Why Your Japanese Conversations Feel Awkward (And How To Fix It)

Aizuchi (Backchanneling) Can Make Your Japanese Sound More Natural

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

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What makes somebody a good listener? And how do we communicate that we are listening to our speaking partner? Surprisingly, how we show we’re actively listening can change from language to language.

If you’ve ever felt like your Japanese conversations aren’t flowing quite right — like something is just off, even though your grammar and vocabulary are fine — you might be missing one crucial element: back-channeling.

These are the verbal and non-verbal cues we give to show that we’re actively listening, engaged, and understanding what our speaking partner is saying.

In Japanese, these words and phrases used for backchanneling are collectively called aizuchi, and they can be a bit tricky for English speakers to get the hang of.

What are Aizuchi?

Aizuchi (相づち) refers to the sounds, words, and phrases Japanese speakers use to show they’re listening and engaged in a conversation. Some common aizuchi:

• そうですね (sō desu ne) — “That’s right.”
• なるほど (naruhodo) — “I see.”