Gambatte kudasai, have a good walk
and have a nice weekend

    This weekend (23-25th) September looks like it's going to be quite busy. Yesterday was a national holiday （秋分の日- Autumn Equinox day）. Ari and I went to Iwamura, a small town which was recently incorporated into Ena City.

    Every year Iwamura holds a special event called the Odomeguri （お堂めぐり）　Walk. It's a 7-kilometer walk in which people walk around the outskirts of the town, stopping at various tiny shrines and temples.

    Before we started the walk, we had to go to the reception desk to get a stamp on our cards. The lady who stamped my card smiled and said, "Gambatte kudasai." Then she asked me, "How do you say gambatte kudasai in English?"

    Hmm... that's not an easy one to answer.

    How do you say gambatte kudasai?

       People have often asked me how we say gambatte kudasai in English, but the problem is that we don't really have an equivalent phrase. Gambatte kudasai is one of those special Japanese phrases (others include Yoroshiku onegaishimasu, Otsukare-sama deshita and Onegaishimasu), which are used in so many situations but are very difficult to give a simple English translation for. I've often heard Japanese people translate gambatte kudasai as "Work hard," "Do your best" and, one which always seems very strange to me - "Fight!" or more typically, "Fait-o!"

    Let's think of some situations where people use gambatte kudasai:
    1. A boss who has just explained a new project to his/her staff.
    2. A parent encouraging a child who is doing an exam, but isn't very confident about it.
    3. A wife saying goodbye to her husband as he leaves for work in the morning.
    4. A stage actor wishing good luck to his fellow actors.

    What would people say in the situations above? Here are some suggestions:
    1. OK. Let's all work hard and really make this project a success.
    2. You'll be OK. Just get in there and do your best.
    3. Have a good day at work, and don't work too hard.
    4. Break a leg!

    Notes:
    DO YOUR BEST!
    This can often be used when we are encouraging people who lack confidence. For example, a student who is worried about taking an exam, a learner driver who is nervous about his driving test. Parents and friends will often say things like, "Just go into the exam, relax and do your best."
     
    DON'T WORK TOO HARD!
    Some people might be shocked by this. They might think it means gambaranaide kudasai. But, if we say "don't work too hard" to somebody, we are not telling them to be lazy. The key words here are too hard. In other words, don't work so hard that you damage your health. I suppose in Japanese a closer translation would be 無理しないで (don't overdo it) or　働き過ぎないで. We want our friends and family to work hard, but we don't want them to suffer stress or become ill.

    BREAK A LEG!
    This must sound very strange. In Britain there are many superstitions （迷信）connected with stage actors. One of these is that it is very unlucky to say, "Good luck" to an actor before he goes on stage. In order to avoid saying, "Good luck" people often say, "Break a leg." This is a traditional phrase used in the theatre and you can even hear it in the movie, Shakespeare in Love.

    But let's get back to my original question about the Iwamura walk

    Have a good...

    Well, for a healthy person of my age I don't think that a 7-kilometer walk in the countryside is a big challenge. So, I don't think a phrase like Do your best or Go for it would be appropriate here. The most typical things to say would probably be things like:

    • Have a good time.
    • Enjoy yourself

    By the way, expressions with Have a___ are quite common in English interactions. Here are a few more examples:

    To someone going on a journey:

    • Have a good/nice trip.
    • Have a good/nice flight.
    • Have a good/nice time.

    To someone going to a party:

    • Have a good time (and maybe we can add - don't get too drunk!)

    A hotel clerk closing a conversation with a customer

    • Have a nice day. (If it's in the morning) - see note below
    • Have a nice evening. (If it's later in the day)

    To a co-worker as you leave the office on a Friday evening:

    • Have a nice weekend.

    Notes:
    HAVE A NICE DAY!
    This greeting tends to be used more frequently by shop assistants and hotel staff talking to customers than by friends talking to each other. It's also probably more common in the USA than in Britain.

    HAVE A NICE WEEKEND!
    This phrase will often be heard in workplaces in Britain and many other countries around the world, as people leave their workplace on a Friday. On Monday morning, when people go back to work, they will often greet each other with: "Hi. Did you have a nice weekend?" This very nice greeting is especially appreciated by the workers when a boss or superviser gives it.

       By the way, I always make a point of saying "Have a nice weekend!" to students when they leave my classroom on a Friday. I'm happy to say that some students have now started saying it to me without being prompted.   

    Well, I'm off to join the festival now. To everyone reading this lesson, Have a nice weekend.
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    © Robert E. Jones, 2005