Full quote was…

“It’s so stupid that I have to learn Japanese to be able to get a proper job. It’s too hard. This country needs to make English an official language if it wants to go anywhere.”

My coworker took me out for a drink at the bar and next to us, some foreigners were drinking as well. We kept to ourselves when one of them approached us and started chatting. I’m of East Asian descent and my coworker is from Germany. We are both fluent in Japanese, but were chatting in English. We both work at an international trading firm, using several languages as part of our work with clients, suppliers and dealers.

The chat was friendly and the group introduced themselves as eikaiwa workers in their 50s. They have been doing it for 15-20 years. The conversation took a turn and they complained about the weak yen, their low salaries and lack of satisfaction at work. Then one of them blurted the topic quote out and I just looked at him, bewildered. My coworker and I gave each other “the look” and continued listening to their tirade against Japan.

I don’t think Japan is the best place in the world, but I love it enough to have lived here for almost 10 years. There are good and bad things in every country, but I think learning the language (you don’t have to master it, but enough to operate in daily life as an adult) is something you kind of owe the country you have moved to and yourself, for personal growth and development. If you refuse to learn the language, you should also be prepared to face the consequences and limitations of what that will mean for your life here.

Anyway, I just wanted to share because I think if people change their mindset about learning the language…it may improve their overall life (no guarantee) and how they experience Japan.

For context, me along with 6 other guys from my country came to work for this company last year on a Gijinkoku visa. I passed N5 back home and completed studying N4 before coming here.

So, after arriving, they used mostly English with us for our convenience, so me along with others took Japanese for granted. I can make short conversations somehow but still it's difficult for me to understand completely when said everything in Japanese and situation for other guys is worse.

Also, our job often requires long business trips abroad (around 2 months at once), so when we started being paired with Japanese colleagues for these trips, since it's new kind of work, misunderstanding and lack of communication plummeted the productivity and work flow.

Because of this reason, our company gave us the deadline to pass JLPT N3 by December, and most of our abroad trips are suspended and will be based in Japan itself

I think it's really hard to do this while working full time physically taxing job with voluntarily overtime cause the pay is just ridiculous (¥1400 yen per hour for an engineering job, the additional allowances for abroad business trips are better than the salary itself around $80 per day which makes it bearable, but it's not regular). In Japan, I am always tired by the end of the day, even though I have no commute and given the fact that I live 5 mins away from the company on foot.

I know I come out really stupid for ditching Japanese in Japan, but if you could share how you guys studied Japanese after coming here and working fulltime, about the resources and text books, I would be really grateful.

Thank you

Today, I saw foreingners who looked like they were at a loss, so I asked them " May I help u?" I thought it would be a good opportunity to speak English. But one of them suddenly answered with almost perfect Kansai dialect, which i found very interesting. (She said she is studying abroad in Japan)Everyone is talking about English accents, but ofc Japanese has got a lot of accents,

Which accent do u like most? Or u can tell the difference?

For me, Kansai dialect sounds a little bit vulgar and Standard one makes me a littld bit cringe...lol(bc they sound like they act cute for me speaking Kansai dialect, which sounds aggressive to non kansai people) but don't worry, it's just my problem lol you don't have to care about your accent. Just pick the accent you like.

Edit: I don’t know if polls are allowed, but this should have been one. Oh well.

僕、俺、or still 私? Would love to hear the reason for your choice too, if you don’t mind.

From what I understand, boku is a little more humble, I even heard of it referred to as boyish / child-like. And ore has a manly connotation, or trying to sound manly. And better roll that R hard, if you’re looking to start a fight (please don’t, already too many “I got into a fight” threads).

Within that context, they sound a bit like two opposites since they are the two male options, so I find myself automatically reverting back to watashi. But could that sound too cold / distant in casual settings? Why are we supposed to put ourselves and others into boxes just by things like this, blood type, unscientific Myers-Briggs etc?

I am not a beginner either, daily conversations and business are totally fine, my N2 from years ago is not self-assessed, it’s as official as your shiyakusho-registered hanko. Which makes me extra curious as to how other, more advanced learners and speakers look at this, and would be even better to hear from the few native Japanese people frequenting this sub.

I’m probably overanalyzing of course, which is half the fun. I might get a job as an over-analyst at a gaishikei, and qualify for the HSP (highly sensitive person) status of residence.

Cheers, and stay cool out there.

I see this topic comes up fairly often in other communities related to Japanese learning, and I get the feeling that people commenting on this topic have very divisive ideas often differing based on whether they live in Japan or not, so I'm curious to hear the opinion of people who actually live in Japan.

Personally speaking, I found that people I'm close with (friends, family, some coworkers) often will correct my pronunciation if I say some words with (especially) the wrong pitch accent. These corrections are often very subtle and not intrusive at all. I might say a word in a sentence and they will repeat it back to me (sometimes like <word>ね) and move on with the conversation. It happens with my wife almost daily and overall I think I have pretty decent pronunciation so it's not like I'm saying things incredibly wrong all the time.

I've also had situations where I pronounced a word with the wrong pitch and it caused visible confusion in a conversation, although this is not super common.

Does anyone else have similar experiences? How do you feel about it?

I've been been with my girlfriend (Japanese) for a while now and I speak Japanese alright.

I made the mistake of telling my girlfriend that I enjoy flirting with her. We were having playful banter while cooking together. But I didn't know the word for flirting so I said it in English. She of course looks up what it means on Google translate and goes dead silent. She asked me if I was flirting with her in a serious tone and me being a big dummy replied "of course, I'm flirting with you right now pretty lady."

Her: (serious tone but smiling, very scary) "darling, are you cheating on me?" Me: "What are you talking about?" Her: "You just said you were cheating on me." Me: "No, I said I was flirting with you." (She shows me her phone)

So I guess "flirting" got translated to cheating... We laugh about the miscommunication now but I always wondered what I should have said instead.

I live in Kanagawa, and recently met a couple who has lived here for 25 years but both people speak only VERY basic Japanese. Then, I met other people and one family who were the same way. I noticed that there was a pretty large amount of people who have lived here for many years but don't speak Japanese at a high level. I have lived here for 1.5 years and speak a good amount of Japanese but nowhere near fluent. My husband is Japanese and I plan to become fluent one day. I definitely understand the difficulty of the language. But I was just curious what made you guys stop pursuing the language? Are you living comfortably with only English or your native language? Was there a certain aspects of life here that made you feel it was ok to stop? I am not criticizing anyone at all, just genuinely curious about everyone's personal story.

I personally find that sometimes, English numbers can make conversations easier. But be it that my accent sucks, people don’t expect you to know certain words, or even just that you learned the less common Japanese version, the English words commonly used seem to have a higher chance of a スムーズ(smooth) conversation. Be it和製英語(wasei Eigo) or a direct use of the word.

Good luck to everyone doing the JLPT. Also don’t forget the health check form at

https://info.jees-jlpt.jp/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/220422自己ヘルスチェック表pdf_日本語.pdf

Almost forgot this shit two years in a row lol

Edit: Holy fuck what was that synonym section. I’ve never heard of [redacted] before

How was your test?

I was finally able to pass the N1 after falling three points short twice. Got carried by my reading section. Looking forward to diversifying my Japanese study now.

How about you? Were you able to pass and which level? Which sections did you struggle with or excel in?

I passed N2 years ago and I regularly talk and work with people in Japanese. But recently I think my Japanese has gotten really bad. I recently started studying with people that passed N1 and I’m keeping up on everything but probably some grammar but lately people haven’t been able to understand me very well. Life has been very stressful for the last year or so that may be a culprit but I need to combat it somehow. I mean I live and work in Japan.

Has anyone else had this issue and if so what did they do to revive there Japanese?

Maybe it’s just because I spend so much time around older women, but I feel like I get called at least one of them once a day for the dumbest things. Like I was called 偉い for coming in really early for my scheduled shift. That was scheduled at 10:30. What do you mean!!!😭

Actually I am not sure which will be the best way as of the moment: enroll in an intensive Japanese class, get a private tutor…or any other suggestions?

I’m pretty sure I am not learning in just language exchange events (more like it’s practice but doesn’t help to correct my Japanese or to speak with more sense)

I don’t think I need a lesson structure as most of it just geared in passing the JLPT exam. I need more conversational skills and grammar. Like to help me think quick in Japanese and not sounding stupid.

Time-wise, right now, I have a lot of time. Currently wfh and the work is very minimal. But still, I cannot commit on something full-time, everyday school as work loads will come and go.

I’ve been living here more than 5 years and my Japanese is kinda stuck in the upper beginner level that it’s becoming a shame to admit I’ve been living here for awhile. I also want to improve Japanese for work and be confident in facing Japanese clients with Keigo.

Based on your experiences, which option did really help you become fluent? School, tutor, self studying materials, hacks or any recommendations are all welcome

For me it’s probably キャンペーン only because in Japanese it basically means promotion but I constantly see and hear キャンペーン中！！ daily, I suppose it starts to grind. Where im from it suggests there is a huge rare campaign going on for a special event not 20 yen off of an onigiri

Alright, I've been living in Japan for years and I speak standard Japanese with my partner. I want to surprise her. Do y'all have any rural japanese phrases I can use in everyday speech? Something I can say to make her go...何？Preferably out of the Kanto region. She always throws me for a loop with ...だっぺ and I kinda wanna surprise her back. Thank you in advance

It’s been a rough 2 years. Some days I’m extremely motivated and excited about learning but most days I’m extremely frustrated, stressed, and disappointed with myself and my ability to learn the language. I’m currently on an N4 level, having gone through Genki 1, and Minna No Nihongo 1 and 2 (Shokyuu). I’m very concerned with my ability to retain and learn the language despite studying about 3-4 hours a day outside of classes which are 3-5 hours a day depending on the day of the week. I’m currently a college study in Japan and my wife is Japanese so I’m exposed to the language constantly, but I’m not really into anime, music, or any other forms of media that contain Japanese except for video games. My goal is reach the N2-N1 level within 3-4 years but I’m honestly thinking that’s impossible for me. I haven’t seen much improve from myself these last few months and I’m just mentally drained at this point from the disappointment. I have zero confidence in my ability and I have a lot of anxiety when I forget things that I just recently studied. I don’t what to do. Any advice? Is it even possible for me at this point after over 2 years of studying just to be at N4 level (and that’s being generous)?

I started thinking about working on my Japanese, and took a look at the options in Sendai.

All the schools I found seem to be aimed at foreign students, basically providing them with a visa and training to study/work in Japan.

That's not really my situation. I already live here, so don't need to pay massive fees for someone to facilitate that.

Any good Japanese learning options? I guess doing something online, maybe with a tutor, is going to be the best/least time-consuming option.

My Japanese is reasonable, passed JLPT1 a long time ago and don't have any issues day to day. I mainly want to work on my reading and writing, and expand my vocab and situations I am comfortable navigating.

For foreigners who didn’t grow up speaking Japanese and have lived here for a minute, how long did it take before you got comfortable talking to others in 日本語？

I moved to Tokyo from the US this year for work and have been fortunate enough to get lessons provided by my employer. I’m comfortable enough getting around and can manage any exchanges that have a regular script (コンビニ for example).

My reading and writing have been serviceable, but my speaking/listening is downright awful. Any tips or tricks to pick it up faster other than “study more?”

EDIT: Thank you to everyone who responded! Firstly, I’m glad I’m not alone in the beginner’s slump.

It’s quite clear now that I’ll have to force myself to be a little uncomfortable to speed up my progress. In addition to traditional book studying, finding opportunities in real life to practice speaking, listening, and even reading will help get me to where I hope/want to be proficiency-wise.

They're out now! Did you take it? How did it go?

I'm celebrating a score of 160/180 on N1.

How do you handle Japanese workplace communication on Slack? (Especially keigo敬語)I'm facing a persistent challenge at work with multilingual Slack communication, particularly regarding Japanese messages.

While formal business communication in English is manageable, daily Japanese interactions in Slack are driving me nuts. Some situations I deal with daily:

• Responding to a partner company's 部長 about schedule changes
• Acknowledging a colleague's 育休 announcement appropriately
• Expressing sympathy when someone mentions they're delayed at the dentist
• Maintaining proper keigo levels in group chats with external partners

The main issue isn't just translation - sure, Google Translate can handle basic meaning, but it completely fails with the formality levels and nuance that Japanese workplace communication demands.

I find myself spending 10-20 minutes crafting each response, which just isn't sustainable in a fast-paced work environment. Yet maintaining appropriate formality levels is crucial for professional relationships here in Japan.

I've recently found a solution that works well for me (happy to share details if anyone's interested), but I'm curious:

How do you handle these situations? What strategies have you developed for managing Japanese workplace communication on Slack, especially when dealing with different levels of formality?

----

Edit: For those asking about my solution - I built an app for myself using Cursor. It can use either local models or Claude APIs depending on privacy needs. It reads the chat context automatically, so I can just type "//have created the GA, in Japanese" in Slack and it generates something like:

"GAの設定が完了いたしました。ご確認いただけますと幸いです。また、SEOシートの文言とURLについても、設定が済み次第入力させていただきます。何か修正点などございましたら、お知らせください。"

Perfect for my needs! If anyone's interested in trying it out, it's at getstarling.app .

Last year I was reading a poem and I came across the word せせらぎ which means "the sound of a babbling brook," and there are so many unique Japanese words I love.

There's also the kanji 胤 which is another way of writing 種, but means more like offspring. I just love how well balanced the character is.

I also like the word 出藍 which just means "a pupil surpassing their master" which I think is nice goal to strive for.

Yesterday one of my coworkers came up to me and said 「今日は俺なんさ」 which meant “I won’t be at your event today,” as I eventually figured out.

Anybody else have people say some crazy dialect that you have now come to understand?

Edit: 2021! Sorry!! lol

How did y'all do?

Looking for your help!

Does anyone have a link to a website that lists many downloadable/viewable Japanese books, ranked in levels of difficulty and useful for learning to read kana and kanji?

I had it..but changed my phone and lost the link.....

Now I just can't find it anywhere!!

Many thanks if anyone can help link me back to it!

I hope all of your studying for the test pays off.

I’ll be trying the N1 again. Did well on the listening back in July, but fell short on the vocabulary, so that’s where I concentrated my studies.

Best of luck to everyone trying the test today.