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Japanese people don't read romanized Japanese. Even Japanese learners don't read romanized Japanese. Romanization is, by and large, a thing that exists for peo
by ronsor 11mo ago
Japanese people don't read romanized Japanese. Even Japanese learners don't read romanized Japanese.
Romanization is, by and large, a thing that exists for people who already know European/Western languages.
- xigoi 11mo agoWhat I’m complaining arout is that it seems to only be designed for English speakers, not for European language speakers.
- SpecialistK 11mo agoOthers in the thread have suggested that Hepburn works quite well for German and other European languages (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46286292#46286611 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46286292#46286611) But it's a reality that English is the primary (if not sole) focus, for historical reasons and as the global lingua franca. English is taught (poorly, from what I hear) in schools, played on train announcements, is the only Western language available on ticket machines, and is the assumed language of non-Asian visitors to the country. I was even on a couple of domestic flights a few days ago and the captain / FAs made announcements in English. It is not "arbitrary" at all.