Gaijin and Gaikokujin

Recently, I changed the title of one of the pages that I have. I changed it to "I am a gaikokujin" from "I am a gaijin" . Gaijin is the shortened form of gaikokujin and both means foreigner . In one of my classes, a student said that using the term gaijin to refer to a foreigner is not so nice. It's like a derogatory form. I guess, the impact is less because some foreigners use it to refer to themselves. But she said, in a polite and formal way, gaikokujin is the better term.

If you have been studying Japanese all your life, you would encounter the levels of politeness to observe in conversations. It can be troublesome to remember all details and observe all levels. In my country, we only use "po" and "opo" when talking to adults or to our superiors, and it's just it. How much more to other countries that don't have such? My student said that even them, Japanese, have trouble remembering and observing their levels of politeness. And she said, maybe, it has also become lenient or empathetic since there are already a lot of foreigners in their country. Some rules have been disregarded, though not completely.

Like with this word gaikokujin or gaijin. My student said it's okay to use both. In a sense, it's not really derogatory. Foreigners don't mind if they're called like that. But for some Japanese and foreigners who are sensitive to such use, it's better to say the full word. My student agrees with that. She said that it's more polite and more formal to refer to foreigners. Then again, many young Japanese use the term gaijin. Maybe because it's easier and faster to say.

And yes, with that, that's why I changed the title page of one of my pages. It's not such a big deal to me if I will be called a gaijin. But it's more beautiful to hear the full Japanese word, gaikokujin. It's more magical and yes, sounds more formal.