Gov't to consider Japanese language ability as requirement for long-stay foreigners

Zombie threads rise again! Perhaps we should have a time-limit on inactive threads to prevent this kind of silliness from happening again, or I might find myself arguing against my past self!

nyouyaku said:

Because Japanese people do not tend to expect gaijin to learn Japanese. I do not disagree that they should expect it, but culturally that is not not the reality for what I have seen in Japan that is why.

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Any country with a national language has a right to expect people seeking permanent residence or citizenship to at least attempt to learn the language, your perception of the common man's expectation of your language skills notwithstanding.

I did learn a lot while I was in Japan. I did not know that Japan had a homeless problem and NEETs that are unmotivated to work. I used to think that all Japanese people were hard workers, and they had too much pride to be homeless. When I went there, my eyes were opened up for the first time.
It's okay, I learn as I go along.

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What on earth does this have to do with language acquisition and immigration? Is there an actual discussion left in this horse carcass or can we lock down the thread already?