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Would it be considered rude if I start saying things like "ok", "uhm" or "mhm"
when speaking to someone in Japan? Would they understand that I'm agreeing or
listening to what their saying?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-06-07T21:30:25.593
86983
2021-06-08T00:36:07.203
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question
english-to-japanese learning
What are some phrases or things I can say in English that someone who only knows Japanese can understand? Like "mhm" or "ok"?
It depends on situations. In a daily conversation, it’s fine and may be more
frequent than other culture.

In a corporation, they may avoid a filler on the phone. Instead they use
[え]{‘}[え]{’} in a sense of “Sure” pronouncing each vowels clearly not like えー
or ああ as you are saying like "ok", "uhm" or "mhm".
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2021-06-08T00:29:24.563
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2021-06-08T00:29:24.563
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answer
"Mhm", "Hmm" is easily understood by any Japanese speaker because they use
similar interjections. (But they don't use "Uh-huh".)

Japanese people use the rising intonation to change a sentence into a
question, too. They can understand "Book?" is a question and "Book!" is not.

"OK" is one of the first words Japanese people learn when they start learning
English at school. Unless you are talking to a very old person, you can
usually assume the lister can understand at least "Yes", "No", "OK", "Thank
you", "Hello", "Bye", etc.

Regarding rudeness, saying "Mhm" or "Okay" is never offending by itself, but
of course you should try your best to use the language your listener
understands.
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2021-06-08T00:36:07.203
86989
2021-06-08T00:36:07.203
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answer