As much as the Dutch saying ‘from here to Tokyo‘ was actually funny while we were IN Tokyo, someone just used the word “zakjapanner” on the tv here. Translated it’s “pocket Japanese”. Everybody in Holland will know you actually mean a calculator.
It’s even in the most well known Dutch dictionary.
:smile:
I’ve noticed a rather strange effect of the “K” in Japanese language to my ears. If you consider the following words (kakageru and kakiwamasu), which are consonant-vowel-consonant, it has a tendency to be heard by me as “Kagageru”. So the second K becomes a G for me. Then the first “K” sometimes becomes a “T” for me. For instance takiwamasu. If I’m really unlucky I hear “tagiwamasu”.
I guess it’s because in Dutch you really let your consonants rip~. If you’re not explicitely spitting those out, you’re not doing it right. It’s the reason why a Dutch accent on English sounds far far worse than any Engrish I’ve heard. In English, Dutch with a heavy accent will literally slow down their talking automatically so they can explicitely vomit up the consonants. Remember the 3pm problem?
“No seriously, it’s tree pm”.