Quote:
Originally Posted by Tsuwabuki
Still thinking. You and Nyororin hit most of what I would have said.
I really do feel that if you're serious about learning the language, rural Japan is a better choice. Having spent extended time in cities, I have been lead to a belief that in general two things happen:
1) people try to speak English to you more often/all the time
2) more stuff is in English
I love rural Japan. Most of the people in Fukuchiyama can perhaps count to twenty in English, say please, thank you, and hello... and that's it. I really had no choice to learn Japanese. I think that living in Tokyo or Osaka would have let me be lazy, and I wouldn't have learned as much.
But... still thinking. Maybe the above only applies to me?
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I am just ending a 2 week trip to Tokyo, Yokohama and Osaka, and today was the first day anyone approached me in English (staff at a department store). But you bring up a good point.
As much as urban life appeals to me, rural Japan is a completely different experience with its own unique charms.
Certainly more stuff is in English in the city, but at the same time I would say it surprises me how little stuff is in English in a place like Tokyo, considering how many foreigners live/travel/work there.
Without knowing other parts of Asia, Japan feels like a difficult place to be a tourist in (compared to a place like England). I see two kinds of foreigners on the trains: those that know where they are going, and those that are compeltely lost. I wish I could say the percentage was 95%-5%, but it seems more like 75%-25%.