Remember, you are odd.

There are some simple but difficult words leaning English for Japanese. Commonly we have gotten through the words in junior high by grammatical approach. The word “remember” is one of the perfect examples to measure how they understand verbs. And it is often tested like this format: (1) I do not remember taking photographs, (2) I do not remember to take photographs, asking which one actually did take photographs. And we will be learning these two differences. But I was long thinking why this type of verb seem to be difficult for us. Why does “remember” is not as easy as think, check, ask, or even support?

The word “remember” does not exactly equal with what Japanese use as in remembering something. In Japanese, most of the people frequently use like, “I do not remember you”, or “I remember what I did”, which conveys to keep the memory you just had with you. When I was self-studying with a grammar workbook this morning, there is a sentence like this, “He can’t remember going to Miami when he was eight.”

This sentence reads the person (he) cannot recall his memory that he went to Miami when he was eight.

Here comes the difficult part. There is a great distinction in Japanese between “to keep the memory” and “to recall the memory.” In fact, they are two unique words. The former means to have learned something, which becomes the memory soon, in Japanese Kanji. The latter means pulling out something by thinking of. Therefore for Japanese, the English word “remember” firstly emphasizes what has kept in their memory already not what is going to pull from their memory since they connect “remember” to what they have learnt. On the other hand the meaning of “recall” tends to be forgotten unless they just use recall instead.

How could “keep” and “recall” denote that they are in “remember?” Another example might be inadequate to use here, however eliminating any political meaning, “Remember Pearl Harbor” does not only mean to keep it in your memory. It probably stresses to recall it from your memory, which rather dynamic and reachable.

Remembering “remember” needs extra work for Japanese.

In the above sentence, “He can’t remember going…” does not instantly appeal that he cannot recall his memory instead it throws an odd feeling as if this person has a serious brain damage to keep his memory or amnesia. If anyone who use “remember” in meaning of recalling to Japanese, it might be good to pay attention whether they were ready to recall it.