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I have been struggling to figure out the correct way to ask somebody about what they felt about certain life experiences.

Consider the following sentences:

1) "How do you feel about becoming the president again?" Assuming the listener had once taken on the role and is in the process of taking up the role again

2) "What was it like when you were studying abroad?" Assuming the listener is either currently or was previously performing the action

3) "What is it like living with 10 siblings?" Assuming the listener is currently still living with 10 siblings.

For 1, I can imagine using 「どう思いますか」, but for 2 and 3, I can't recall coming across any way to ask "what is/was it like"

I can also imagine saying 「どんな感じですか」but that feels a little too literal.

Any suggestions?

2 Answers 2

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This can be said with different degrees of politeness and formality.

1) "How do you feel about becoming the president again?" Assuming the listener had once taken on the role and is in the process of taking up the role again.

This conversation would clearly be taking place between two adult speakers and on a fairly formal occasion. If so, the word/phrase choices would reflect all that. One might say:

「~~について、どのように感{かん}じになりますか (or even なられますか)」 or

「~~に関{かん}して、どのような感想{かんそう}を持{も}ちでしょうか」

(I will not translate the ~~ part unless you show me your own attempt first.)

2) "What was it like when you were studying abroad?" Assuming the listener is either currently or was previously performing the action.

I am imagining two students or young adults speaking who are friends here. One might expect to hear:

「(留学{りゅうがく}って)、どんなもんなの?」 or

「~~って、どんな感じなの (or なのかな)?」

A little bit more politely, you could say:

「~~というのは、どんな感じのものなんですか。」 or

「~~について、どんな印象{いんしょう}を持ってる/持ってますか?」

3) "What is it like living with 10 siblings?" Assuming the listener is currently still living with 10 siblings.

A teenager or young adult might say:

「~~って、どんな感じ(なの)/なのよ?」 or just

「~~ってどうなの(よ)?」 ← A very common expression in informal speech, indeed.

Someone older might say something like:

「~~というのは、どんな感じのものなんですか?」

Seems we do not generally use a whole variety of words to ask about people's feelings about their experiences.

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  • 「お感じになられますか」 is 二重敬語.
    – istrasci
    Commented Dec 6, 2016 at 15:59
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I would say...

1-...どんな感じですか?(If you wanna to ask "how does it feel to ...") But that would kinda imply that it has been decided that he will do it again.
You could also say どう思いますか if you want to ask him "what would you think about doing it again... would you consider it? etc..."

2-...どうでしたか?
3-...どうですか?

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