Monday, September 20, 2010

The Yes Man


In my earlier post, I mentioned that my company purchased a piece of equipment from Japan. We encountered some problems with this equipment, and we regularly make conference calls with the Japanese vendor to discuss this issue. I notice that one of the Japanese engineers likes to utter the word ‘yes’ when he talked to us. Example:

My colleague: Your equipment has this problem…

Japanese engineer: Yes…

My colleague: The problem is caused by this behavior…

Japanese engineer: Yes…

My colleague: We would like you to fix this…

Japanese engineer: Yes…


In Japanese, there is a word ‘hai’, which is loosely translated as ‘yes’. Japanese often say ‘hai’ when they talked to each other. However, this does not signal agreement, but more like ‘I am listening’ or ‘I understand what you mean’.

So when I heard the Japanese engineer repeatedly say ‘yes’, I knew he was using that word for ‘hai’. (Call it Japlish if you like.) I immediately cautioned my colleague: he was not admitting that their equipment was not functioning properly.

Be really careful if you ever have to deal with Japanese!

20 comments:

  1. i see..it sounds interesting.

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  2. Very true. But also becareful of the kind who agrees with everything you say.

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  3. Communication always has barrier hence breakdown is common....

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  4. as seen on jap drama also. LOL.

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  5. I guess it's a change for me, French almost never say yes and admit they are wrong :-)

    Japanese have the reputation to be very polite, but like a lot of people in Asia they do not like to lose face. Did you notice that?

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  6. "Hai". They are being polite by acknowledging the input. It's hard to get mad. It kinda diffuses any upset feeling, don't you think? Good luck with the machine.

    Btw, I'm linking to your blog on my latest post.

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  7. wenn
    :)

    Mei Teng
    The Japanese almost sound like agree...

    Grass
    Agree.

    xin
    Oh... I also watch Japanese drama.

    Zhu
    Japanese don't like to lose face, but they also don't like to make others lose face..

    happysurfer
    No, I don't get mad. Just find it interesting.

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  8. Not Hai, but Haik! LOL! Just making it funny Hehe

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  9. oic~i always thought japanese "hai" means "yes"~
    thanks for sharing this..
    happy mid-autumn festival =)

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  10. witch
    OK, OK, haik!

    shingo
    Thank you sir!

    花木蘭, Candlelyn
    Thanks :)

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  11. yes, that's true.. for a japanese to respond "yes" with your statements, it most probably means an acknowledgement than anything else..

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  12. these are kind of polite, that they responded and only voice their views after you have finished talking..

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  13. and i guess for japanese, QC is very important.. any defects that you may find with their product is actually something serious to them..

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  14. and they would just give you full compensation for the complaints i guess??

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  15. Yes, Khengsiong. I understand sir. Yes. :)

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  16. SK
    We are still troubleshooting the equipment.

    VanillaSeven
    Yes, sir :P

    stacey
    Thanks :)

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  17. There's also an American Indian expression, Ho, (not sure which of the many languages) which also means "I'm listening," "I hear you." Hmmm...

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