Tweet of the Week #47: This Japanese Power Point Does Not Spark Joy

The art of the presentation sadly seems to elude many a government employee in Japan.

Obviously, your goal is to charm your audience with a witty speech and a well-designed PPT (or Keynote if we’re being fancy), long enough to get your points across the room but short enough so that nobody nods off during the important bits. You’re Tom Cruise and your mission impossible is to keep them engaged—or at the very least awake. 

One rule of thumb that we’re often taught in school is to refrain from putting all of the information onto your slides and simply reading what’s written there. One slide = one key idea. Also, best to avoid the Clip Art plugin, steer clear from any animation, and do not use yellow or magenta in “Marker Felt” or some other dodgy font.

Please refer to my wall of text

We were gasping for air after stumbling on this Japanese language teacher’s tweet. 

Attending a seminar organized by the government about improving Japanese language education for foreigners living in Japan, @Honigon3D shared pictures of a series of slides buried under text blocks that would probably make Marie Kondo scream. 

お役所の人が作る「パワーポイントのスライド」って、何か「スライドの存在意義」みたいな根本部分の概念からしてそもそも異なっているんだろうなあ。 pic.twitter.com/5JIZUzNsNX

— 磯村一弘 ISOMURA,Kazuhiro (@Honigon3D) September 7, 2019

お役所（やくしょ）の人（ひと）が作（つく）る「パワーポイントのスライド」って、何（なん）か「スライドの存在意義（そんざいいぎ）」みたいな根本（こんぽん）部分（ぶぶん）の概念（がいねん）からしてそもそも異（こと）なっているんだろうなあ。

= I think this “PowerPoint slide” created by the government seems to be missing the basic concept of what a slide is. 

Investigating further, @Honigon3D discovered that the slides were originally from a document handed out by Japanese immigration services, and simply copied and pasted into the PowerPoint.

例のバズった「お役所パワーポイント」。もともと配布資料として作成されたのだから、スライドで読めなくても仕方がない、というコメントが多くありましたが、配布されたものもこんな感じでした（要するに読めない）。 pic.twitter.com/BGVoMPfYJL

— 磯村一弘 ISOMURA,Kazuhiro (@Honigon3D) September 10, 2019

例（れい）のバズった「お役所パワーポイント」。もともと配布資料（はいふしりょう）として作成（さくせい）されたのだから、スライドで読（よ）めなくても仕方（しかた）がない、というコメントが多（おお）くありましたが、配布（はいふ）されたものもこんな感（かん）じでした（要（よう）するに読めない）。

= About the viral PowerPoint [tweet] from the City Hall. Many comments mentioned that the document was originally made to be distributed in written form, so it couldn’t be helped. But look what was handed out. Basically, I can’t read it. 

With a ¥100 coin for comparison, @Honigon3D explains that the font size is way too small for any sane mind to be able to understand.

Understanding the nuance of the Japanese ending particle だろう and でしょう

Grasping the nuances of だろう, or it’s more polite counterpart でしょう, can be maddening. The でしょう (だろう) ending particle has many meanings that will change depending on the context, but most importantly, depending on the tone of the speaker. 

Here’s a quick list of how でしょう can be translated :

• “I think”
• “It seems that way”
• “Probably…”
• “I guess…”
• “Right?”
• “Don’t you agree?”

Said with confidence and an assertive tone, でしょう expresses strongly what you think or believe. But on the contrary, if you use a questioning tone, you’re asking for confirmation or approval from the person you’re speaking with.

嘘（うそ）でしょう！！= Are you kidding me? (literally, “that’s a lie!”)

嘘でしょう・・・ = That’s a lie… right?

でしょう also conveys something will likely happen. That’s why you can hear this particle a lot in Japanese weather forecasts, usually delivered with a rather emotionless, flat tone. 

明日（あした）は晴（は）れでしょう。= Tomorrow will probably be sunny.

だろう follows the dictionary form of verbs, nouns, and adjectives. Note that in casual speech, だろう sometimes loses the last う for a short だろ.

Vocabulary

For more on learning Japanese

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