How Do You Tell If You Are Becoming Fluent in Japanese?

Compliments on your skills by Japanese people don’t mean a thing — the signs are more subtle

Every learner of the Japanese language will inevitably wonder, “when am I considered fluent?”

As DC Palter highlights in Why You Can Never Say You’re Fluent in Japanese, getting complimented on your Japanese language ability is not a sign of proficiency.

When my American friends spoke even a little Japanese, they were always met with effusive compliments: “Nihongo o-jouzu desu ne.” (Your Japanese is so good!)

The truth is, no one is going to come up to you and tell you that you’re amazingly good at Japanese. Compliments are just cultural scripts that Japanese people employ to show their politeness.

So, how do you gauge your Japanese skills? How do you know if you’re fluent in Japanese?

Sure, there are tests you can take. Yet, as I have written elsewhere, the JLPT test is not a good gauge of fluency.

When I had lived in Japan long enough, I realized that the signs that point to your Japanese fluency are more subtle.

Sign #1: You find yourself apologizing profusely — a lot, and in many different ways

Timothy Sullivan points out that “Japanese Customer Service Means Always Having to Say You’re Sorry.”

Humility and a default policy of apologizing, especially when you’re in a “lower” position are part of the Japanese culture and language. There are numerous ways to say “sorry” and it depends on the seriousness of the mistake, social status, and other situational factors.

In any case, you’re on the road to fluency once you find yourself apologizing profusely.

With different expressions.

ごめんなさい (gomennasai), which is a neutral and somewhat casual way of saying sorry. Lose the “nasai” in casual situations.

すみません (sumimasen) The default expression, because it is so useful. It’s one of my favorite words because its meaning is so broad. Your colleague changed his schedule to attend your meeting? Sumimasen.

申し訳ありません (moushiwake arimasen). Literal translation: I have no excuse to say. Screwed up at work without a really good reason? Submitted a document late? Moushiwake arimasen is your best bet.

心よりお詫び申し上げます (kokoro yori owabi moushiagemasu). Screwed up majorly? If you did, you might need to use this expression. According to DeepL, this phrase is translated as “my deepest apologies.” Although I am usually a fan of DeepL’s impressive machine translation capabilities, I am not impressed by this. A better translation would be “I humbly and sincerely offer my apology and ask for your forgiveness.”

Sign #2: You blurt out “sumimasen” even when you are in your home country

Did I mention that mastering the Japanese language means mastering the art of apologizing? — Oh wait, I think I just did, a while ago.

I’m sorry for repeating myself.

Sumimasen.

But guess what? One of my favorite words in the Japanese language is sumimasen. It’s such a useful term because it combines a variety of meanings in one compact word.

• “Excuse me” — sumimasen
• “Sorry” — sumimasen
• “Hello, is anyone around?” — sumimasen
• “Thank you for your help!” — sumimasen

You get so used to saying it that it becomes an automatic reflex as you go about your daily life.

• Bump into someone while walking on the streets of Tokyo? Sumimasen.
• Need to push through a crowd to ride the Tokyo Metro? Sumimasen.
• Bump into someone while walking in your home country during a return trip? Sumimasen — oops!

Good heavens, the Japanese language is taking over your brain that you instinctively start to speak it even when you’re back home! But — don’t fret — this is a sign that you are gaining fluency in the Japanese language.

Sign #3: You bow when you apologize over the phone when speaking to a customer

Communication isn’t just limited to the spoken language. In Japanese culture, body language is also part of communication. Nowhere does this concept find greater expression in the art of the Japanese bow.

Bowing is so central to traditional Japanese culture and social decorum that new hires at companies are often trained in the art of bowing. (Source: personal communication)

In the case of an apology in a face-to-face situation, you lower your head ever so slightly, signifying your humble deference.

One peculiar “quirk” often thought of as strange is the Japanese practice of bowing over the phone when one is apologizing — even though the other party cannot see your bow!

But, to one fluent in Japanese, the bow and the apology are interlinked. They are two parts of the whole and they should not be separated.

Once you start to internalize this concept, you might even find yourself bowing over the phone when you apologize to a customer in a business situation!

Sign #4: You start to mix Japanese into other languages you speak

A more insidious and subtle sign that you are getting very fluent in Japanese is that you are beginning to mix more Japanese words into your speech in the other languages you speak.

Sometimes, it’s because you lack a better word other than the Japanese word to describe what you are talking about. Or perhaps because it’s more economical. Everyone knows what you are talking about.

Instead of saying “I’m heading to the convenience store to buy ice cream,” saying “I’m going to the konbini to get aisu” is a lot quicker.

And sometimes it comes so fast and naturally, that it feels almost like a natural reflex.

Once, I was speaking Mandarin and suddenly blurted out a まあ when I was thinking of what to say next. The word is pronounced maa, which doesn’t really mean anything other than to act as a filler — kind of like “well…” in the English language.

Sign #5: You learn to switch between casual speech and honorific speech seamlessly

A lot of Japanese learners struggle with honorific speech (keigō). When I was first exposed to it, I struggled with the concept of having to change words and grammatical structures based on who I was talking to.

And although one can get by without using any keigō, in formal business situations, everyone speaks it. Please excuse the pun, but not speaking keigō is a no-go!

And yet, in casual situations with friends, you’re expected to switch to casual Japanese.

「ご注文は決まりましたか？」 — Translation: Have you decided on your order?

That’s the waiter’s phrase, not yours!

Stick to 「注文決まった？」 — Translation: Have you decided on your order?

The translation is the same: Have you decided on your order? Unfortunately, the nuance is lost in translation.

My deepest apologies to non-Japanese speakers.

Sumimasen. すみません。

Being able to switch seamlessly between these forms is a sign that you are getting more comfortable with the Japanese language.

Sign #6: People stop complimenting you on your Japanese skill when they meet you for the first time

On my very first trip to Japan in 2008, I had been studying Japanese for 2.5 years. Certainly not a very long period of time. Looking back I thought I was pretty fluent in Japanese.

I now know I was wrong in my thinking.

Why?

Because everyone I met for the first time still complimented me on my Japanese skill!

「日本語お上手ですね。」 — Translation: “Your Japanese is skillful.”

To which I would inadvertently reply,

「いいえ、まだまだです。」 — Translation: “No, (I’m) not there yet.”

That was what my Japanese teachers had drilled into us. When someone compliments you on your Japanese language skill, you should always say you’re not there yet.

I grew to expect this sort of communicative dance — until it stopped happening.

People stopped complimenting me on my Japanese language skill once I started living in the country.

Had my Japanese language ability gotten worse? But that couldn’t be. I was now living in Japan. I was working in a Japanese company and participated in the drinking rituals that honed all kinds of Japanese language skills. There was no way my Japanese had deteriorated.

So, what had happened? Instead of complimenting my Japanese ability, people started to ask me:

「いつ日本に来られたんですか？」 — “When did you come to Japan?”

After it had happened a few times, I suddenly discovered the significance of this statement.

The true meaning of this statement was “your Japanese is really good, you must have lived in Japan a long time, and I wanted to confirm my guess.”

That brings me to the last sign.

Sign #7: You go beyond what is said to understand what is really being meant underneath

The ultimate lesson is this: Fluency is not just how well you can speak the language.

Fluency is not just about how well you can understand what has been spoken.

Fluency is also about understanding what is really being meant by the speaker.

And you’ll have to do this by reading in-between the lines. And that is an essential communication skill in the Japanese language and culture — and it might just well be the most important one.

Consider yourself fluent in Japanese if you have mastered this skill.

The author is an editor of Japonica, a Japan-focused publication, but also writes on a wide variety of topics. His key topics of interest are society, culture, modern work, creator economy, and cryptocurrency, with the occasional fictional story, creative piece, or personal essay. Discover his most-read stories here.

If these topics interest you, why not consider subscribing to receive a monthly digest of new stories via e-mail?