Using Fan-Japanese or Not

Sailorasteroid · Post by **Sailorasteroid** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 4:25 pm

That's a good point, Anthy, and leetspeak is a good analogy. But we're dealing with an age and a medium of targetted communication. If I want to put up a webpage or write a fanfic in anime-fan language, or start a forum encouraging its use, on the understanding that only fellow elitists or fans will understand it, the only thing I should suffer is a narrowing of my audience. There's no reason for a non-fan, or someone who doesn't like it to say, "Make your work accessible to everyone!"

Open forums are another story. It's one thing to use Japanese in moderation some place like this where most people will have picked up the rudiments, but unacceptable in, say, a general television forum where the discussion just happens to have turned to anime.

Starscream · Post by **Starscream** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 5:05 pm

Sailorasteroid wrote:...If I want to put up a webpage or write a fanfic in anime-fan language, or start a forum encouraging its use, on the understanding that only fellow elitists or fans will understand it, the only thing I should suffer is a narrowing of my audience....

Ah, but there's the rub. Webpages I can see, for although they are most often intented for the general public to view, many are personal pages that are only understood/intended for a close circle of people, and like you said, it might be targeted solely for those people.

Fanfictions, however, are a tougher issue. In general, I consider fanfics as works the author wants the WHOLE community of fans to read, not just those who like/understand/can tolerate a certain writing style. Again, if it's something you share just among your friends or a close circle that can deal with such speech, then by all means. However, on submitting it publicly, I believe there is an obligation for you to make the speech as accessible as possible to everyone who could eventually read it.

crazydiamond · Post by **crazydiamond** » Thu Jun 03, 2004 8:26 pm

Fanfictions, however, are a tougher issue. ... However, on submitting it publicly, I believe there is an obligation for you to make the speech as accessible as possible to everyone who could eventually read it.

Which is why I think that no matter *how* basic a phrase you use, if it's in a foreign language, damnit, it needs to be translated. It frustrates me to NO END when someone uses a foreign phrase (of ANY language, as I'm not fluent in any) and then doesn't translate it. It makes me not want to read the rest of the story. It took me FOREVER to figure out the Japanese phrase for goodnight, and it was the FIRST SENTENCE in a fanfic. As for using it in conversation...I rarely do it, mostly because I haven't taken any classes and I'm afraid I'll goof up horribly and make an idiot of myself. Real life example: I had a short story I wrote (but did not publish, anywhere) and for a long time, I had the girl say "ninmu ryokai" and when the other characters questioned her about what it meant, she explained that it meant "mission accepted." Wrong, I was. I don't know *what* it means, but it's the equivalent of "gotta catch em all." Kinda destroyed the ambiance of the scene, that little oversight.