japanese ppl wont talk to me in japanese!
 

hi! i am american, have lived in tokyo for about a year and a half. i studied japanese in college and came here hoping my get better at speaking, but the japanese people i meet for the most part refuse to speak to me in japanese. i know i am not that bad (for god's sake, i am employed as a japanese-english *translator*) but very often when i say something, the people reply to me in english.

now, it could be because my accent is bad or something, but they have obviously understood what i said, since they reply is usually appropriate to the question i have asked (only in a different language).

this is getting really frustrating and insulting. can any japanese members or longtime residents shed some light on this problem and ways that i might solve it?

That's the common case in many parts of the world. Maybe its because youre american, and many people think that they would impress a foreigner if they speak to them in their language. We had a Japanese neighbor, he talks to my uncle in Tagalog but my uncle replies english, how funny. Maybe as time goes, its either you or them will give up, maybe youll end up talking in English to them, or they end up talking Japanese to you.

Yeah, I agree it's like that in most parts of the world. My English teacher used to teach in Japan and she said that some people are very enthusiastic about displaying their English skills.

I am from the UK, you know, that place where david beckham lives. I am always assumed to be American and this can be from people who are holding a bag with the union jack on it. No! England is not in Europe technically and there is no country called London as far as I know.

Today I had the pleasure of meeting a guy who has been living and working here (Japan) for over 4 years and speaks hardcore Japanese, I mean my jaw dropped when he busted some on the staff at this office. They were taken aback too from what I could see. But he did talk about going through a phase like you are describing. I think it may be that he has aquired an accent, or level of fluency that is transparent to Japanese people.

Have you tried just saying to them 日本語で結構です?

I`ve never really encountered this problem - anyone I speak to in Japanese speaks back to me in Japanese, so I can`t really give you a real answer as to why it happens. However, if someone *starts* talking to me in English, when their English ability is obviously much much much lower than my Japanese ability, they will often try to continue on in halting English even after I answer them in Japanese. That`s when I tell them that Japanese is fine.

I`m wondering if the people you are talking with are people who also are involved in the same field? (translation, etc) They may be trying to make use of their very limited chances to speak in English with a native speaker.

Or... Your accent, etc, could just sound really bad to them - so they`re trying to be nice by making things easier for you.

Any of the reason listed by others are probable, but have you thought that they might wish to practice their English too? Tokyo has a lot of foreigners, so its possible the people their might be more familiar learning and speaking it, and therefore wish to practice. In other areas you might have less of a problem, but I really couldn't say. I know my host mother was very anxious to talk to me and practice her English, for she said so herself.

I think the problem is that you are in Tokyo, which is probably the most foreign populated and has the highest rate of bilingual Japanese in the country. I usually am in Kansai, and rarely had this situation. I asked a cop in Osaka for directions recently, and he said "Is English OK?" and then proceeded to give me a 5 minute explanation which could have taken 30 seconds in Japanese, but I wasn't going to stop him as he seemed pretty happy to use his English.

Get out of the city, and I assure you the levl of English-proficiency will drop.

Also, if you are only talking to people in the English translation or language industries, then that is going to be a problem.

To be honest, I am kind of happy to hear that people are having this issue. 20 years ago this probably never happened.

hmm
 

thanks for all your suggestions. unfortunately, my job is in tokyo, with no transfer opportunities, but maybe i can start spening weekends in the inaka :)

thanks nyororin, i will try out 日本語で結構です more assertively.

i have in fact on occasion told people i was lithuanian (on the assumption that few japanese people study lithuanian) and that made them stop speaking english to me, but clearly that does not work in a professional setting where my job involves writing in english.

i guess what is so frustrating is that even though i am not an english teacher, when japanese people do speak to me in english i make an effort to help them out; correct mistakes in a friendly/subtle way by repeating back to them what they have said using the correct word (thereby giving them the opportunity to not acknowledge that they have made a mistake, but still benefit) and definitely don't switch languages on them (i know how much that stings!)

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...

Maybe, since the start of time you are destined to live a life of Hell while you are visiting other countries. You'll be slowly edged to a brink of insanity and you'll never be the same again...

Okay, now onto a more realistic subject... I've noticed that Japanese people are more... timid? I guess that's the best way for me to describe it. Anyway, many people wouldn't want to make a bad impression if they had "bad English" and Gaijin are somewhat shunned in Japan.

All of the advice in this thread is good... but I have something better and much easier.

PRETEND YOU'RE FRENCH! :mtongue:

It's what I'm going to do in Japan when talking to people who I barely know and am unlikely to get to know (shopkeepers, policemen etc...)

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.

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."?

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.

Don't get annoyed
 

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!!

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 :p

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

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

There are loads of Black/Asian Frenchies though :mtongue:

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?

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

some good advice in this thread... gotta admit I have had the same problem (I just tell them I am German and speak very little English which has always worked).

It can be a blessing and a curse to be foreign in this country... as an English native, it is VERY easy to make friends as so many people want to practice English, but also quite annoying when you want to relax in a coffee shop and people start talking to you in English when it is the last thing you want lol

care to elaborate on that point :confused: