Enough that way

A follow up on the previously mentioned book 即戦力がつくビジネス英会話 by Kiyoto Hinata 日向清人. It's a very rich good book for reverse usage, that is a book for learners of English we can use as advanced learners of Japanese. I have been uneasy though with the fact that the dialogues are definitely not Japanese but there is a reason. In the introduction, the author states to his Japanese readers that there is no 以心伝心 when speaking English, and talk must be talked. That is why the dialogue are explicit and chatty. They are, without intention, partially answering the concern I have had over the years about matter of attitudes and to what degree one must do in Rome as the romans do. My standard answer has always been "up to a level". Sounding Japanese is not only a matter of language but of attitudes - in this apply to any language I assume. A gaijin who is overtly behaving with typical Japanese gestures of communication, acting so hard to express restraint that does not fit is going over the board. How to be oneself and yet speak the language and carry on attitudes that are adequate to the act of communicating is an issue I have rarely read about, except when ironically pointing at a gaijin who is "tatamized". This book offers in the setting of business a partial answer, by developing dialogues that are "international", in the sense that English is the international language. They sound relaxed at times where they might not sound that way in "real life". I am especially thinking of scene of self-introduction and the exchange of business cards that goes with it. There is no deep bowing even in formal situation, and it is OK. The dialogue, as far as I can judge, are correctly translated in Japanese - although there are a few mistakes - in the sense that they sound Japanese. And it is enough that way. Students of Japanese should be shown - by competent teachers - where it is enough, and why not overplay.

In an unrelated introductory part the author writes powerfully the following thing about oral repetition :

語学の達人と言われる人たちも、こうした地道な訓練を経ているものです。D. キーン、E.G. サイデンステッカー、E.ライシャワーといった日本語の大家を輩出した、戦時中の米海軍日本語学校がいい例です。１日１４時間、週６日、年５０週で新聞を読め、日常会話をこなせるようになった速習プログラムですが、訓練の柱は口頭による反復練習でした。教官向けマニュアルには余計な説明はするなとまで書いてあったそうです。