[steven]

It's funny you say that, because I actually have heard from study abroad students that they are sometimes looked down upon when they get back home. I have not heard any examples or basis for those comments, but I've just heard them about 3 times. I know that when they are really good at English, their Japanese changes. I think people recognize that and make comments about it.

You also have to remember another thing... if the people you work with all know English (or mostly) and work at a place where foreigners frequent a lot, then you may have what I was talking about-- biased opinions. Japanese people who have taken the time to really study English to become fluent often really like western cultures, so in a sense it'd be like talking to a foreigner who really loves Japan about this kind of stuff. (which could be me! Personally, I like the particular area where I live WAY more than other areas of Japan... especially big cities). That's what I mean by learning the language. When you can expand the amount of people you can talk to, then you can expand your perspective on this stuff.

I think if you have the chance to listen to a lot of Japanese-- like conversations that people have together, that's the best way to study if you don't have time. If you have everyday conversation down, you probably already know that though... I think you'll find, though, that the more Japanese you learn, the more respect you start getting from Japanese people.

Like I said, I as an American didn't really have the most respect for people living there who couldn't speak English. Especially when I saw that other people (often from the SAME country) were fluent in English even though they were first generation... so I kind of understand why Japanese would feel that way.