Unfiltered Story #47762

(My family is spending the afternoon at a popular outlet mall that caters to shoppers of many different ethnic backgrounds. As a result they give announcements in several different languages as well as advertisements in various languages.)

Younger sister (pointing to a sign in Chinese): “Hey [my name], is that sign in Chinese or Japanese?”

(As part of a language program at the college I attend, I have taken a few semesters of Japanese and I am able to tell the difference between the Japanese and Chinese.)

Me: “It’s Chinese.”

My mother: “Just how are you able to tell the difference between the two? They look exactly the same. How can you tell it’s Chinese?”

Me (in Japanese): It’s because I can read Japanese!”

(No one else in my family can speak or understand Japanese but they can figure out when I’m speaking the language.)

My mother: “Oh right, you know Japanese.”