I followed Annie's lead and found non-fat milk listed on the right on this page:
http://www.starbucks.co.jp/ja/customize_milk.htm
It's listed as 無脂肪乳 (mu shibou nyuu) and it doesn't cost any extra. So you want to add 無脂肪乳を入れてください (mushibounyuu wo iretekudasai) after you tell them the coffee you want. Saying that, my Japanese wife thinks 無脂肪乳 sounds hilarious and doubts a Starbucks part-timer will know what you are going on about. I, on the other hand, have slightly more confidence in their training program. Good luck next time!
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Bueller wrote:I refuse to do the katakana pronunciation thing when ordering food.
I understand what you're saying and on the face of it, it makes sense. I also suspect you may be trying to make a point about English words being used for fashionability, or in place of a perfectly good Japanese word, so forgive me if my response is wide of the mark. I'm sure you can feel a 'but' coming, can't you? Well, I for one am quite happy to play the katakana game for the following reason; for me,
コーヒー is Japanese and
coffee is English and I pronounce them appropriately. Otherwise, where do you draw the line? Should I insist on using the Arabic
kahwa or the Turkish
kahveh, from where the English apparently originates?
English is notorious for twisting the pronunciation of words taken from other languages; whereas I've always thought Japanese, bearing in mind its limitations, does quite a respectable job. I remember when I used to laugh at the pronunciation of
virus over here, until I realised it was modelled on German, not English. I also realised how easy it was to fall into the stereotypical arrogance of English speakers.
Perhaps the French person in your Canadian restaurant would wish to communicate as smoothly as possible and adapt their speech accordingly.
