[Henbaka]

Originally Posted by tommasi

No, I don't just mean rude people.
People that I'm talking about are usually nice people.
But they just lack real insights because they don't speak the language well enough to really understand.
And I have all respect for people trying their best to speak foreign languages but it is a different subject matter when you decide to be experts.
How would you feel someone who lived in Sweden without speaking the language talking like he or she is an expert of Sweden who knows everything.
I believe being able to speak the language opens many doors and this applies in Japan as well.
If you don't speak the language, you would end up staying at places like Roppingi where you don't need to speak Japanese and live in a denial.
Whether you are rude or not, I don't want people like that to talk shit about my country.
It's like my roommate who lived in Japan for a short period of time and talks like an expert with little Japanese ability.
I will listen to opinions of people who lived in Japan for fair amount of time and can speak the language well.

Well then I can't really agree with you. Although when you talk about these self-proclaimed "experts" they don't sound like nice, reasonable people.

If you don't speak the language, you would end up staying at places like Roppingi where you don't need to speak Japanese and live in a denial.

This is not a universal truth. You can live in so many places over there even if you're not great at the language, as long as you have a brain. The people I think you mean are people that refuse to even try with the language, and that wants everything to be as home.

Of course speaking the native language opens doors. But as an example; I have a friend who is over double my age. He's been to Japan more times that I can count, in various lenghts of stay. He doesn't speak much japanese at all (I really don't know why, as he is interested in the japanese culture and life), but I'll tell you this: He doesn't have any problems at all getting along with and understanding japanese people, or living wherever he pleases. Language is not everything.

Whether you are rude or not, I don't want people like that to talk shit about my country.

If you "talk shit" about someones country, then _you are_ rude. if people "talk shit" about sweden I wouldn't like them whether they spoke swedish or not. However if they can debate real issues like a real person, then I'd be glad to know them even if they couldn't say "hej".

I'm with you on the note that people shouldn't proclaim themselves experts, and that people that's taken the time to learn japanese usually would have a greater knowledge of life there. But everyone not speaking fluent japanese will not end up hanging with drunk gaijins in Roppongi.

It's like TOEFL for English. I'm sure people from English speaking countries don't want someone who scores low on TOEFL to act like experts of their countries.

I scored pretty high on TOEFL. That doesn't do much for my knowledge in how america or england works. What it will do, is make it easier for me to study those things, and converse with english-speaking people.