I would like to talk briefly today about the use of foreign Loan-words (Gairaigo) In Japanese. Sometimes, when I speak to a Japanese student, I hear such words as “buranko”, “arbeit”, “gerende”, “gomu”, “igirisu”, to name only a few from my recent lessons. It may suprise some of you that none of these words are English – and most English speakers would not understand, for example, if a student asked “Are you from Igirisu?”, or stated “I am an arbeiter”.

The reason is this – many modern Japanese loan-words are of Portugese, Dutch, German or French in origin (among others). For our examples:
Buranko is from Portugese (English = “Swing”)
Gomu is from Dutch (English = “Rubber”)
Arubaito is from German (English = “Part Time job”)
Gerende is from German (English = Ski Slope)
Igirisu is from Portugese (English = England/English/United Kingdom)

There are many, many more examples of modern Japanese using loan-words that are not from the English language – particularly in Medicine and Foods/Cooking.

Of course – it is not wrong to use these or any loan-words! All modern languages use loan-words. Just remember that sometimes if people from English-speaking countries do not understand them – try using a different word!

Best Wishes to you all, and happy studying.

Damien