Even If You Can't Speak English

"Excuse me!"

Right after I topped up my card at the ticket machine at Tokyo Metro Shinjuku Station, I was spoken to in broken Japanese. It was a middle-aged couple who appeared to be from the West.

"Yes?"

When I responded, the man showed me a note. It had what looked like an address written on it, and where he pointed, there was the word 'Roppongi'.

If you are going from Shinjuku to Roppongi, the Toei Oedo Line is the most convenient. However, the Oedo Line's Shinjuku Station is far away, and getting to the nearby Shinjuku Nishiguchi Station is not easy. It would be better to use the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line, which you can board right away.

"This?"

The man pointed to 'Roppongi' on the route map. '210' was written there.

"This."

I nodded and pointed to the 210 button on the ticket machine. My job was done. They would need to transfer at Kasumigaseki Station, but they would be able to figure that out by looking at the route map inside the train.

The reason I am writing this story is that just a few days ago, my eldest daughter, a first-year junior high school student, asked me, 'What do you do when someone asks you for directions in English?' Apparently, it is part of the scope for her final exam next week.

"Come to think of it, I actually get asked for directions by foreigners quite a bit. Maybe three or four times."

"And what did you do?"

I extended my right arm horizontally.

"This usually gets the job done."

"Gestures don't count. This is for a test."

"Well, at most, all I can really say is 'Shinjuku station'."

I am not good at English, and I used to manage to secure points by using my Japanese language skills to brute-force my way through long reading comprehension passages. When it comes to responding accurately in correct English during a conversation, I am probably at the same level as a first-year junior high school student.

However, I know that most things can be conveyed with just gestures and proper nouns. I have more life experience than a first-year junior high school student.

Come to think of it, when I interviewed someone involved in the development of station information robots, they shared an interesting story. They said that when giving directions, you only need to convey which direction to head in first. If that is the case, you should be fine using only simple words and gestures without needing to give difficult explanations in English.

Of course, it goes without saying that my answer is of no use to my eldest daughter. Since I have told her many times since spring, 'Don't ask me about English,' I don't feel sorry about it, though.