[Tsuwabuki]

In order of ability, I understand, speak, read, and write Japanese. I do not do so here, because I do so every day in daily life. I study enough and get enough practice offline, that unless I am working on some specific project, I keep most of my internet communications to English.

While my work day is about 50/50, all other activities are conducted in Japanese. Go shopping? In Japanese. Pay bills? In Japanese. Go to the bank? In Japanese. Eat out? In Japanese. Hit the bars? In Japanese. Keep up with Japanese friends or students? Unless they initiate English, even those encounters are in Japanese.

I am one of 20 native English speakers in a city of 80,000. It is simply impractical to believe I could live here going on three years and not be functional in the language.

SSJup81, I do not use the term "foreigner" in the US if I can avoid it. As I said, I find it an archaic and imprecise term.