Japanese Speech Styles and How We Learn Them

When I share with others that I am learning Japanese, they will often tell me that Japanese is one of the hardest languages out there. While there was a time I would dispute this, I am slowly starting to agree with them. When most people think of Japanese, they think of the three alphabets that students have to learn, and that's what the hard part is to them. While to some this is probably true, I don't find the writing all that difficult. For me, the different speech styles are where I begin to trip up and, in my opinion, is the hardest part of learning Japanese.

In English, there are different speech styles, but there's really only two: formal and informal, which in most cases there's not much of a difference. The words don't always change when you go from one to the other. It's more of the tone of voice you use when you address someone that dictates whether you're being polite or rude. Japanese, on the other hand, is a much different story. There are many different levels of formality in Japanese, and depending on who you're addressing, your style of speech, including a lot of the words you say, should change.

The four levels of formality that I've identified are as follows: Formal, informal, business, and Keigo. They are all reflective of the social hierarchy that still dominates Japanese society. Informal is often used when speaking to your own family, your friends, or to those who are younger or of an inferior status to your own. Formal serves as what I think of as "Universal Japanese." It is the style that you can use in any situation and depending on who you are (I've noticed a lot of non-native speakers can do this), you can use it with anyone, regardless of whose status is higher than the other. Business Japanese is not a level most people think of, but it does have its own set of rules. This style is often used within a workplace, and this is where it starts to blend into Keigo. Keigo is the highest level of politeness in Japanese, and the most difficult to learn for many.

The Class Structure

In class, there's a format to how you learn these styles. The first step, or the base level as I call it, is to learn to speak formally. Almost all Japanese classes will start at this level. This contains what's called the -masu form of verbs, in which you say the whole word without any conjugations. You also focus more on particles, such as time, subject, and object markers. Without these particles, you lose some of the formality of your sentences and they are not considered complete. The reason I believe most structured classes will start with this style is that this is the style that can serve as your get-out-of-jail-free card. If you are a tourist in Japan and you speak informally to strangers, you might get some points taken off your metaphorical language license. If you speak formally, at least according to my professor, people will be more receptive (although in my experience, most of the time they're just impressed you took the time to sit down and study their language at all). Professors will also say that this should be your immediate go-to whenever you speak to a Japanese person.

The Two Forms of Keigo

After your teacher believes everyone has the formal style down to a T, the next step is informal. This is where you begin shortening verbs and sentences. Particles can be omitted, and colloquial words can be inserted. The next two levels, Keigo and Business Japanese, are where things start to get really confusing. Although the line between these two levels is fairly blurry (Keigo is often used in a business setting, but Business Japanese is a level in of itself), there is still some separation. Part of what makes learning these confusing is how students will jump from informal right up to the most formal you could possibly get. After spending weeks of learning to speak informally to everyone, now you have to speak incredibly formal to everyone. And when the verbs change completely, we start getting lost. When you use Keigo, it is not always a simple matter of conjugation, the verbs can change completely. Adding to this confusion, there are two separate branches of Keigo: honorific and humble forms. The honorific form is used when you are speaking to someone of a higher status. For example, if you were speaking to your boss, this is the style you'd use. The humble form is used when you are speaking about yourself to someone who is of a higher status than you. Confused? Me too.

The "In Reality" Structure

Although this is the form we are used to in school, the way we actually learn the different speech styles is a little bit different. Many students of Japanese have friends who are native speakers, and when we speak with and learn from them, it's almost always in the informal style. Thus, that is what we learn first. From there, we slowly build ourselves up to Keigo. The downside of this way of learning is that our automatic go-to is always informal, which doesn't always fly if you're speaking to someone who is of a higher status. We find ourselves learning this way because our friends and classmates who also speak Japanese are all around the same age. We only practice formal speech styles in class when our professor is present. Unless you are in a situation in which you can use the other speech styles outside of class, you don't necessarily have the chance to use these on a daily basis. Studying the different formalities will usually absorb our free time in order to get the practice we need. Because we don't get the chance to use this style, it is very easy to find ourselves speaking impolitely when the opportunity does arise. From personal experience, this has happened almost every time I run into someone who is a native speaker. I have to correct myself every time I use the wrong verb conjugation, and then apologize (but I also apologize for everything). My brain is constantly telling me not to use informal speech, but because that's what I use regularly, that's what I will unintentionally switch to. The chance to use Keigo also never really arises, so we also spend a good amount of time trying to figure that out. Although we're supposed to use Keigo when speaking to our teachers, most of the time we can get away using just the simple formal style.

For those whose goal it is to learn to speak Japanese fluently, knowing these different speech styles is important. Unfortunately, because not a lot of time is dedicated to them in most classes, the only real advice I can give to is to find someone else who is wanting and willing to learn and practice them with you. And while it is difficult, it is possible to learn. It's simply a matter of "practice makes perfect", and believe me there is no greater feeling than when you finally are able to use them correctly.