Comments on Teaching English abroad in Japan: Do you understand Japanese?

Sorry Anonymous #2, you're wrong. It's an ...

2010-03-07T21:24:35.580-08:00

Sorry Anonymous #2, you're wrong. It's an inflexible way of thinking that ruins the day for both parties. Julie doesn't mind accommodating the folx who just wants to practice their English, she just thinks that rather than becoming flustered at not being able to speak English, the person should switch into Japanese and perhaps speak more slowly. There is a narrow-minded idea that because you're not Japanese, you can't understand anything in Japanese. And it should stop.

I TOTALLY understand the stress of trying to speak...

2009-10-23T16:18:47.755-07:00

I TOTALLY understand the stress of trying to speak English when it's not something you are confident doing.

I have the exact opposite problem - I've been studying Japanese for about a year but have been watching anime for over a decade. I should know more than a few words and be able to put a sentence together. My accent is horrible. I'm embarrassed to speak Japanese.

thanks for this blog - I LOVE japan and hubbie and I are thinking of moving or at least being there part time.

Lol... my favorite is Type 3: The ones who insist ...

2009-06-25T01:14:36.744-07:00

Lol... my favorite is Type 3: The ones who insist on never speaking directly to you and instead asking your Japanese buddies/coworkers/loved one questions about you even though you reply directly to every question in Japanese. These people are usually really old though, so it's not so much annoying as kind of cute.

Awesome blog!

Haha i still haven't met the first kind, but t...

2009-06-08T04:18:41.577-07:00

Haha i still haven't met the first kind, but the second one is almost everywhere! The first time i went to japan my host family was like "omg how come you speak japanese so well?" "no, it's not possible..have you lived here before?" "are you sure you have been only studying for that long?" °___° I understand that japanese people find their language one of the difficultest in the world (which is true,imho) but it's not THAT difficult to learn some phrases...XD this year when i go back i'm worried it'll be the same T_T

i had to leave a comment, even it be a bit random,...

2009-06-01T03:51:16.017-07:00

i had to leave a comment, even it be a bit random, but you summed this up perfect, i hate both of those kind of situations with a passion too. heres hoping some day it wont be that way here, but it still is eh?

I've found both of those to be true also! I speak...

2009-05-01T15:28:00.000-07:00

I've found both of those to be true also!

I speak a little Japanese, by self teaching, and when I encounter someone who speaks it fluently and natively they always look at me in disbelief and respond in English.

I love that you teach English in Japan, for the longest time when I was younger I wanted to be an ESL teacher there. :]

Hello, I just stumbled across your blog.. That i...

2009-04-29T23:29:00.000-07:00

Hello, I just stumbled across your blog..

That is so cool that you're teaching english abroad in Japan!! (I'm so jealous) ^^ I've been trying to teach myself Japanese for over a year now but not having any free time had made it quite difficult. I've actually taught myself Hiragana three different times only to have forgotten it again & again, sigh~

I think it's prety weird that they would speak to you in Japanese for that long & then ask if you understand it. Obviously you do since you spoke to them and they understood you, haha~

This isn't really about this post PS RE: posting ...

2009-04-28T19:22:00.001-07:00

This isn't really about this post

PS RE: posting anonymously
You know who I am (at least my name and my face) so anything I write on this website is an opinion I'm not afraid of making public.

If you honestly don't have a website, it's fine to go as anonymous, but I want to let everyone know that you don't have to write anonymously when you criticize me or this site. I'm not going to hate you just because you don't like something I wrote on here. Feel free to use your name. Debate is more fun when you have a feel of who you're talking to, even though it's just the internet.

Tourists are fine. I came here for two weeks 3 yea...

2009-04-28T19:22:00.000-07:00

Tourists are fine. I came here for two weeks 3 years ago without speaking a word and I had a wonderful time. That sparked my desire to live here.

It's the people who live here for decades and never learn any Japanese that bother me.

Recently, though, I made friends with a guy who works insane hours in his translating company and when he gets off work at 11 oclock, he has no time to study or even to be social. Meeting him was really interesting because it has helped me not to be so judgmental about people who can't speak Japanese. Some people are truly too busy.

Most of the time, though...
more than a year in Japan
plus
no japanese
equals
LAZY

@ anonymous "No offense Julie, but I really don't ...

2009-04-28T19:18:00.000-07:00

@ anonymous "No offense Julie, but I really don't think you should get too pissy about people responding to you in English even when you speak to them in Japanese"

It is more for their sake than for mine. I know that people are usually always so accommodating and helpful, but I also know that speaking in English causes a lot of stress and embarrassment for some Japanese people, (especially if you're a young woman and they are not.) If you come here, you'll notice that a lot of people get easily humiliated and that there are an awful lot of perfectionists in this country. If the person tries their best in English and messes up, their face shows ANGUISH. It's really awkward for both of us.

How are the Japanese reacting to swine flu? It's a...

2009-04-28T10:04:00.000-07:00

How are the Japanese reacting to swine flu? It's all over the news in the US.

I'll never forget the time when I was on holiday l...

2009-04-27T13:41:00.000-07:00

I'll never forget the time when I was on holiday last year, and when I was in Shibuya to do a bit of shopping, I went into the combini to buy a few snacks, and on getting to the till the guy who served me basically translated the whole "irrashaimase..." thing into English for some reason and took three times as long to get me served.

"Welcome to this shop. (polite bow)
Please let me process your transaction (polite bow) Sengohyaku en onegai shimasu!"

Yes, he did say the last bit in Japanese as well!

Lesson: Sometimes it's best to stick to Japanese.

No offense Julie, but I really don't think you sho...

2009-04-26T16:39:00.000-07:00

No offense Julie, but I really don't think you should get too pissy about people responding to you in English even when you speak to them in Japanese (in regards to your second point). They are trying to accommodate you (because you are an obvious foreigner) and they probably feel that you are more comfortable speaking in your native tongue. I see it more as an extension of courtesy and politeness, so I don't find them irritating. Sorry to say, but your post comes off sounding bit entitled to me.

Me too!!! It's the foreigners who come here withou...

2009-04-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

Me too!!! It's the foreigners who come here without knowing a lick of Japanese that do this to us. I completely blame this on the previous foreigners who gave the poor Japanese a bad time.

the second one is the WORST! it makes me so misera...

2009-04-26T09:09:00.000-07:00

the second one is the WORST! it makes me so miserable, like, JESUS, SORRY FOR RUINING YOUR DAY.