英語圏では、日本みたいの上下関係がないので、その関係を表す用語もない。残念。この事実はバリバリ不便。大学の授業では、学生はいつもこういうことを言う。「私の先輩はね。。」「僕の後輩はね。。」学生は、毎回、「先生、英語で先輩と後輩は何と言うと？」と聞くけど、残念ながら、当てはまる単語は全くない。classmate（同級生）, friend（友人）, teammate（チームメート）, co-worker（同僚）しかない。でもさ、問題はすぐわかるやろう？この単語たちはみんな、日本の上下関係を表さない。Mentorとmenteeは上下関係のニュアンスが入っているけど、やっぱり違う。この関係はバリバリ深いし、２人だけの関係を表す。学生はよく"senior" と"junior"と言うけど、実は、それは全然言わない。じゃ、どうしたらいいと？どうやって、「先輩」と「後輩」を表すと？説明するしかないな。
このダサいバッグ、誰もいらんくない？
Who would ever want such a dorky bag?
Most English-speaking countries don't the vertical relationships that are found in Japan. So it follows that we don't have the vocabulary to describe them, either. That is just really annoying. In my university classes, my students are always asking me how to say the following phrases in English. "My sempai did this or that..." or "My kohai did this or that..." But there is no word in English that even comes close to capturing the nuance of sempai and kohai. I mean, you can say classmate, friend, teammate or co-worker, but you know the problem with those words, right? They don't include the important nuance that one member of the relationship is positionally higher than the other. You could use "mentor" and "mentee," but yeah, those don't really work either. This relationship is much deeper than that of sempai and kohai, and usually only between two people. Sometimes students use the words "junior" and "senior," but we don't use those, either. So, how the heck is one supposed to express the concept of sempai and kohai to an English speaker? I am afraid the only thing you can do is explain it.
ちなみに、日本語の上下関係から、数えきれない呼び名が生まれてきた。「さん」「ちゃん」「くん」「先生」「先輩」「後輩」「部長」「係長」「社長」。こういう呼び名は英語圏にない。名前で呼ぶか、名字プラス Mr. Mrs. Ms. Missで呼ぶしかない。日本では、話す相手は、あなたと比べればどのくらい偉いなのかを判断するまで、何も動かない。どうやって話したらいいかわからない。どこに座ればいいかわからない。ある日、大学の宴会で、レストランに入ってから、座るまでバリバリ時間がかかった。まるでチェッスゲームのようだった。超ウケた。
By the way, due to the extensive web of hiarchachal relationships, there are more address terms than you can count. "san" "chan" "kun" "sensei" "sempai" "kohai" "bucho" "kakaricho" "shacho." We don't have anything like this in the English-speaking world. You either call someone by their first name, or by their last name, proceeded by Mr. Mrs. Ms. or Miss. In Japan, a conversation cannot even get started until you know what a person's status is compared to your own. You don't know how to talk or where to sit. I remember one time, I went to a drinking party at my university. The amount of time that lapsed from when we entered the restaurant until we actually sat down was epic. It was like one big chess game. It was awesome to watch.
