I have a question for the Japanese natives and speakers here. It comes from a comment made by one of my college classmates about learning Japanese:
Quote:
I was very surprised to learn on a recent trip to Turkey, that Japanese learn Turkish very easily--and vice versa, supposedly because of a common root language. I saw this in action several times in tour groups, with obvious Turks speaking what appeared to be fluent Japanese, and occasionally Japanese tourists listening attentively to Turkish speaking guide.
Personally I found Turkish to be incomprehensible and even basic hello, goodbye, and numbers to be extremely hard to articulate and remember..not only in comparison to European languages but also Swahili and d'Luo, and maybe even Chinese.
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What root language could Japanese and Turkish possibly have in common? A later comment mentioned that "funny gaijin" characters in Japanese theatrical performances were portrayed by Turkish actors. Is there any basis to these notions?