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Grammatically speaking it shouldn't be an issue, but I have heard from some
people that a non-japanese using 僕{ぼく} sounds really weird. Has anyone else
heard this? And if so, is there a reason?
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2011-06-04T14:58:48.520
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colloquial-language culture first-person-pronouns
Is it ok for non-japanese to refer to themselves as 僕{ぼく} and if not why?
It should be okay, at least I used it mainly more than 私 and 俺. But, sometimes
when everyone in the conversation is a guy, I use 俺.

But Japanese guys only use 俺 most of the time within conversation, so may be
using 僕 or 私 would be kind of obvious if speaker is non-Japanese, and of
course that will depends on their pronunciations/intonations too.
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2011-06-04T15:05:27.570
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The choice of first-person pronoun depends on the level of formality in the
current context. During (formal) interviews I have heard わたし about 90% of the
time, わたくし occasionally, and ぼく only rarely. However, during informal
conversations, it is quite common to hear ぼく or おれ. I prefer おれ personally,
but anecdotally, I have had a native Japanese tell me he prefers ぼく because it
sounds "softer" than おれ. I can't think of why it would be inappropriate for a
foreigner to use whichever he prefers unless the situation calls for something
more formal than ぼく.
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2011-06-04T21:13:44.800
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This question frequently comes up among foreigners in Japan, especially men,
as it seems there's a feeling that sticking with `私{わたし}` is somehow too
"textbook". It's as if using `私{わたし}` is an indication of still learning, or
perhaps not yet having been integrated into Japanese language and culture
enough.

Men often wonder if they should use `僕{ぼく}`, or `俺{おれ}` instead, with the
sense that `僕{ぼく}` is more friendly and verges on kind of boyish and cute
(where cute is a good thing in Japan). `俺{おれ}` is seen as being rough and
manly, but possibly too rude to use in most situations. I've even heard men
boast of their ability to use `俺{おれ}`, as if it were an indication of their
bold nature.

Which is partly true, but I've often found when talking with foreign men about
this, they focus entirely on the word and how it represents them, and not on
the grammatical construct around the word when they use it.

For a somewhat extreme example, saying:

> 「俺{おれ}も行{い}かせて頂{いただ}けませんか。」
>
> _"Could I not also go?"_

... would sound weird, regardless of who you were, because it mixes polite and
and casual.

It's like, in English, saying something like "Excuse me, dude, would you mind
terribly telling me the time?" Mixing "would you mind terribly" and "dude" is
an awkward mix of slang and old-timey politeness, which in the end just
conveys one doesn't have mastery of English (assuming the speaker isn't in an
ironic context.)

If you want to use `俺{おれ}` in the example above, you would say something more
like:

> 「俺{おれ}も行{い}けねぇか？」
>
> _"Yo, can I hang with you?"_

`僕{ぼく}` is safe for a wide variety of contexts, except for very rigid
_[keigo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorific_speech_in_Japanese)_. If you
are able to use rigid _keigo_ , though, you most likely know not to use
`僕{ぼく}`, so it's not really an issue.

Bottom line is, as a non-native Japanese speaker, `僕{ぼく}` is perfectly
acceptable in most situations, as Japanese will give you some slack on context
since you're non-native, and it carries no connotations that make it rude. Use
`俺{おれ}` if you are sure that the rest of what you are saying matches. And
don't be afraid of `私{わたし}` when it's called for. Japanese don't have the same
stigma against it that foreigners do.

It's far more important to learn when to not use a personal pronoun at all.
Usually, when Japanese find `私{わたし}` out of place, it's not because `僕{ぼく}` or
`俺{おれ}` would have been better, it's more likely the case that the personal
pronoun should have been dropped completely.

On a side note regarding `あたし` versus `わたし` for women, Japanese women seem
perfectly comfortable with it so it is commonly used. Foreign women, however,
often don't like it as they feel it smacks of a sexist construct. The argument
is that it doesn't convey any more friendliness or character the way `僕{ぼく}`
or `俺{おれ}` can. It merely conveys femininity, which some foreign women feel is
unneeded in most contexts.

Hope that helps.
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2011-06-13T05:16:55.257
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