Yes and HAI
"HAI" in Japanese means "Yes." "IIE" means "No." Nowadays in Japan even first graders know it. (If you are not Japanese and are learning the language, you may have learned this the first thing in your class.)
But it is not accurate and a bit misleading.
"HAI" in Japanese means "I agree with you" or "It is correct." Therefore when you answer questions that are negative, such as "Don't you..?" or ".., don't you ?", "HAI" in Japanese means "No" in English. It is totally opposite and quite confusing.
We learn this in school and we can manage it when we read or write in English. We just have to be careful. But in conversations it is a pain in the ass for Japanese because a certain speed is required and some body actions are involved in a conversation.
When you have a bickering with your girlfriend and she said to you, "You don't love me anymore, do you?", if you are Japanese, meaning that you love her, you want to say "No! No!" instinctively, shaking your head. But it may lead you to a disaster. You should say "Yes", nodding.
I have experienced confusions several times, for example, answering wrong way when I was canceling some service by phone. When the customer service person asked me, "You don't want it?" I have answered "Yes", of course meaning "No. I don't want it."
I lived two years in Hong Kong prior to coming to the U.S. It is interesting that I had been hardly bothered by this problem back then. Only after I came to the U.S., I noticed it is a big problem to me. When I am talking in English with people, especially Asian besides Japanese, I have sometimes noticed that the person's way of using "yes" and "no" is same as mine in Japanese (which is incorrect as English grammar). I wonder "In their native tongue the way using "yes" and "no" might be same as in Japanese.
I have read an article in some legal magazine about an experience of a Japanese interpreter.
While he was working in a court of law in the U.S. interpreting for Japanese, he heard the clerk informing the judge against him saying, "I know Japanese. I'm learning it. When the witness said 'HAI', I heard him translating it as 'No.' So he was lying." The interpreter said, in the article, incomplete knowledge is troublesome.
This story also tells that this issue is not only for Japanese but also for those who are learning Japanese. But if a lawsuit is involved, it is much more serious, isn't it?
I have heard E-ko and S-ko, both of whom are Japanese and married to American, talking about this issue.
"I often say 'Yeah!.. I mean 'No'"
"Yeah. Me, too. 'Yeah' and 'No' are opposite and I can't help. Oh, boy."
When I heard this, I was impressed that they can add "I mean 'No'" right away. I don't think I can. If those who have lived in the U.S. long still have this problem, then why should't I!
I keep two things in my mind to deal with this problem. First I try not to answer only by "Yes" or "No." To add sentences after "Yes" or "No," such as "No, I don't want it," will help prevent misunderstandings. If you say,"Yes, I don't want it," it is confusing but you will not be totally misunderstood. Second I try not using "Yeah" (especially when talking on the phone). "Yeah" is like "UN" in Japanese. We are apt to use it after we become able to speak English casually. But be careful when you become too accustomed.
After living in the U.S. for six years, I think my English is better (I hope it is!). But these days I notice one annoying thing in me. It is that I sometimes feel uneasy when I encounter negative questions in Japanese. I'm afraid that this Japanese person might be thinking in English way. Of course it is not that big of a problem but I can't help wondering how bilingual people can manage having two systems of "yes" and "no" at the same time.
Keiichiro
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