Bum bUm buM

easy-japan:

It is not possible to fully understand a language without learning about it’s culture. Uchi and Soto is one of the most important aspect that you need to know in your journey to learn Japanese. So, what are they ?

Uchi 内 means “inside” while Soto 外 means “outside”. Think about back when you’re in school or something. You must have been inside a group or circle of friends right? And you treat your gang member differently than the outsiders.

Uchi and Soto is about “insider/outsider” state of a certain group in a situation. The idea of Japanese is to treat “outsider” with a very high respect and not to show their true feeling to them. While it is okay to treat “insider” casually and to be honest to tell what they really want.

In normal situation, your family,close friends, and relatives would be Uchi while the other people will be Soto. This one is simple.

The business situation is more complex. Within your division, any people below the boss will be Uchi while the boss and other superior member is Soto. So you may talk casually or express your opinion freely with co-worker but you will need to be more respectful to the boss.

But when talking with people from another office, the situation has changed, now all people in your company would be Uchi while people from other office is Soto. So when you’re talking with other people from other company, it’s preferred to drop the honorific and use the humble way of talk even when you’re talking about your boss since he is now considered a part of the company “family” in this situation.

The complete article can be read here:
http://crunchynihongo.com/uchi-soto-concept-in-japanese/

Happy Learning! ｡ﾟ✶ฺ.ヽ(*´∀`*)ﾉ.✶ฺﾟ｡

(via tinydesk)