Exercise 6: Refusing Polite Offers

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One strategy isbeing aware of the cultural norm of making “ritual refusals” before accepting an offerin Japanese culture.Fine-tuning your interpretation of such typical routinesat a Japanese dinner table would also be important.In other words, when someone offers you food ordrinkover and over again, don’t take it personally – s/he is not being persistent in order to convince you to have more, but is merely being polite by making sure that you don’t eat or drink too little on account of shyness on your part!

另一个策略is knowingtypical expressions for refusing offers (in dining situations in particular).Note that a phrase結構ですKekkoudesu‘No, thank you’ is polite and appropriate for an older person or someone of higher status than you, but would sound too formal for friends (Ikoma& Shimura, 1993).Expressions of refusal appropriate for use with a friend would be:

うん、もういい。おなかいっぱいなの。Un, mouii.Onakaippainano.‘No,thanks. I’m full.’

すごくおいしかったけどもうおなかいっぱいだから・・・Sugokuoishikattakedomouonakaippaidakara...‘Itwasreallygoodbut I’m full...’

いや、もう十分食べたよ。Iya,moujuubuntabetayo.‘No, I’ve eaten enough.’

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