こんにちは！蛙です。
ブログが遅くなってすみませんでした。
今日で今学期は後二週間しか残ってないです！
アイバンとよく「今学期早かったなー」みたいな話をしてますけども、
今学期の前半が早くて、後半がもう少し遅かったという結論に達しました。
振り返ってみれば、今学期の最初の頃は遠くに感じますね。
マーティンとアイバンとモールに行って、量のためのショッピングをしてた時とか、
最初の日本語学のクラスが大嫌いだった時とか、
まだ暖かかったプロビデンスとか、
全部がずっと前のように感じます。
具体的な出来事を振り返ると遠く感じるのに、
今学期を全体的に振り返ると早く感じるという不思議な気持ちです。
皆さんも絶対にそうだと思いますｗ
今週は日本語学の三つ目の小論文を出したということで、
皆さんにも読んでもらいたいです！
それほど自信がある論文じゃないですｗ
構成とかがあっちこっちでちょっとメチャクチャですけど、
アイディア自体は大丈夫かなと思います
基本的に語学に関するアイディアが一番大事だと思うので、
ライティングがひどくなければ自分的に成功です 笑笑
とにかく、今回は日本語と英語の新聞広告を読んで分析するという課題でした。
興味があれば、どうぞ読んでみてください！
Advertisements
are literally everywhere in our modern world. No matter where you look, you can’t
avoid this fact. Newspapers are one prime example of this; flip through any
publication and you’re bound to see hundreds of ads. While most advertisements
can be somewhat of a nuisance, getting in the way of reading the actual
content, much can be learned about a language from the advertisements that
utilize it. Through analyzing Japanese and English[1]
newspaper advertisements, a number of interesting linguistic points emerge.
In
general, English and Japanese ads are not too different from one another. They
have basically the same goals, be it trying to sell a product or alerting
readers of some information. Also, they are both limited by the same
fundamental boundary of advertisements: providing the most amount of
information in as effective a way as possible, while using only the space you
have allotted to you. However, the Japanese and English ads take slightly
different approaches as to what they consider “effective”.
One
major difference is that Japanese ads are not afraid to use lots of text. They
are often filled to the brim with lots of tiny font, and focus on why the
reader should be interested in whatever is being advertised. Ads selling
products explain in great detail all of the reasons why it’s something every
reader should pick up the phone to get immediately. Images are used more as a
supplement to the words, which is where they really sell you on their product.
English ads, on the other hand, are centered on the image. The visual effect of
the advertisement is put at the forefront, and relevant information is around
the edges, providing just enough to know what the product is called, or how to
find out more information about it to purchase it. The idea behind this style
of ad is that images are usually more eye-catching and stay in our memories
better than text does. As an English speaker, only exposed to the American
style of advertisements, I found Japanese ads to be very overwhelming and
unattractive to look at, making me want to move on rather than read more deeply
about the products.
English
and Japanese newspaper ads both make full use of exclamation marks. They are everywhere
and often used as multiple exclamation marks in a row. It’s almost as if the
advertisement is screaming at you to get your attention. It also creates a
sense of excitement while reading it; because the voice of the ad is excited,
the reader unknowingly gets a little excited as well.
Another
common feature of ads in both languages is that they somewhat resemble
newspaper article headlines. Because space is limited, they are often written
in bullet-point format, and have bare-minimum grammar reminiscent of headlines.
These are typically the largest words, with enough information to gain the
reader’s attention and inform them of the subject of the ad. These are then
followed by more complete sentences with further information, much like the
sub-headers in newspaper articles.
While
there are many similarities, the differences are also very apparent. Punctuation
is one aspect in which English and Japanese advertisements differ. In English
newspaper ads, finishing a line (when it’s not a complete sentence or part of a
paragraph) with anything but an exclamation mark is typically avoided[2].
Periods are rarely seen finishing catchphrases. Japanese ads, however, take
full advantage of the effect periods can bring to the atmosphere of the
message. For example, one Panasonic ad reads 「未来を照らす。ＬＥＤはパナソニック。」(11/5 p.21 朝日新聞). Two periods are used to
end the short, bold statements. If there was no period (especially after the
second sentence), the 格好いいphrase would be wasted. There’s
something powerful about finishing with a period in this way. “…. Period.” is a
phrase often used in English after making a bold statement to express “That’s
the final word. The end.” In the same way, the Japanese period is often used in
advertisements in cases where a tough, daring nuance is most effective.
The Panasonic
ad above is a great example of terse, effective phrases. Long, complicated
sentences confuse people and lose their interest. While you can’t pack as much
information in a short sentence, they can have much more impact if written
well. Also note the ウサギ文 in the second sentence of
the ad. LEDs do not equal Panasonic logically; however, Panasonic’s goal is to
create the image that Panasonic has such high quality LEDs that the two are synonymous.
Depending
on the style and type of advertisement, a personal atmosphere between the company
and consumer is desired. One way ads tend to accomplish this is by using words
like「あなた」or “you”. In doing so, it creates the
feeling of a closer relationship between the ad and the reader. In a way, it
gives the impression of talking to a real person, suggesting that you purchase
some good or try some service. One example of this is ソニー損保’s ad
in the 11/4 edition of 朝日新聞 on page 12: 「あなたはどこにあてはまりそうですか？」「あなたの年間走行距離にあわせて、保険料を算出します。」The first line was used to
ask which type of insurance plan the reader is best suited for, given a number
of options. The second line was a subtitle below a headline, emphasizing that
you save money by choosing a plan that makes sense for the distance you
typically travel each year. These lines give the reader a sense of closeness,
as if the company is personally aiding them in choosing the most appropriate
plan. Service is all about making the customer feel cared for, and using 「あなた」in this way does a great job of it.
The
degree of politeness used in Japanese and English advertisements is another
difference. Japanese ads tend to be quite formal, paying respect to the
consumer (e.g.「ご質問だけでもお気軽にお電話ください。」11/4 p. 12, 朝日新聞). This example is taken from the Sony
insurance ad above, and features a woman with a speech bubble filled with this
line; she is welcoming and polite, just like a receptionist one can imagine
would pick up the phone if you called. On the other hand, English ads tend to try
to create a friendly, personal relationship with the consumer, and use fairly
casual speech (e.g. “Coming to the new staging of Phantom?” 12/1, p. A9,
Providence Journal). This example almost takes on the voice of a coworker or
friend, asking casually about whether or not you’re planning on going. While
this is not always the case, it is a noticeable trend. There isn’t necessarily
a better or worse way, just a different approach used to reach the same goal.
One
characteristic of English newspaper advertisements is the deliberate use of
sentence fragments. For example, “5,000 years of civilization. Live on stage!”,
“Take an Extraordinary Journey…”, “A difference you can feel”, and “A
soul-stirring performance” were all used in an ad for a show by the Shen Yun performing
arts group (12/1, p.24 Providence Journal). These are all incomplete sentences
(except for “Take an Extraordinary Journey…”, but this uses ellipses to suggest
there is more to follow), which wouldn’t be able to stand on their own
grammatically. All of these take advantage of the impact of short phrases, much
like the Japanese counterparts.
The
last two are examples in which nouns are simply being modified. Normally you
couldn’t write “A performance” in an ad. Readers would be very confused,
because it is obviously advertising a performance, and since no other
information was gained from that catchphrase it leaves much to be desired.
However, by modifying the performance as “soul-stirring”, a phrase not lightly
tossed around, it places an enormous emphasis on the quality of the show.
One
example filled with interesting points worth mentioning is “Give them a Roger Williams
Park Zoo Gift Membership” “They’ll thank you all year!” (12/1, p. A6 Providence
Journal). This is accompanied by a picture of a monkey and two pictures of
children enjoying the zoo. The advertisement refers to some third party as “them”
and “they”. Taken out of context, this is unclear and confusing as to who the
ad is referring. However, the facts that it is an ad for a zoo, and that
pictures of children accompany the text, and further that the people most
likely to be reading the newspaper and come across that ad are adults/parents,
all combine to help you form the conclusion that “they” are the reader’s children.
So why not say that clearly from the beginning? “Give your children a … Gift
Membership” “They’ll thank you all year!” However, this would not be clever
advertising because this outright assumes that the reader has a child, which
may not be the case; it also limits the people you can give the gift membership
to, even though the main target is parents who can get a membership for their children.
By purposely leaving it vague, it leave many more options and doesn’t alienate
anyone reading the ad. Also, by referring to “them” vaguely it allows the
reader to place their own “them” in the picture. By thinking about who “they”
are, readers imagine themselves having a good time at the zoo, exactly what the
zoo is hoping for in this ad. Another point is that the ad directly refers to
the reader as “you”. This is the same as in the Japanese case mentioned above.
In
relation to this point is the idea of taking advantage of common understandings
in advertisements. For example one ad reads “Season of Savings”, accompanied by
“Shop Now and Save for Everyone on Your List” (12/1, p. A6, Providence Journal).
Even if the first line wasn’t included, readers would find the context very
obvious. Since the newspaper was released on December 1st, it is
getting close to the holiday season, the main event being Christmas. Associated
with Christmas is making a list of people for whom to get presents, just like
Santa Claus; and thus, the connection is made that shopping at that store will
allow you to buy affordable presents for your loved ones. This type of ad
relies heavily on common knowledge of the target audience for their products.
While
English and Japanese ads share many commonalities, one thing in English ads is
made possible by the English language which is impossible in Japanese: capital
letters. Because English has capital letters, the same boldness and font size
can have a very different effect depending on whether it is in lower-case or
upper-case letters. It is useful in adding extra emphasis to something
companies want consumers to focus on. For example, in one ad (12/1, p. A12,
Providence Journal), huge letters read “$300 OFF”, followed by “your purchase
of $2499 or more”. By stressing the large amount of money you save with capital
letters and making the slightly negative aspect less noticeable with lower-case
letters, you can draw the consumers’ attention to where you want it without necessarily
lying to them. Capital letters make this possible without even changing the
boldness or size, and so is even more impactful when these are introduced as
well.
There
is a surprising amount of insight one can gain from studying the advertisements
of different languages. Not only does it reveal cultural aspects and unique approaches
to advertising, but also many linguistic points only made visible by comparing
and contrasting two languages. At the end of the day, however, English and
Japanese advertisements are not so different, and similarities between the two are
as easy to find as similarities.
References
朝日新聞 Editions 11/4 and 11/5
Providence
Journal Edition 12/1
[1]
To be clear, when English newspaper ads are mentioned throughout this essay, it
is referring to ads written in English, not necessarily ads from England.
[2]
Maybe this was only true of the newspaper ads I looked at.
＾＊＾＊＾＊＾＊＾＊＾＊＾＊＾＊＾＊＾＊＾＊＾＊＾＊＾＊＾＊＾＊＾＊＾＊＾
期末試験は金曜日に一個、次の週の火曜日と水曜日に一個ずつあります。
そして日本語学のエッセイは１２月１９日までに出さなければなりません。
なので急にすごく忙しくなりましたｗ
今週中勉強していこうと思います！！
頑張ります！！:D
では、また来週！
「ブラウンの熊たち」公式ホームページを作りました。
http://www.brownbearsjapan.com/
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もし何か意見や質問等がございましたら、下の記事にコメントを下さい。
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１クリックよろしくお願いします！
