This is an fascinating conversation. It is interesting to see what different cultures regard as requirements for a friendship.

I can't speak for younger people, or for women, but it seems like often times my friendships with male friends in Japan require much less maintenance than my male friends in the US. Even in my 30s I see people my age, or even older in the US being much more needy in terms of validation of the friendship.

With some of my friends in Japan I only contact them if I am coming. Others I send notes online to maybe once every month or two.

Some of my friends in America tell me that I couldn't possibly consider these people good friends, as we don't have constant contact and I don't keep up with their personal lives on a constant basis.

However, it feels very comfortable to me to be able to see these friends in Japan once a year or so and pick up right where we left off. It seems like this is less probable in the West.

I have few really close friends, and as you said MMM, we do not need to see each other for years and nothing changes. That is a unique bond.

Godwine - holy cow that looks wicked! When I was 15-17 I was building the same thing. I absolutely loved it, especially the creating part. Man I woulod love to see your project in rl. Also, perhaps, if you need calligraphy for some buildings' sign boards, if time permits I could try to help. Lots of respect man, I know from personal experience how much time and patience it requires. Man, N scale is so tiny...Mine was H0.

You could always go for Z scale. :D

Just make sure that your home is not included in the model. :)

The point I am trying to make is that it does NOT make the person shifty. It is not a sign of their lack of trustworthiness. It is a cultural quirk. It isn`t that they have no spine to say things directly - people just don`t say things directly.

Problems between who? People who both know and follow these rules of social interaction? Or between one person who does and one who doesn`t?

The truth can be read without coming out and saying it directly. There are a thousand ways to convey the message. I am pretty happy with my circle of friends, so clearly am not having any problems.

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The thing is, they`re not white lies. The other person expects to be understood. The listener who is not accustomed to that sort of social interaction misinterprets the meaning based on the rules of social interaction that they are familiar with.
Something comparable would be, say, an inside joke. If inside your group of friends, saying A means B - someone from outside your group who hears A is going to take it to mean A. Not B, like all your other friends. Going from western social rules to Japanese rules is like this. You`ve just jumped into a group of people who have a ton of inside words and actions that you just don`t know. So you take things at face value and end up hurt when they don`t mean what you`d expected them to. But to everyone else, it was perfectly clear.

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That`s pretty much the case. I don`t want to see either side bashed or raised up as being "the right way", as there is no RIGHT WAY. Social interaction is linked very strongly to culture. Something that seems frustrating to someone of one culture is perfectly normal to someone of another. People tend to have tunnel vision when it comes to cultural points that are as strongly ingrained as the interactions between friends, and are unable to see that even if it`s not the pattern they are accustomed to it is still valid.

I`m really glad that you got what I was trying to say there. Reading it over after posting left me wondering if it might not be misunderstood as some kind of shot at you (which it wasn`t). The thing is, the truth is there. It just isn`t said outright. If you`re used to it not being said outright, you are more attuned to subtle clues and can see the truth very clearly even if the other person doesn`t say it directly. I find that in most cases, saying it would be overkill. Think of a couple who are carrying bags with "Congratulations!" written on them, hugging and kissing, marveling at their new shiny rings, and talking about how strange it is for her to now have his last name. Would you need them to say "We just got married" to pick up on it?

Actually, this one doesn`t really hit me as a tatemae thing. I am pretty willing to guess that they really DID want to go. There is a whole bunch of stupid paperwork they have to go through telling them not to, under any circumstances, for ANY reason, take private lessons from a current or former teacher. All their tickets will be rendered invalid, and in some cases they will lose their lessons (but still have to pay for them). Nova got in trouble for this crap later on, but back years ago... It was to the level of losing 10+万 worth of lessons for just meeting with a teacher outside of the school.
With some of the crap I have heard Nova did, it wouldn`t surprise me if the lesson was taped and the students personally given a strong hint about what would happen if they went.
When it comes down to choosing a large lump of money or you, I am sure they would have felt awful outright saying that they`d choose the money. (Hence the pathetic excuses.)
This is not even mentioning that a relationship that has started as a money based exchange (teacher, etc) has a lot of trouble moving beyond that for many different reasons.

----------

But what if everyone involved knows what is going on? I think the people who are giving the hint (that everyone else would get without question) but not saying it outright are going to be very surprised to have someone follow them up that garden path.

It isn`t a matter of deception. It`s a different way of interacting that is perceived that way when pushed to line up with the western style of interaction. I think that most people in Japan would be absolutely shocked to hear that their "normal" way of interacting was hurtful to someone - that is not what is intended at all.

Asking something out of current conversation's context, ( if it isn't too inconsiderate), does anyone here like 軍歌?, If so which is your favorite?

I will try to learn more about this topic asap, I am a little bit obsessed with war music lately.

If you guys are interested in those small scale model, you should chek this out:

'2 Sides of Japan' modular Japanese N scale in Australia home page

This is an even crazier model, it won multiple awards already.

I will not give up on my little project, but its slow progress, a lot is going on lately, i just didn't have the time. I start putting some structures together, but never got around to do anything with the layout. The Yamanote train is still in its box. I will attempt to post picture when i get in to full build mode

About friendship, first, to set the context, a bit about my background. I am HK born Chinese. I have an uncle that is Japanese, its not really an uncle per say, one of my mom's side relative is married to him, and it just so happened that when they visit HK, they become very close to my family, so as far as I am concern, he is my uncle and his son is my cousin. Anyways, I lived in Japan between age 7-9, +/-, 6 months as I don't remember the exact duration. Migrated to Canada with my family in 1989, been here since.

Friendship... so I have friends pretty much all over the world, mostly Asian, but I do have friends from different background, as some of my other post suggested, one of my best friend is Italian.

Even with these best friend, I don't see them very often. My 2 best friends(The said Italian and a Taiwanese) are always in touch with me, but only over emails, I see them once a week only because we train at the same Karate dojo, but otherwise, our communication is only limited to electronic.

I have another really good friend, he is no longer in Canada, he moved back to HK for a better job and got married there. The last time we spoke was 3 weeks ago, again, over email. And before that, probably sometime around July of last year. But we manage to maintain that feeling of "close friends". Our last correspondence 3 weeks ago was on the topic of I needing him to locate something for me in HK, while he had similar request for me to find him something in Toronto

These are about the 3 friends that I think are the closest, and we share our deepest secret with each other, including our view over religion and politics, me being the more aggressive and opinionated one. If I am to cheat on my wife, these 3 guys will know it before it even happen... we are that close, but yet we don't hang out on a regular basis, we don't even talk on a regular basis, but deep in our heart, we know we will be there for each other if s**t hits the fan....

I am the kind of guy that have about 200 people on my MSN list and 300+ friends on my facebook list, none of which I actually talk to much, they are really "friends" i mean, as far as I am concern, as long as you know someone, even if you have only met them once, they can be your friend.

In my culture, friendship can be a very very thin relation between 2 people. People that don't care if I die tomorrow or I get married tomorrow.

I remeber at my wedding, both side parents introduce a bunch of "friends" that we have never met before, people that don't really care about us enough to worry whether we are marrying the right person

That said, i strongly agree, friendship can be as simple as seeing the potential of needing help from a particular person, the relation can be built on that... it doesn't have to be a strong bond. I don't think there is such thing as "True Friend", at least I don't believe there to be such thing. Its black or white, you are either friend or not, there is no scale.. some friends are willing to do more for you some are more selfish.... Friends are just friends, there are GOOD friends and bad friends I suppose..

As far as how open i am, I think i am the type that give 75% trust to people around me... i don't see anyhthing wrong with people giving 100% trust or no trust at all, its their choice, but trust has to be in place in order for a relationship to work.. same goes for a romatic relationship, or a owner/pet relation (just look at how a trusting dog behave vs a non trusting one)...

I don't know what i am talking about anymore, brain not functioning right lately....

Hence the suicides. Of course you don't have any problems, you guys do not talk about them lol. It is very common in Japan to not to talk about something and pretend it doesn't exist. And I could tell you more but I will let you enjoy your shell. You feel comfortable with it, so why bother.

Ah yes, because suicides are so incredibly low in every other country... Especially in nearby countries that are well known for being extremely straight and blunt, like South Korea or Taiwan. Oh, wait, South Korea is higher than Japan and Taiwan is comparable.

Or maybe, you know, there are OTHER things at play raising the suicide rate... Like a culture that is more accepting of it as a way of dealing with problems, and a high pressure lifestyle.

I am totally sure now that you think that the Japanese way of doing things is significantly inferior to your way of doing things. I don`t see why you have decided that I am living in some shell, and why you feel you can judge my personal relationships with such accuracy.

If you want to write off people because they do not follow the exact same patterns of interaction as you, your loss I suppose.

oh sorry my bad, i thouhgt that honest social interactions were the usual way to go, but I guess I was wrong. I did not say that Japanese way of thinking is inferior, I simply do not agree with certain paterns. We all judge people - you did as well by saying that I think that Japanese people's way of thinking is inferior, did you not lol? Mind you, you even followed "my" way of thinking by being open and saying what you think of me. Ironic, innit.

Opening up a new topic to divert some flame :)

Around standard of living and taxation

I have several questions....

1. What is the personal income tax rate in Japan?
2. What is the coporation tax rate?
3. Sales tax i 5% right?

The reason I ask this is, my experience of Japan is that its standard of living is comparable to Toronto Canada, I base this off of the cost of food and accomodation for the most part. An average application programmer here will make approximately 55-60K a year, after tax and stuff, they can expect to bring home approximately 35-40K, and people live comfortably with that kind of income

What is the average cost for transportation for someone that live in say Omiya (Saitama) and commute daily to work to Tokyo? I travel similar distance to work myself, and I pay an average of approximately 220 a month, not including the gas involved to get me to my starting station daily.

One thing that make it suck in Japan will probably be housing, 400K canadian can get you a decent townhouse around the Toronto area thats approximately 1400-1600 sq ft. I don't think 400K Canadian equiv will buy you spaces like that, not even comparable

going up to 10% very soon. Lifting tax on certain goods I would understand, but the same tax on everything seems like another air brain scheme for me.

Income tax is betweenn 10 - 50% depending on your, well, income. over 10 mln a year is 50%.

Corp tax - nfi.

Are you saying "my bad" because you honestly feel you did something wrong?

come on MMM....

Ok, so income tax is similar to Canada then, i think ours go somewhere between 25-49%..first 10K is tax free, and I don't think its 49%if its beyond 100K, i think to get hit with 49% if for 150K plus.. that i am not sure (i don't make that kind of money)

Or are you employing sarcasm... a common form of communication that is difficult for native speakers of Japanese to understand?

I thought Nyororin was not Japanese.
And even if she is not a native speaker, her English is way too good for not catching this. I am surprised you didn't.

Yeah, man I was being sarcastic.

Aanyways, we have moved to taxes now.

So I guess my point was made clear. Westerners like to use honest and direct communication...except when they don't, for example when they use sarcasm. Sarcasm is saying the opposite of what you really mean (the opposite of honest and direct communication) but the LISTENER understands it is sarcasm and understands what you are trying to say.

Isn't this exactly what Nyororin was talking about with Japanese communication? Someone who understands the communication style will understand the truth behind indirect communication. Someone who doesn't won't. I have met many Japanese who struggled with sarcasm, as they can't understand the reasoning or humor behind saying the the opposite of what one means.

Well deducted. I am used to use sarcasm with people that get it, and, since we speak in English, I thought that what i said was straight forward enough (even though it was wrappe3d in sarcasm). But no matter, from now on, I will not be sarcastic, I will just barge in and split the head open with a blade of the post's axe. You are splitting hairs, you do know that? You would make a great accountant.

I must say you are right with what you are saying about Asians in general and them not getting sarcasm. When I met my wife, she did not understand the abstract humor at all (based on sarcasm). She actually thoght I am an idiot (still, there are days when i wonder if her original diagnosis wasn't correct, lol ). Took her years to get it, and now she loves it. Ironically, she is even more direct than me, hence the affection.

The Japanese people do understand it, but I think only those who actually lived abroad. Though I agree, that it is not easy for them to "feel it". It is a cultural thing and can't be helped.

I still don`t think that you are getting the point he is trying to convey.

It isn`t about whether anyone here involved in this discussion would understand or not. It is that there are different ways of communicating. You expect people to understand the sarcasm because you`re speaking in English, and your audience is expected to have a cultural background to make it clear.
People communicating using an indirect Japanese style are also doing the exact same thing - they`re expecting the people they are communicating with will understand exactly what they want to say without writing it on the wall. Just because someone who does not have that background doesn`t "get it", it does not make it dishonest. Those who are accustomed to it will not have any trouble understanding. You cultural background makes you want to have it all said clearly - but that doesn`t mean that there is an actual problem with the Japanese style, especially when between people who both understand it.

You`re contradicting yourself (unless you think of Japanese as something other than human, but I don`t think that`s your intent). They don`t understand it well unless they have been abroad and exposed to it - it simply isn`t present in the culture.

Indirect communication is also a cultural thing, which is not present in a lot of other cultures. How does this make it any more "wrong" than sarcasm?

This is becoming an academic sdiscussion that brings nothing new, so it is my last input. I do not think you guys really understand what i am talking about. Through indirect speach, even though you understand the message, you are not getting the full picture (you don not know why he is giving you indirect message that he wont come to your party, but you have no idea why, and sicne the culture forbids you to ask directly, all you are left with is rumors). That is the problem. Direct speach clears the air, indirect one creates fog. And it builds up.

And i really dont give as damn if you guys wanna talk in morse code, i don't do it and that is it.

I am an artist, I contradict myself while brushing my teeth. :D You don't understand the chemistry until you learn about it. Same thing here, lol...You do realise thsat sacrasm can be more direct than actually saying something directly. It has bigger impact.

Just like sarcasm goes over native speakers heads on some occasions, so does (and it often does) Japanese-style indirect speech.

While I know of and appreciate different aspects of different ways of communication there seems to be an unanswered question-- what kinds or styles of communication are most effective?

Do you guys think there is a chance that a certain style of communication can make life harder or easier on the speakers/listeners? I know there are all kinds of variables and that it is something that is hard to qualify/quantify... but it is nonetheless interesting to me.

If I remember correctly, there was a person who claimed that Japanese was not a good scientific language or something to that degree. Do any of you (experienced Japanese or English speakers) feel that one language is better than the other? Do you feel that one is better or worse than the other in specific cases (like the whole Japanese isn't good for science claim I said above)?

By the way, if I remember the whole "Japanese isn't good for science" claim was found to be false by some half-hearted (as is typically the case in a lot of linguistics-statistics that I've seen) survey.

When my Japanese was in its embryonic state, so to speak, I was using a very thick mixture of both Japanese and English with study abroad students. Even at that level I felt that there were certain feelings or idea that were easier to convey in Japanese than in English. It's like when you see something or feel something that "words cannot describe"... chances are there is a language-culture out there somewhere that allows its speakers to perfectly convey what they're thinking and feeling in that same "words cannot describe"-it situation.

What do you guys think about that?

I'm scared. ~ 怖い
I'm scary. ~ 怖い
（same, and same with interesting/interested, boring/bored, and other ed/ing adjectives）

I have a dog. ~　犬飼ってる
I have dogs. ~ 犬飼ってる
(same)

いいよ sometimes means, "that's okay" or sometimes "no thanks" and in most situations it's clear but now and then it's confusing even for native speakers.

My friend is so cool, she ... -> in Japanese the she/he is not explicit, so we don't know the gender of the friend, but in English you can explain it passively

---

These are some examples off the top of my head where Japanese lacks accuracy and English has it readily available.
I'm sure there are heaps more, perhaps someone better at Japanese could think of more.

I feel that Japanese is somewhat crude and lacks the proper vocabulary to express simple ideas, but like you said, sometimes Japanese can express things much more easily than English, I just feel it's not an even balance...

Again, you surprise me, Real James. Just because an individual has trouble being accurate in a language doesn't mean that is the language's deficiency.

Please explain a situation where the context would not make whether it clear if the speaker found something scary, or if the speaker was scared.

Japanese is crude? Lacks vocabulary? C'mon, I hope this is another bit of sarcasm.

Wow... I just don`t even know what to say to this.
It`s not an even balance because you can`t speak them evenly.

Just because you don`t know the proper vocabulary doesn`t mean it is not there.
There is a tendency to feel that the language you are weaker in is a weaker language. It`s not. It`s your own ability. If you have a limited vocabulary, the entire language is going to seem limited. It has nothing to do with the actual qualities of the language.

I find that Japanese literature is often more expressive than English. You`ll hit this a lot if you compare translations - You need far more text to convey things that are quite short in Japanese... And often it loses an incredible amount of meaning even then.
When it comes to literature, I`ll choose whichever translation (from a third language I do not know) feels better to read - in most cases I find myself choosing the Japanese unless the translation is really poor.

But in the end, I`d really say they`re almost entirely equal. My answer to which is better would change based on what it is I`m referring to, the time of day, or my mood. :mtongue:

And, well, if you just say "Scary" in English, it`s not going to be very exact either. It isn`t as if you cannot distinguish between "I`m scared" and "I`m scary" in Japanese - you just don`t have to if it is clear in context. If you want to be explicit in everything you say, while sounding very odd and like overkill, it is entirely possible.

MMM, while I agree with you about the beginning of James's statement, his statement as a whole is what I was talking about. My idea is this- couldn't it be possible for certain areas of a language to be "quantifiably" better or worse than another language?

Maybe the language's characteristic of being too vague or too specific can bog down communication (depending on the situation it can be beneficial or a hindrance).

I mean, if I can draw from one of James's examples... (about plurals)

"牛だ！"

Imagine you're looking out of a car window when you see it/them. This can be interpreted, at a basic level, in two ways.

1. "Look, a cow!"
2. "Look, cows!"

But what difference does it make? Is that extra information really needed? Yea, sure, there are times when having a clear understanding of whether something is plural or not helps, but you could argue that it is unneeded information in another situation.

In all fairness James, I think that just saying crude is... a (c)rude way to put it. I think the last half of your statement helped balance things a bit... but maybe a little more explanation would help back up your statement.

Before I hit the sack, here is a gem to remind of the superiority of English:

There is no egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple... English muffins were not invented in England or French fries in France. Sweetmeats are candies, while sweetbreads, which aren't sweet, are meat.

We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write, but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce, and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? One goose, 2 geese. So, one moose, 2 meese? One index, two indices? Is cheese the
plural of choose?

If teachers taught, why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?

In what language do people recite at a play, and play at a recital?

Ship by truck, and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Park on driveways and drive on parkways?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell another?

When a house burns up, it burns down. You fill in a form by filling it out, and an alarm clock goes off by going on.

When the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it, but when I wind up this essay, I end it?

English is a Funny Language!

This is what I was getting at!

By the way, after having gotten better at Japanese I can read a translated book and almost translate it exactly back into the original Japanese. While that kind of "transparent" translation may be appreciated by some people, I feel like some of the phrases are stock out of cheap dictionaries.

As far as Japanese books being shorter than their translated counterparts goes... I'd like to make a couple of comments. First of all, Japanese uses Kanji, which can express a lot of information in just two "letters" (so to speak). I know this was a big issue for video game translators in the mid 90's. Translating the text into English became a file size issue. Just as an example-- 梅雨 (Tsuyu). It's just two characters. In English, you could roughly interpret that as meaning "the rainy season". That phrase consists of 16 characters (including the spaces). Second of all (and I think this is the most important issue), a Japanese book by a Japanese writer will be conveying Japanese thought... in other words a decidedly Japanese setting. A situation that is that Japanese will obviously benefit from being described in Japanese. The translator thusly has to not only "translate", but will have to re-paint the situation in more universal colors (if that makes sense). In doing so, a simple word or phrase that is understood at face value will suddenly have to be elaborated on in order for it to be appropriately received (with hopefully the same or similar feeling) in the new language. And Nyoroin, I know this is redundant for you so please don't take this as directed at you. It's more of a comment on the idea as a whole.

I was actually referring to translations where the original is neither English nor Japanese. I don`t think I`ve ever bought a translated book if the original is available in a language I can read. I was speaking of comparing translations of a third language.

I didn`t really mean "shorter" in terms of length, but more expressive for the number of words used. Obviously cultural things will have to be elaborated when unfamiliar, but this isn`t what I meant. Kanji will make a written passage appear shorter, but it won`t have any effect on a spoken sentence.
What I often feel is that I can convey the meaning I want with less length and effort in Japanese than in English.

Back to the subject of which language is more expressive though... And it really is pretty much a tie in my mind. There are things that I can think of multiple ways to say in Japanese but only one or maybe two in English... And the same the other way around. This is immensely frustrating when translating as there may be five different phrases with similar/identical meanings used for literary effect... But only one way to say it in the other language, so it ends up repeating. I find that I notice it a lot more in Japanese to English, which leads me to lean in the direction of thinking that Japanese can be more expressive in many cases.

Okay, I see what you meant now. What you are saying about translated books is very interesting actually. If it were one or two books I'd attribute the phenomenon to the translator(s). It sounds like you've read quite a few though, so I think the idea that it's down to the translator(s) isn't a good one.

I'm wondering Nyororin, do you have any experience with comparing technical documents? Or historical documents or anything else that is less expressive by nature than literature?

MMM,was that meant to be saying English was good? You've showed it to us a thousand times! It was even the last time I forgot my key and had to stay here!

You can't have a bad language. No language is superior except I don't have a particular interest in French but that's just my personal preference.

This is the point I was trying to reach, but didn't.

What difference does it make? This can be about the plurality of cows in the field, or the reason a friend feels uncomfortable in group situations.

I don't know if age has anything to do with it, but the older I get, the less I am concerned about with other people's motivations, but more the results of their actions.

If someone told me in Japanese they had a dog(s), I really wouldn't be so concerned if they had one, or more than one. Generally people volunteer that kind of information without being prodded, whether it be English or Japanese.

I think this need for "truth" like a agent on X-Files is a little over-dramatic. None of us need the ultimate "truth" to function perfectly fine in our social interactions. We just need enough information to allow us to respond and proceed appropriately. Again, this is true both in Japanese and in English.

It meant to say English can be illogical, confusing and inaccurate.

It is down to the translator in a lot of cases, but, well, there is a difference to the feeling when the translation is bad. It`s really hard for me to explain clearly, but a bad translation feels like a bad translation.

Comparing those translated from a third language - not much. Usually if I`m reading something technical, it either started in English or in Japanese. (And about half the time I`m the one who has to translate it...)

However, with science related things, while I don`t feel that Japanese is unable to convey things - technical words have a tendency to follow the international standard. In other words, they are the "same" in English, Japanese, and most languages. In Japanese they`re just written in Katakana.
This can make technical documentation end up a literal maze of English word after English word, linked up in a Japanese grammatical structure.

But, in what I have seen of technical documentation in languages other than English and Japanese - the same thing is usually the case regardless of the country. I am wane to agree it is because Japanese isn`t suited for technical writing - every language doesn`t come up with their own version of "server" or "touch panel".

When it comese to historical documentation, what exactly do you mean? History books? Or contemporary documents? I have found neither to be stilted in any way. Contemporary documents are a pain to read though as they`re not modern, but that`s about it.

---------------

I`ll go a step further and say (speaking as a linguist here) that the perceived need for the details, such as the difference between dog/dogs when it doesn`t really matter in the conversation, is entirely cultural. I don`t really think that it has anything to do with the "truth". It has everything to do with what you are accustomed to hearing.
I know a woman who is a native French speaker. She has said that it seems so frustrating to her that there are no genders in English. Something large and important is missing. Literature is empty and dry - like a science paper. To her, they are necessary - without them, speech feels incomplete and less expressive.
To the native speaker of English, however, having a gender for each word seems completely unnecessary.

I wasn't expecting to get chewed out when I came back to this thread lol.

Steven asked for ways in which one language felt better or worse than the other. I gave my opinion.

I thought I was being pretty clear saying it was the way I felt, in hindsight I should have been more explicit, as usual! haha I really gotta cover my tracks around here or I come off as a real asshole.

Yeah English is what I'm used to, so Japanese feels inaccurate.
Actually French is what I'm used to, and English feels inaccurate!
Going from French to Japanese feels even more so.

The fact of the matter is that less details are conveyed in regular conversation in Japanese. The language doesn't lack the tools necessary to do so, but the people who use it, and the way they use it, is such that it simply conveys far fewer details than native English speakers are used to.

This, by the way, is what I meant by crude, lacking detail. And like I said, it's just the way I feel.

Honestly I agree with the French woman, English feels crude to me at times.

We want to move to Japan from The Netherlands
 

Hello, I am living in the Netherlands and would like to move to Japan. Can someone help me out? What is the best location to live? We have 3 kids of 6, 8 and 11. What are the best international schools for them to join?

As a minor, I'd like to point out that kids everywhere are horribly misrepresented. The amount of homework is steadily increasing (not necessarily a good thing), as is the difficulty of the material. While there are some incredibly immature kids who do, in fact, live off of cell phones and video games, not everyone is like that. Just saying. :)