西洋人と話をするとき、私はいわば頭の中のギヤを入れ換えなければならない。

Western people

if; when; and; with; particle used for quoting (with speech, thoughts, etc.); quoting particle; promoted pawn; indicates question (sentence end)

talk; speech; chat; story; conversation; discussions; negotiation; argument

indicates direct object of action; indicates subject of causative expression; indicates an area traversed; indicates time (period) over which action takes place; indicates point of departure or separation of action; indicates object of desire, like, hate, etc.

to do; to cause to become; to make (into); to turn (into); to serve as; to act as; to work as; to wear (clothes, a facial expression, etc.); to judge as being; to view as being; to think of as; to treat as; to use as; to decide on; to choose; to be sensed (of a smell, noise, etc.); to be (in a state, condition, etc.); to be worth; to cost; to pass (of time); to elapse; verbalizing suffix (applies to nouns noted in this dictionary with the part of speech "vs"); creates a humble verb (after a noun prefixed with "o" or "go"); to be just about to; to be just starting to; to try to; to attempt to

regular (stops at every station) Jouetsu-line Shinkansen

I; me; private affairs; personal matter; secrecy; selfishness

topic marker particle; indicates contrast with another option (stated or unstated); adds emphasis

so to speak; so to call it; as it were

head; hair (on one's head); mind; brains; intellect; leader; chief; boss; captain; top; tip; beginning; start; head; person; top structural component of a kanji

indicates possessive; nominalizes verbs and adjectives; substitutes for "ga" in subordinate phrases; (at sentence-end, falling tone) indicates a confident conclusion; (at sentence-end) indicates emotional emphasis; (at sentence-end, rising tone) indicates question

inside; in; among; within; center (centre); middle; during; while

gear

to replace; to substitute; to shift; to change places