Japanese not wanting you to speak Japanese? Wha..?

Kayci · (#1 (**permalink**))

Okay. I am excited to go to Kyushu. I count down and everything. (12 days left.)

I recently saw my friend. She is American born, mostly black, but her grandmother is from Japan so she has some experience with the culture, and goes to Tokyo once in a while to visit her family in the area. She is the only one to say this so far, but she said that if I went to a big down, they will frown at me for even attempting to speak Japanese. (And I know mine is not that bad. I can hold a conversation well enough to last awhile... and getting better at being more formal in speech...)

I just want to know if anyone could understand why she would say this? Because I really found it odd, and none of my non-Japanese friends who went mentioned a sort of thing. (She went on to say that in Tokyo, they prefer us, as Americans, to speak English...then shrugged and said it was "different story" when I told her I was going to a small town in Kyushu.)

I just wonder...

samokan · (#2 (**permalink**))

I don't think so. They still prefer Japanese and will really appreciate someone who will try. Some people will try to speak in English to you to help them practice their English ability, some establishment have some english guide to to make the explanation faster.

Just don't be bothered with , Go and Enjoy Kyushu. Its a very lovely place

RealJames · (#3 (**permalink**))

I call bullshit on your friend.
I've never heard of anything like that in all my time in Japan

SHAD0W · (#4 (**permalink**))

Sounds like your friend has a bit of 'myjapan' going on and doesn't want your japanese to be better than hers.

Nyororin · (#5 (**permalink**))

The only time I have heard of anything even vaguely similar to this was a case of a certain host family being told that their host student was going to teach them English, so insisted on using English with them.

People do NOT look down on anyone for using Japanese. Location doesn`t matter. Your friend is crazy.

tokusatsufan · (#6 (**permalink**))

Well I wouldn't go that far! Her friend is ''crazy!'' Can you imagine if her friend read this?

I think all of our personal experiences are different. What is true for one person might not necessarily be true for another.

Nyororin · (#7 (**permalink**))

Quote:

Originally Posted by tokusatsufan

Well I wouldn't go that far! Her friend is ''crazy!'' Can you imagine if her friend read this?

I think all of our personal experiences are different. What is true for one person might not necessarily be true for another.

Her friend is saying that in big towns, they prefer non-Japanese to NOT speak Japanese. She says that the friend regularly visits Japan.
That isn`t some singular "personal experience" of a limited scope. Being as this sort of thing doesn`t happen, and I have only heard of one single event where an exchange student found that their host family wanted them to speak English with them in all the years I have been in Japan... And have never heard of anyone being "looked down upon" for attempting to speak Japanese...

I`d say that I am not in the wrong to say that it`s pretty out there. If her friend reads this, maybe she`ll realize that whatever she said has been called out as untrue and that she`s not the only source of info. I couldn`t care less what someone who spreads incorrect info thinks of my opinion of them.

Columbine · (#8 (**permalink**))

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nyororin

Her friend is saying that in big towns, they prefer non-Japanese to NOT speak Japanese. She says that the friend regularly visits Japan.

I wonder if it has to do with her friend being related to Japanese people but very distinctly American. Like a clash in expectations, possibly even a few older people being like 'oh you don't have to force yourself to speak Japanese'. or else thinking "oh boy, another foreigner trying to piggyback as 'Japanese'."

Who knows. Maybe she speaks badly, presents herself wrongly and generally makes a massive tit of herself wherever she goes. Or maybe she's only met urban jerks.

But it's definitely not the norm.

JBaymore · (#9 (**permalink**))

I'm totally with Nyororin on this one. NEVER had that experience at all in years of frequently traveling to Japan.

Use your Japanese to the best of your abilities...... unless it is the "exception" that Nyororin mentions.

best,

.............john

Nyororin · (#10 (**permalink**))

Quote:

Originally Posted by Columbine

I wonder if it has to do with her friend being related to Japanese people but very distinctly American. Like a clash in expectations, possibly even a few older people being like 'oh you don't have to force yourself to speak Japanese'. or else thinking "oh boy, another foreigner trying to piggyback as 'Japanese'."

I have known and known of quite a few mixed race / of Japanese descent foreigners who have visited or moved to Japan.
The complete opposite is true. There is always a pretty high expectation that they WILL be able to speak Japanese, especially with the older generation.

Quote:

Who knows. Maybe she speaks badly, presents herself wrongly and generally makes a massive tit of herself wherever she goes. Or maybe she's only met urban jerks.

But it's definitely not the norm.

Most definitely not the norm, and not even into the "rare but it happens" level.
I find it doubtful that she could find that many urban jerks... So it could have been the way she behaved, I suppose.