Can I comment here?

It says I can.. it also says I can throw a party... -throws beer cans anywhere-

Anyway, I just came to say GOD BLESS YOU for that koi=carp essay over on yuki-eiri.com.

YES.

I'll admit that I used to like fanfics that had random Japanese words, 'cuz I'm a language geek and enjoy any other language than English being thrown about everywhere like confetti.

BUT.

Once I started actually learning all the languages, I've come to appreciate the subtleties of all of them. Especially Japanese. I'm only on Japanese I and I can already tell this is gonna take a while.

So yeah. Thanks. -worships at your feet-

I will confess I have, and still do use certain phrases of Japanese in my English fanfictions, which I should have mentioned in the essay, only I didn't learn about it until later. The reason being, that there are no direct translations between certain words, such as "nii-sama" (Honorable Older Brother) and the English language, as "Big Brother" doesn't have the same formal respect.

I'm a language geek myself, attempting to learn French, Spanish and a bit of Japanese at once, (which makes for intresting conversations when I switch languages without someone knowing, such as calling my mother obaa-san while talking to her), but what works in RL does NOT work in fanfiction, which was what prompted the essay. It's not only distracting, pulling you out of the scene, much like a random killer sparrow in a light comedy would, but it's so often wrong that you're left going "WTF?!" instead of flowing along with the characters.

I've come to notice an even more disturbing trend, outside the Gravitation fandom, and it's the fact of Japanese being inserted into a story that does not take place in Japan or with Japanese characters. I noticed this first in the Harry Potter fandom (oddly enough), but it's gaining popularity in fandoms such as Kingdom Hearts (a japanese game yes, but set with English worlds), Legend of Zelda (again, and Western style world), and others who may have their fandoms originate in Japan, but have little, cannon wise, to do with the country.

It's a rather scary trend, especially for vetran writers who were hoping the down swing in quality writing was almost over as the next generation hit their stride.

Thank you for writing, I had always hoped that essay had impacted at least one writer/reader, helping them make better choices in their works. I know I am not completely blameless, I still allow some French to slide into my stories, but it's only through trying, that we can make the fanfiction world better for all (...sounds like an odd presidential campaign speech).

I started learning Spanish and German last year--from books and my mom--and I started learning Japanese by myself over a year ago. This year (freshman year) I started taking official Japanese classes, and next year I plan on starting French and German. I wanna learn Russian and Chinese (and then hopefully get back to Spanish again) in college.

Yeah. I wanna be a translator when I grow up. :3

And OH DANG, you called your mom obaa-san? Or is that a typo?

My mom would be on my ass if I called her that and she knew what it meant. O_O

Yes, I call my mother and one of her friends obaa-san, and she knows what it means...she usually glares at me when I call her that. Though most of the time I call here "mere", which (if I reacall correctly) is the French for mother.

Other phrases that pop-up in daily life: Bloody hell, aho (idiot - rude), pere (father), tante (aunt), doshtite (a bad mangling of Japanese that the dog has taken to mean move...don't even remember the original word I was attempting to say), -kun (usually added after one of my cats names), onii-chan (means older brother but is also the name of one of my cats because I was bored while naming her), nani (what, usually said when startled)

All my Jap 1 friends speak in mangled and patched Japanese together when we get together... and it has spouted many inside jokes. 8)

And... doshtite? How did that come to be "move"? I MUST KNOW NOW.

I had yelled it, trying to pronounce something else (I can't remember but it was a curse of some kind, simular to 'shit!' or the like), and the dog suddenly moved across the room. Unsure if he was moving because of my yelling, I tried it again, and he moved again. So now it's become an all purpose use word that basically means 'move' or 'get out of there/the way'.

The same dog also uses the 'get' comand to mean 'lay down, move sidewaise so someone can pass, or don't touch', he can actually apply the word to the situation, such as moving if we're in a hallway, laying down if he's in the bedroom, or stopping whatever mess he's making if I want him out of something.

My cats now know 'poulet' to mean 'come get free chicken' as I was testing the word out while cooking and dropped a piece. They now come running if I say it because that means I have chicken (which means I can't use it in conversation any longer or else I'm surrounded by cats).

Hm... unfortunately my dogs aren't multilingual. They're rednecks. They respond to commands like "git" for "get out of the room" and other such things... In fact, I just yelled that at them now.

Ooh, Pepper just glared at me. She doesn't like being kicked out. XD

Wendy/Palps here. Added you!