Say Two Words of Japanese and Someone Will Call You Fluent. Now What?
To say I've still got a long way to go in Japanese, say まだまだです (mada mada desu).
You said 「すみません」. They said your Japanese is amazing. You both know that isn't true.
In this video
- 日本語お上手ですね。 nihongo o-jouzu desu ne. Your Japanese is really good.
- いえいえ、まだまだです。 ie ie, mada mada desu. Oh no, I've still got a long way to go.
- まだまだです。もっと勉強します。 mada mada desu. motto benkyou shimasu. I've still got a long way to go. I'll keep studying.
Why this phrase
A shop counter in Tokyo. Kōfuku plays the traveller who manages one polite phrase; Hana plays the shopkeeper who immediately says 「日本語お上手ですね」. Every tourist gets that compliment and nobody has a reply ready. One takeaway: 「まだまだです」, the humble deflect that makes you sound like you actually know the culture.
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