[MMM]

No problem, enyafriend. It is a gray area, I agree. Since there are SO many users here and SO many different needs, it's hard to know what's the perfect balance.

Since we are on the subject, I am an American who lives in a Kansai-ben speaking household. I only speak Kansai-ben with my family and close Kansai friends (especially when we are eating and drinking late into the night), but am strictly standard Japanese for business and everyone else.

I have seen every reaction to the dialect, and living in Kansai for three years (and with a Kansai-ben speaker for about 10) has affected my accent, a little. (I tend to say "na-NI" rather than "NA-ni", for example) but only to the point that native speakers say "That makes sense" when they hear my situation. I am also a big fan of Japanese comedy, and some of the best are from the Kansai area. I enjoy the fast and loose style of conversation, and found that going out with friends from Kansai is very different from going out with friends from, say, Tokyo. Not worse or better, just different. Kansai folks are constantly berating each other (and themselves) and look for any opportunity to insert a joke into the conversation. I have found that people from Tokyo, though just as fun-loving and care-free, tend to have more straight-forward conversations.

OK, those were just a few thoughts on the matter, as it seems there are some people here who might have an opinion about this stuff while we wait for the next question.