Hello, London! An Adventure of a Translator in the UK_3; Fluent in English?
Hello everyone, I’m Chayun.
I’d like to keep a record of my reflection on the last month like the previous post. In the previous article, I touched upon the difficulty of adjusting myself to a new environment. I’ll focus on the linguistic aspect in this essay, which may sound a little too academic.
I am in London, the UK. As everyone knows, the official language is English. It is also the birthplace of English.
I am an interpreter/ translator. I have worked as an in-house interpreter. I do speak English at a certain level.
Based on that, what I want to describe is something to do with a different impression of being ‘fluent in English’ between in Japan and in the UK.
Before leaving Japan, I needed to prepare for this life change and intentionally used it for a big reason I suspended learning and practising English. Because of that, I was overwhelmed by a conversation between native speakers of English for the first few days. It was challenging for me to catch up with the conversation. In the worst case, I understood 80% of the content, but I guessed the remaining 20% from the context and the atmosphere. Although those 20% included the cultural and personal background in many cases, I felt embarrassed and disappointed in myself as I called myself an interpreter.
Apart from my disappointment, I noticed one thing at that time. It is a difference in a critical skill required when you use English. This may not be something new and should not be generalised, but I personally think it’s an interesting perspective, so let me leave my thoughts here.
First, when people recognise someone is fluent in English in ‘Japan’, the major factor is likely ‘speaking’. In other words, when people think themselves they are not fluent in English, they are not good at ‘speaking’ although this is just my impression. On the other hand, when people say they are fluent in English in ‘the UK’, I feel they are almost perfect at ‘listening’.
One of the potential reasons we see the difference is that native speakers of English who come to Japan know ‘Japanese people are not native English speakers’, which means they adjust their way of speaking, depending on the situation. Owing to that, some people may feel more confident about listening to English than speaking it. Even if it’s Japanese, we don’t speak Japanese to someone who is not a native Japanese speaker in a too casual way like the one used at home. This is not only a matter of the language level where an opponent achieves but also politeness. It seems easier to comprehend speech spoken politely in many cases.
On the other hand, those who speak English as a foreign language in ‘the UK’ need to be 'a part of society’. That means they have to ‘promptly and accurately’ communicate with everyone, including native speakers of English. Even if someone utters just words, it may be comprehended somehow. They can’t say any words if they don’t know what they are asked in the first place. Therefore, listening is seemingly the most important skill. I know what I’m saying is not new and something everyone may think, but I want to highlight it because I'm in London which is a quite big city where many people come from all over the world. We come across native speakers of English, almost native speakers of English, and people who speak English as a foreign language with a strong accent of their mother tongue. How to link words, pronunciation, facial expressions, etc. are various. Therefore, the most essential skill we are required here is to listen to ‘the diversity’.
Being in the UK gives me a lot of opportunities for learning even on the train and in a cafe. This is like a free language school. Although I haven’t resumed learning and practising interpreting and translation yet, which frustrates me, my life is full of learning every day. Lastly, this is just an idea for language learners. I try to input new words and expressions I encounter in a spreadsheet to memorise them.
Thank you for reading this essay again.
See you soon!