I was below age at first, not that that stopped me completely. But yeah, when I returned to Japan a few years later, that helped a lot. A lot a lot. Alcohol may be poison, but it’s great for helping you learn a language.
Also the reason I still have trouble using even the most basic politeness levels in my speech here-- people at the bars definitely weren’t throwing around keigo, and even -masu didn’t often make it past beer #2.
I was below age at first, not that that stopped me completely. But yeah, when I returned to Japan a few years later, that helped a lot. A lot a lot. Alcohol may be poison, but it’s great for helping you learn a language.
Also the reason I still have trouble using even the most basic politeness levels in my speech here-- people at the bars definitely weren’t throwing around keigo, and even -masu didn’t often make it past beer #2.
Hah!
I guess I had the fortune / misfortune of working for a very traditional company. So I heard plenty of keigo at work.