There is also something else I notice: some people will decide they will not understand you because you look/are foreign no matter how hard you try or even if you don't make not many mistakes. There is a famous video about that[1] but this is not limited to Japan, I also saw it in France too with foreigners trying to speak French.
Also even in a cultural area there can be wide differences. Almost all Mandarin speakers I interact with (be they Taiwanese, mainlanders or huaqiao) seemed quite happy to talk their language with me. The Japanese not so much. I even sometimes hide my Japanese language ability and play it dumb to fit more in a group. And I plan not to expose a too great ability the day I got it unless necessary precisely too avoid being judged to harsh by the local standards.
Examples: I can call some business on the phone and people won't know I'm a foreigner. No accent. I've gotten in a cab late at night, talked to the driver for 10 minutes, and then had him freak out went he turned around to collect the fair because based on conversation he thought his ride was Japanese. I bring those examples up only to point out having zero accent and being able to speak in a way that I'm perceived as being fluent.
And yet I still run into people who's brains seems unable to accept that I'm speaking Japanese to them. It's a common complaint by friends who've been here 15-20-25 years that they still get this. Over time I've learned to accept they are trying to be helpful and I'm the 1 in 50 or 1 in 100 foreigners that can speak Japanese well so just thank them ... in ridiculously polite Japanese.
I think it's because languages are all about expectations. If some piece of information has primed me to hear one version of a homophone the other meanings never even pop into my head.
I've noticed a related effect while watching videos on youtube recently. I'm a native British English speaker. When I click on a random youtube clip I don't know what accent I'm going to get. If it's a strong accent I don't hear often it usually takes 5 seconds or so for my brain to 'work out' the accent. During that time I don't really understand what is being said. As soon as it clicks I can rewind the clip and hear the exact same audio with perfect understanding.
I think when the Japanese people don't understand me a similar thing is happening. They see my white face so are trying very hard to hear English. The sounds come out and are run through the 'process the English' part of their brain. Of course, they can't make heads or tails of it so end up not understanding anything.
I'm not a linguist but I'd love to know if anyone had any references on this effect.
But yeah, when native-born Anericans act like your English is unacceptable, they're being assholes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpiAhxaE_oI
I don't think I've ever met anyone in England like this, but I can well believe they exist.
That was my impression when I'd studied in Japan decades ago (but TBH it was so long ago I can't really recall if it had happened to me personally), however it seems that it is getting better. I actually saw your linked video by way of another [0], and the people he'd interviews generally finds the scenario ridiculous, too. Moreover, there's a follow-up video [1] where he put the premise* to the test, and majority of people replied in Japanese back.
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLBShiGoJFo
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TofNjIjt0TQ
(*) TBF, the various sampling / editorial biases aside, his setup was not quite right in the follow-up video. He should have had a pair, one Japanese and one foreigner, had the foreigner ask for directions, and see if the test subjects a) replied back in Japanese, and b) repeatedly directed their replies to the Japanese of the pair.
I have encountered this as well. It also happens more frequently from foreigners who have learned English (perhaps even better than your studying of language X) and they just don't want to talk to you in their language.
Fortunately, most people are not like this, and from my experience of both Japanese/Chinese people, they are very open to communicate with you in their language.
With the only exception being that you have to speak a bit more Chinese before English speaking Chinese people will agree to speak Chinese regularly with you, versus Japanese where they will speak Japanese to you from almost day one if you want. (which is a blessing and problem since you won't understand much) haha
Sort of like the famous Yahoo Answers query: "Has anyone ever been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?"
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100225111311A...
My main language is Spanish and when I speak with people practicing their Spanish I can usually understand them no matter their accent or how bad their pronunciation is. It has to be really bad for me not to understand them. The context of the conversation helps a lot too. But here in America say a word a bit off and people make a big deal out of it. C'est la vie.
After a while they all just become "language" and your mind handles it fine. But new people have such a hard time swapping between hearing the different languages.
But yeah some people are just jerks too.
To me Americans are focused on being PC while not dealing with the root cause. In the case of "fat" the root problems is that Americans tend to shame & hate those who are fat. It has become a negative stigma, but instead of attacking the root cause we have removed fat as an adjective and think that by removing the hateful term (hateful by usage not by definition) we have solved the problem.
In "western" (not just American) cultures, calling somewhat fat is basically calling them gluttonous or lazy (both among the 7 deadly sins).
I wonder if this is an inherent Chinese thing or a Maoist thing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Struggle_session
Your weight, your age and how much you earn are not taboo subjects in China, so people will bring them up in casual conversations.
>Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
"Except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted..."
Hundreds of thousands of Americans toil away in prisons as free labor due to "tough on crime" policies and the militarization of police forces. McDonald's, Whole Foods, Walmart, they all use prison labor where the prisoners get paid literally cents an hour and sometimes not at all.
There were big prison strikes and protests about it earlier this year - https://theintercept.com/2016/09/16/the-largest-prison-strik...
It's terrifying.
> People in China have
> put the cultural
> revolution behind them
In Japan, if you speak Japanese well, eventually they stop forgiving you as "oh, he's just a foreigner", and they hold you to similar standards. I.e. You should be careful how you express your opinion/thoughts to an elder.
Similarly, in China, it took me a bit to adjust to how direct Chinese people were about certain topics. For example, they will call you "fat" or call out many personal flaws that we would not do in America. (I know this is counter to the traditional thinking that Chinese are very withdrawn).
Similarly, with language, Japanese people will rarely call out any grammar/pronunciation error. Instead, they will ask a question, or give a gesture that you have to read into and infer from. Chinese people will call you out very directly, maybe even embarrass you in front of people to the point where you are too shy to speak. They don't mean it personal, they are just more open to this sort of direct personal criticism.
The author also mentioned jokes. I can relate to this, learning the language, let alone the culture is hard enough. Often times, humor is even harder as it requires a deep understanding of both language and culture.
Like the other said, the list goes on and on, but these things take so many years to adapt to and overcome. They are huge barriers to cultural integration.
I have a lot of respect for foreigners who even attempt to integrate with our culture (and vice versa).
p.s. I admit, I have gained some weight, so the criticism is deserved :)