japanese ppl wont talk to me in japanese!

[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by musahinokosugi

even if my accent is not great, if they have understood what i said i wish they would help me learn, rather than trying to relegate me to bad-accent status for the rest of my life...

Try to think of it from their view - They probably imagine that you`re caught up in a world of all Japanese, possibly having trouble understanding... Or at the very least, feeling some level of stress because you`re away from home and your native language. They know a little (or more) English, and want to make you feel comfortable by using it.

Of course what actually happens is the opposite, and you end up feeling stressed by the English they use. But they don`t know this, and are probably only trying to be nice.

I have succeeded in cutting off the most persistent "I`ll just randomly come up and speak English to you!" people by doing the 日本語で結構です, and when they continued in English - being very straight and saying 子供の頃から日本にいるので、逆に英語で話しかけられ ると仕事って感じがしてストレスなんですよ・・・
That has never failed. It manages to convey my discomfort with being spoken to in English without offending them. And it`s technically true.
I don`t know what I`d say in your situation, but I`m sure you can come up with something that fits.

But then again, I assume I`m probably in a different situation than you, talking with a different set of people, with a different level of Japanese. I`d try it though, just to see.

[MMM]

As always, great advice from Nyororin.

What if you were to say something along the lines of "I need to improve my Japanese for work, so if you don't mind, can we talk in Japanese? It would really help me. Please feel free to correct my mistakes."?

[Jaseur]

This is a pretty common problem for western looking gaijin in Japan.

Some Japanese really are just out to practice their English with you and my solution is to avoid these people like the plague.

Speaking of pretending to be from a non-English speaking country, my friend and I used to speak in pig latin to each other to avoid eavesdroppers understanding us.

[Liumingke]

I came to China to learn chinese (Mandarin) I live in Kunming, China. I'm also an American. I thought that I would be practicing speaking Mandarin but in Kunming they speak Kunming Hua. That's the case when you go to other cities in China. They prefer to speak their dialect. So now I'm trying to learn "Kunming hua". If you can't beat them join them. As for your situation. Don't get annoyed because it's probably a custom thing and not personal to you. I'm also learning Japanese. Let them think what they will but I think it's cool that you can speak Japanese and understand them. Good for You!!

[Nathan]

I found the same thing when I was in Osaka at first. But as you get to know them, and the longer you are there, they begin to surmise that you should be learning Japanese and speak in less and less English ;p At first I wanted them to speak in Japanese, and just before I was leaving I was hoping they would go easy on me and use less Japanese

[MMM]

Originally Posted by Nathan

I found the same thing when I was in Osaka at first. But as you get to know them, and the longer you are there, they begin to surmise that you should be learning Japanese and speak in less and less English ;p At first I wanted them to speak in Japanese, and just before I was leaving I was hoping they would go easy on me and use less Japanese

How long were you there for, Nathan? Which part of Osaka did you live in?

[Ronin4hire]

Originally Posted by Tenchu

No, most French speak English too, Russian should do the trick. Those guys never speak English...

Haha... Unless you're Black or Asian. I've never seen a Black or Asian Russian.

There are loads of Black/Asian Frenchies though

[Nathan]

Originally Posted by MMM

How long were you there for, Nathan? Which part of Osaka did you live in?

I was in Osaka-shi, Tennouji-ku from April 2006-Nov 2007. Yeah, I was one of the NOVA fallouts ;p I was using it as a way to learn some of the language while making some money.

Now I'm trying to decide if I should go to University first, or just try to get back in with yet another eikaiwa company instead.

[MMM]

Originally Posted by Nathan

I was in Osaka-shi, Tennouji-ku from April 2006-Nov 2007. Yeah, I was one of the NOVA fallouts ;p I was using it as a way to learn some of the language while making some money.

Now I'm trying to decide if I should go to University first, or just try to get back in with yet another eikaiwa company instead.

Ouch. You didn't have to have a degree to be at NOVA?

[Nathan]

Yeah, you need a degree to get the visa. But my degree is in computers, not sure if its what I want to do anymore =p