As visually obvious foreigner, I come across many イングリッシュメニュー。。 Interactions and so on. But I’d like to talk about the times that I get that initial response but start speaking in Japanese and everything goes by normally.
I guess the reason that I decided to post this was based on interaction I had today where I completely fumbled my words, and the staff just waited, and responded in full Japanese. They didn’t even tone down the keigo, they kept it on script, if anything, the most different thing they may have done was gestures.
It’s nice to be recognized that you can understand, even if you mess up, and I’d like to know others similar experiences.
29 comments
Is it the staff that speaks Japanese or the staff that speaks zero English and refuses to go off script no matter what? Either way, I’m glad you appreciate someone.
Back when I was still learning the language, staff would sometimes switch to English. My thought was, “fuck you for trying to help me”.
No, I’m obviously joking. My thought was “well, this is a sign that their English is better than my Japanese. I’ve still got some studying to do. But not here. I’m here to buy something, not for a Japanese lesson”
live in the inaka, honestly i look 100 percent gaijin and they talk to me in japanese normally
i rarely get told nihongo jouzu, havent even lived here for a year 🤣
but when i went to tokyo some people would translate or speak english since they cant tell if im a tourist or resident
it happens time to time not out of malicious intent
As a _non_ ‘visually obvious foreigner’ (aka light skinned Asian) I shall offer you this story from my side of things;
I’ve once asked for an English menu early on in my time here, and the waitress brought it to me, lingered for my order and then said “are you practicing your English? You’re really working hard, huh!” 😭😭
*who know
My best experience in Japan was when I got into a taxi and the driver spoke to me like I was Japanese. Didn’t do the usual 日本語は上手 crap. Was just small talk like he would with any Japanese customer. Best day of my life.
That I can relate to but I’m also quite chill. Think about it, how many foreigners Japanese staff encounter on a daily basis? Among them, what’s the percentage of tourists who knows nothing more than arigao gozaimusu? I get why they switch to English when they spot obvious foreigners.
I don’t care if they kept speaking Japanese to me because they don’t know English. I appreciate every service worker who continued talking to me in Japanese despite my very broken conversation skills, esp those who slowed down and started using simpler words with me. Gives me that tiny bit of confidence boost in my studying journey.
Since the foreign tourists have returned, I’ve had more encounters where staff is pleasantly surprised I speak Japanese than anyone being rude or obtuse about it. “…tax free?” No, actually I want to use this line coupon.
I genuinely wonder where you guys go that everyone tries to use English with you all the time. The only time I have experienced it is when going to large chains in tourist-heavy locations which is rare because I hate tourists.
Funny, I was getting a taxi from hotaka to wasabi farm and back and on the way back we were having a random ass convo in English where I thought in the middle of nowhere I wouldn’t encounter that, let alone an elderly taxi bloke
One time I (very obviously foreign) was ordering bubble tea with my Japanese partner and it went rather unexpectedly. I ordered first, he was paying so she asked him if it was a to go order or not. For some reason he was saying “takeout” so I just told the lady 持ち帰り and after that she directed the conversation to me and handed me the receipt at the end. Usually when I’m ordering with a Japanese person around the staff completely ignore me but this time the cashier decided I was the one who knew what was up. It was beautiful 😂.
The only people who initiate conversations with me in Japanese are the slightly ボケた grandmas in the countryside. Feels good
Wtf is with this? I can speak japanese and been to many places. Everytime everyone spoke to me as if I’m japanese. Many times I had to slow them down and tell them my japanese isn’t that good so please espeak slowly and with easy words, then they smile and say “i thought you Japanese was good sorry, i will tune my japanese down don’t worry.” How do you guys keep finding people who act as if you don’t know japanese? The only encounter i can mention is an old lady in convinience store. I was working at register, lady comes to me and looks up the payment methods chart, sees paypay logo and proceeds to try to pay her electric bill with paypay “as if she had never paid electricity bill before.” I tell her that it’s not possible to pay it with paypay, she shows me the logo, i tell her that, those payment methods are available for normal products, what you’re trying to pay “denkidai” can only be paid in cash. She loses her mind, at this point. Says she doesn’t understand what I’m talking about. Whatever, she pays with cash and gets out. I ask my co-worker “was my japanese bad or not understandable?” He says no I would’ve used the same sentence he says, that lady probably didn’t want to understand your japanese so that’s why she ignored your words, which i believe was the case.
As for speaking English to me even though i can speak japanese.. only one teacher did this to me during my visit to the local junior HS. And tbh, i totally get it, if I met someone from other countries in Turkey, i would try to speak English with them even though they can speak Turkish because a- they have many opportunities to speak turkish with many people on a dalily basis anyway. b- i don’t have many chances to speak English to a foreigner. It’s just basic human behavior i don’t understand why people get the urge to post things as “even though I know japanese better than the emperor himself, this lady at konbini talked to me in English? How dare them?”
Chill out dudes
At this point I tend to just ignore whichever menu I was given. If they give me an English menu and I’m feeling like speaking in Japanese. I’ll just order in Japanese but pronounce all the menu items like a Japanese person would when reading an English menu. They tend to switch to Japanese after that.
What I liked about Japan was miming and general pointing and we all knew what we wanted. Very rarely use Google translate.
Had no problems at hair dressers or nail salons.
Watched Japanese friends getting lost on subways and having a woeful time with the menu lol
I appreciate these instances as well, but on the other end of the spectrum, when people use a word I am not familiar with, they repeat it slowly. Lol, say it in the span of an hour, I still won’t know what it means!
does it bother you when someone offers you an english menu?
I think everyone makes such a big issue out of this.
I find this is the way it usually happens for me. It’s the rule, and the exception is someone trying to talk in English.
And I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I’m in Gunma. We don’t get lots of tourists here, so restaurants aren’t used to giving customer service to people who don’t understand Japanese. Even if I’m at a table full of my foreigner friends the staff just give their speech in normal Japanese.
I notice staff try to use English a lot more with me If I go into Tokyo or somewhere. And that makes sense.they see more foreigners, and more foreigners that can’t speak Japanese, so the default is to assume foreigners speak English.
My Japanese is so out of practice, but I always tried to speak whenever I could. Everyone assumed I could speak Japanese and spoke to me normally, until I got a full Japanese menu and hovered my phone to use Google translate, that’s when they rush over with an English menu.
There were times where I asked if they could speak English (in Japanese) in case I had a complicated question, but I end up conversing with them in Japanese the whole time anyway. Had a staff in Starbucks say in Japanese “Ah, your Japanese is good” but not in a Nihongo Jouzu way and I was so happy.
I’m half Japanese yet everyone thinks I’m just an American based off my looks/the way I dress. Once I start speaking Japanese however, most can realize I don’t have an accent based off my voice and things aren’t as complicated. It’s just annoying dealing with Conbini workers who constantly try to test your Japanese by seeing if you can say “one bag please”. Like just ask me if I need a bag or not and 95% of the time it’ll be “yes please”. Just one scenario being judged plainly by appearance.
I’ve noticed a lot more service industry staff outside of Tokyo, Kyoto, or popular tourist destinations starting with Japanese and only changing in it’s obvious that Japanese doesn’t work and IT’S AMAZING.
Yes, agree.
What I both hate and amuses me (but it seems to happen less frequently nowadays) are those people that can’t connect the concept of an obvious foreigner speaking Japanese, and when you ask about something (in Japanese), start their weired sign language, often with open mouth and a dumb expression on their face. When it happens, I mostly say, in Japanese, “could you use words please?” but this particular breed don’t register and look even more confused with “syntax error” all over their faces.
I’m a middle age white guy who’s lived in Japan since I was about 10.
I’ve always found it positive when people speak English to me, right off the bat. I mean, it’s fucking Japan. A LOT of countries, they’ll straight up shit on you if you don’t speak the language, or ask for an English menu…LOL.
I went to a Korean fried chicken place the other day for lunch. In Japanese (even though every word is a loan word) I asked for (and pointed to) the yangyum chicken lunch set. Staff asked if I wanted the lunch set? Hai. With soup? Hai. With salad? Hai. With rice? Hai. (It comes with all of these and has been my regular order for the last 3 years) Do I want only the chicken? … … Quizzical look.. … He gets another staff member who asks me to type my order in the smart phone so they can translate it… I tell her, the yangyum chicken lunch set, she turns around and relays that to the original server… Who now understands…
You need to think from their perpective. For them, their definition of ”making something easier to understand”, doesn’t always mean to slow down or use easier Japanese, cause they dunno what’s ”easy japanese”. So in their mind, the solution is to repeat the same thing until you get it.
I’ve heard countless times this happening to foreigners. To the point of the japanese person’s brain shutting off and completely refusing to accept the japanese words coming out of your mouth.
Funnily enough, this never happened to me though. I’m currently living in Kyoto, but the one month I’ve spent living in Tokyo was the same. There were lots of times where they kindly tried to speak some not so basic words in English so I could understand. But whenever I talked in japanese, they followed. And my japanese is horrible, mind you.
Edit: Actually, there was one time, when I went to Akihabara, where I was approached fully in English by some seller. But when I accepted entering the store and started talking with them in japanese, they also changed to japanese with no problem.
I’m mexican, but I think maybe I look vaguely asian because I have never been spoken to in English unless I didn’t understand something and they can see I’m confused.