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Gaijin 06 said:Didn't we have another thread discussing this, quite recently?
But post after post, you would just repeat the same things that Japan is not English-friendly because of your bas personal experiences since your arrived one month ago.
Then you call me condescending because I suggest that to solve your communication problems with the locals, you should not expect them to speak English and try to learn more Japanese
Gaijin 06 said:You were condescending, and arrogant. And you draw inane conclusions from no evidence whatsoever. You've done it again just now
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I have not had a single bad personal experience since I arrived. I really like Japan and have got on very well with pretty much everyone I met.
Gaijin 06 said:As a non-Dutch speaking, non-German speaking, non-Japanese speaking person I found it much easier to live in the EU than Japan. Why - very simple reason, already stated:
European languages share the same alphabet and origins - many of the words in one language are recognisable in another. So for an English speaking person, it is much easier to live in the EU than it is Japan.
Also, it seems more common to me for EU inhabitants to speak English as a secondary (or tertiary) language than it is for Japanese people to speak English.
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If I want to order from a menu, visit the barber, understand the pricing options on furniture in Tokyu Hands, understand a place name, understand what the words on the adverts in real estate agents windows mean etc etc I can confidently say that looking at the shape of the characters did me no good whatsoever.
All examples from my first month here.
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Are you seriously asserting than 1 in 3 Japanese people can hold a conversation in English? If so then I'm living in a different country to you.
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I read that before I came to Japan, but it really not applicable to how English-friendly this is again.
If I want to buy a bed, some shabu shabu, a hair cut, a mobile phone or rent an apartment I don't want to have to get to know the sales person, barber, waitress or realtor before they're confident enough to talk!
If most people who can speak English choose to refuse or are reluctant to - then it isn't very "English-friendly".
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Of course, the number of people who can speak English has a direct bearing on how English-friendly a country is. Kinda obvious really. If most stores, restaurants, barbers, bars etc had one person who could speak English then that would go a long way towards being "English-friendly" for me.
However this is not my experience at all, even in areas with a heavy alien population like Akasaka.
Gaijin 06 said:Not being able to verbally communicate with most people hasn't soured my experience in the slightest Maciamo. Yet again you are arrogant and condescending enough to tell me what I should be thinking!
The topic under disucssion was how English-friendly Japan is, not how Gaijin 06 has found Tokyo since he arrived. There are two unrelated topics, my good friend.
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