「あなた」は失礼
Japanese language learners, especially, English native speakers often overuse あなた when they ask some questions and comments.
「あなたの名前はなんですか？」is obviously the direct translation of "What is your name?" but it sounds rather impolite in Japanese.
Instead, you should say 「お名前は？」to ask someone's name.
I kept telling my daughter not to use あなた since she was very young. She thought あなた is like 4 letter words such as fXXk or sXXt.
Once I carried her when she was 3 years old, I said 「あなた 重いわ〜」because she put on weight and became too heavy to carry.
She was shocked and told me 「あなたって言っちゃダメ！」
Then she reported her preschool teacher that I used "bad word" LOL
Another interesting example was my students' reaction on one scene in the movie "Departures"(おくりびと).
Thanks to the screen writer, Kundo Koyama, I could use the script of the movie in my class.
When the main character (もっくん）met his friend in the hometown, the friend told him:
もっとマシな仕事あるだろ。
Then the friend's wife said:
あなた．．．
In the scene, the main character's friend blamed him because he works for a funeral service company. This is an example of discrimination against a certain occupation. The man's attitude is rather rude, so the wife was bewildered and tried to say "you should not say that to your friend."
The wife used あなた because some Japanese wives call their husband あなた. It sounds sweet though I never used it when I call my husband.
Many students misinterpreted that the wife used あなた because she was upset to her husband.
Well, あなた is used in love songs and TV dramas when a female person call her loved one. But other than that, you should avoid using in daily conversations.
Let's practice
What time did you go to bed? 何時に寝ましたか？
What is your favorite movie? 好きな映画はなんですか？
You are beautiful! きれいですね!
You do not have to say 「あなたはきれいですね」because I know you are talking about me!!
