'm speaking your language, like his languages.
So like there's no, you know,
if he like says something to me, then what?
Then speak in Japanese.
That mentality is kind of important.
Oh, that's big.
Yeah, when you speak to foreign people, you know,
it's me who...
You're adjusting.
Yeah, adjusting to you.
Yeah.
So, yeah.
You're the kind person that's adjusting, right?
Yeah.
So, you know, of course I don't say that,
but deep inside having that kind of mentality
gets me that like confidence to speak.
Right. I think that's a big piece of advice that, you know,
none of us, us three have ever outputted in any of our contents.
So this is, yeah, that's really big.
Yeah, yeah. Right.
I think so.
Like when I went to France at the beginning,
I didn't like, I couldn't speak French at all.
So they were like, huh, you don't speak French.
But why? You guys don't speak Japanese.
Why?
Right, right, right.
That kind of mentality is important when you, yeah,
speak in different languages and in different culture.
So, yeah.
Like one of the things I love about Japan is that when,
when a Japanese worker has to take care of a foreign customer
who cannot speak, you know, Japanese, right,
the Japanese personnel would feel actually kind of bad that,
that he or she wasn't able to give her, him, give him or her,
God, my goodness, God.
You're tired today.
Yeah, yeah, maybe, yeah, maybe I'm tired.
09:00
The, the personnel would kind of be disappointed that, you know,
he or she was not able to give 100% of the service that she was,
he or she was capable of to that foreign customer, right?
Because his or her English capabilities was not there to the point.
Right?
So like, I love that stance.
I love that perspective of the Japanese people.
Like, yeah, you know, like, they won't be bossy that, you know,
Oh, this person, this person can't speak Japanese.
So like, go away.
They don't have that kind of mentality.
So that's, I like that.
Right.
When you're in the United States, like, it's really natural to speak in English.
Like, they kind of force us to speak in English.
So it's a little, you know, different in Japan and in the United States.
It's a different kind of world, yeah.
Yeah, I get it.
Yeah.
Okay.
Wow.
That's all, man.
All right.
Thanks for listening, guys.
Thank you.
Bye.