Postby Charles » May 18th, 2006 1:26 am
That's great! At first I was thinking, "what is this guy doing that makes these phrases so useful?" ;)
I would say 『お邪魔します』when visiting my professor for extra help and she always thought that was excellent. I think she appreciated it more because she's rather old and does not get exactly the same flavor of respect from her American students as she perhaps would if they were Japanese. It's just our culture to be more familiar with our teachers and, perhaps unfortunately, generally not reserve respect for people because of their age.
Say it when you enter your professor's office, even if it doesn't look like you're interrupting anything at all and you already have an appointment. You're still in his or her space, you know?
As for favorites, there are so many 4-kanji idioms that I think are so cool, but I haven't had a chance to use them yet! Like 『自由自在』【じゆうじざい】, which means "freely." Unrestricted and unrestrained, following your heart's desire. The great thing about it is that it can also mean "with great dexterity and fluency" at the same time, as if doing something on your own will is the same as doing it well. It hasn't been a very common idea in the history of either Western or Eastern civilization, has it?
大学生は 自由自在に 日本語を 勉強し始めた。
But you married fellas might find 『才色兼備』and『天下一品』useful. Use the second one for stuff she's made or food she prepared. Don't overuse them. O:)
