Job Discussion Forums

[rxk22]

I have been back in the US for a while, but this always bothered me; Why do so many expats ( I mean those in Japan for more than a year or two) seem to not learn any Japanese at all? I know that there are many that do, but it seems as though 90% just don't bother to, past 'One more beer'.

I see this as really limiting, as you can not really have any meaningful relationship with most of the populace. You limit who you can befriend, to a small pool. Especially if you live outside of the larger cities.

Why not spend 10 minutes a day studying the language of the country that you reside in? Are they lazy? Do they just do enough to just get by? I just don't understand that mentality.

For those that do study, good for you, and keep on trucking. If you don't study, think of this as motivation to start. It really isn't that hard. Like exercise, the best plan is consistency.

[ssjup81]

My Japanese is horrendous. My first time here it was passable to an extent and I studied more since it was ALT work and used Japanese on a daily basis. I returned home after the earthquake for a year and forgot a lot. Since returning last year, I've been doing Eikaiwa work, surrounded by English all the time and discouraged from using it in the workplace. I want to do lessons and start at the beginning again through work as it is provided but...my managers tend to schedule me for lessons during time that's free to me usually on ocassion which means no class.

I'm the type who learns best in a classroom setting, where I can ask questions to better understand. I guess for me though, I don't have many opportunities to use Japanese outside of basic stuff. You have less time to travel too compared to ALTs and less time because of the higher workload. Should I study more? Most definitely...just wish I had more consistency.

[nightsintodreams]

I often wonder the same thing. I'm going to speak openly here, get ready...

I didn't have any respect for foreigners living in my home country who couldn't speak English (Despised them to be honest), so I made sure as soon as I got here to study my arse off.

How people can live in a country for years without learning the basics, I just can't understand. If you don't have enough interest in the country to learn the language, why are you even here? Money alone? If that's the case, there's better countries to be teaching English in.

Another thing that grinds my balls, those gaijin you see walking around with some Japanese girl on their arm, talking in English publicly and loudly. Don't you see how bad that looks? You came here, stole one of their women and can't even be bothered to learn their language.

[rxk22]

[rxk22]

[kah5217]

I'm going to play the devil's advocate here.

Speaking for myself, I just can't fit studying time into my schedule. It's complicated by the fact that I'm not a listening/speaking oriented learner. Even after 4 years of study and being here twice, I doubt I'd clear the N3. Put a sign or book in front of me, I can probably understand it. But reading aloud is very difficult.

It's easy for everyone here to say "learn it, it's not that hard", "don't speak English, you're in Japan", and "quit depending on others". Think of all the students we've taught. They have English class 3/4 times a week for 6 years in school, so how come they can't say anything besides "sankyuu" and "please give me" when they graduate? English isn't that hard if you put forth effort, after all.

[ssjup81]

[HLJHLJ]

I studied Japanese for a few months, and gave up when I realised I had no opportunity to practice it. The only Japanese people who want to speak to me want to practice their English. Even in stores they don't like it if I try and talk in (very bad) Japanese, but you've got to start somewhere!

I knew I was only going to be here for a couple of years, so I'd never get that far with it anyway. I didn't see the point in putting anymore time into it. I've got other stuff I'd rather be doing. If I was here for the long haul, then yeah, I would have made it a priority but as it is, I don't think it's made much difference to my time here.

[ssjup81]

Yeah. That's the main problem. Nowhere to fully practice it outside of a classroom, w