Immigration
Vocabulary
- 移民immigrant / immigration
- 難民refugee
- 在留資格residence status
- 帰化するto naturalize
- 多文化共生multicultural coexistence
- 受け入れるto accept / receive
- 排斥するto exclude / reject
- 統合するto integrate
- 出稼ぎmigrant labor
- 永住権permanent residency
- 国境border
- 亡命するto seek asylum
Discussing Immigration in Japanese
Reporting what others say is crucial when discussing immigration. Japanese has several hearsay and indirect speech patterns.
Hearsay: ~そうだ
- ~そうだ (hearsay) — reports what you heard: *日本は移民を増やすそうだ。* (I heard Japan will increase immigration.) Note: Different from ~そうだ (appearance).
Indirect Speech: ~と言っていた
- ~と言っていた — "someone was saying that": *専門家は多文化共生が重要だと言っていた。* (The expert was saying multicultural coexistence is important.)
Formal Hearsay: ~とのことだ
- ~とのことだ — formal way to report information: *新しい政策が発表されるとのことだ。* (It is reported that a new policy will be announced.)
Inference: ~らしい
- ~らしい — based on evidence/information: *この地域は移民が多いらしい。* (It seems this area has many immigrants.) More objective than ~そうだ.
Expressions
- ~そうだTo report hearsay information
- ~と言っていたTo quote what someone said
- ~とのことだTo report information formally
- ~らしいTo express inference from evidence
- 多文化共生を目指すTo say aiming for multicultural coexistence
- 受け入れ態勢を整えるTo say prepare acceptance systems
Common mistakes
雨が降るそうだ。(meaning: looks like rain)雨が降りそうだ。(looks like rain)Hearsay そうだ attaches to dictionary form (降るそうだ=I heard). Appearance そうだ attaches to stem (降りそうだ=looks like).
彼は来ると言った。彼は来ると言っていた。と言っていた implies ongoing/reported speech context; と言った is a single completed statement.
新しい法律ができたのことだ。新しい法律ができたとのことだ。The correct pattern is とのことだ, not のことだ.
移民が多いようらしい。移民が多いらしい。Do not combine よう and らしい. Use one or the other.
難民を排斥される。難民が排斥される。In passive, the subject takes が, not を.
Quick quiz
Question 1 of 5
How do you say “to integrate” in Japanese?
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