(or, why a smartphone should be your shopping buddy).
So, I'm back in Tokyo for year number 2.
Blissfully reunited with my blue bike, sweating in the humidity, and dusting off my Japanese.
(Apparently it's not only students who forget things over the summer).
Despite the humidity and the rusty language skills, me and the bike headed off to J-Mart to knock a few things off the settling-back-in list. J-Mart is two floors of just about anything you could want or need for your household, from furniture to dishes, cleaning products to power tools.
An hour later, delivery scheduled, I headed out of the air-con and realized that one does not need to be fluent in Japanese to get the shopping done. Only four things are necessary: time, translator, google, and some key vocabulary terms.
Time: Do not be in a hurry to get your shopping done. Many items on your list can be found by strategically wandering the aisles. Adopt a slow, relaxed pace and stroll cross-wise through the store. Glance casually at the aisles you pass. If an aisle looks promising, turn down it. If it doesn't yield the item you are seeking, simply round the end-cap and head back down the neighboring aisle. The key is to avoid looking confused by the barrage of katakana/hiragana/kanji all around you, as you want to avoid approaches by anyone hoping to help you (as you will see below, this requires another step first).
Translator: Hmmmm.....this kitchen shelf I am looking at looks like it might be a good fit for my kitchen. I measured my space and what needs to go on it... but what are these measurements on the tag? Do we list width and then depth? Or depth and then width?
Power up the i-phone translator. Look up 'width'. Compare Kanji. Problem solved. First measurement is width.
Google: Okay. So you've found a few things by wandering, and answered a few questions by translating, but a remaining item or two are eluding your grasp. And the translating tool is not helping with 'fire extinguisher'. And miming/attempting to explain could cause more confusion than it clears up.
So, google: fire extinguisher. Pull up a nice image.
Walk up to first store employee you see. Utilize a few basic vocab terms (see below) and show him/her a picture of the item you are looking for.
Downstairs. Ok.
Repeat with employee downstairs.
There they are!
(Pause for a moment to shake head at ability to miss display of bright red, shiny things).
Key vocabulary:
Kore (this) and Arimasuka? (To be or not to be?)
Combine these two words with a picture of the desired item, and you are in essence asking "does this thing exist?" (assumption follows that you mean 'does it exist in this store,' not 'does it exist in the universe, and 'will you please show me where it is???')
Haitatsu, kudasai: delivery, please! (my bike cannot hold this much stuff!).
Kyo: Today. Word you really want to hear in reference to your delivery.
See? No problems.
So, I'm back in Tokyo for year number 2.
Blissfully reunited with my blue bike, sweating in the humidity, and dusting off my Japanese.
(Apparently it's not only students who forget things over the summer).
Despite the humidity and the rusty language skills, me and the bike headed off to J-Mart to knock a few things off the settling-back-in list. J-Mart is two floors of just about anything you could want or need for your household, from furniture to dishes, cleaning products to power tools.
An hour later, delivery scheduled, I headed out of the air-con and realized that one does not need to be fluent in Japanese to get the shopping done. Only four things are necessary: time, translator, google, and some key vocabulary terms.
Time: Do not be in a hurry to get your shopping done. Many items on your list can be found by strategically wandering the aisles. Adopt a slow, relaxed pace and stroll cross-wise through the store. Glance casually at the aisles you pass. If an aisle looks promising, turn down it. If it doesn't yield the item you are seeking, simply round the end-cap and head back down the neighboring aisle. The key is to avoid looking confused by the barrage of katakana/hiragana/kanji all around you, as you want to avoid approaches by anyone hoping to help you (as you will see below, this requires another step first).
Translator: Hmmmm.....this kitchen shelf I am looking at looks like it might be a good fit for my kitchen. I measured my space and what needs to go on it... but what are these measurements on the tag? Do we list width and then depth? Or depth and then width?
Power up the i-phone translator. Look up 'width'. Compare Kanji. Problem solved. First measurement is width.
Google: Okay. So you've found a few things by wandering, and answered a few questions by translating, but a remaining item or two are eluding your grasp. And the translating tool is not helping with 'fire extinguisher'. And miming/attempting to explain could cause more confusion than it clears up.
So, google: fire extinguisher. Pull up a nice image.
Walk up to first store employee you see. Utilize a few basic vocab terms (see below) and show him/her a picture of the item you are looking for.
Downstairs. Ok.
Repeat with employee downstairs.
There they are!
(Pause for a moment to shake head at ability to miss display of bright red, shiny things).
Key vocabulary:
Kore (this) and Arimasuka? (To be or not to be?)
Combine these two words with a picture of the desired item, and you are in essence asking "does this thing exist?" (assumption follows that you mean 'does it exist in this store,' not 'does it exist in the universe, and 'will you please show me where it is???')
Haitatsu, kudasai: delivery, please! (my bike cannot hold this much stuff!).
Kyo: Today. Word you really want to hear in reference to your delivery.
See? No problems.