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In tokyo should i use english or japanese? 2015/3/31 01:07
I can speak english at a advanced level and japanese at intermediate level
im gonna travel to japan for maybe around 2 weeks..i am scared to talk japanese but on the other hand i wanna practice japanese too
but i got told as a white person you will be ignored if you speak japanese and everyone will talk english back anyway in hotels shops street etc
is that true?
should i talk japanese or english?
by Kimberley22  

Re: In tokyo should i use english or japanese? 2015/3/31 13:16

If I were you, I would not hesitate to speak Japanese.
by lostintranslation (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: In tokyo should i use english or japanese? 2015/3/31 13:27
Your impression will be revalued as you speak in Japanese no matter what standard of speaking you are. I recommend you to speak in Japanese.
Some Japanese people might respond you in English this is because they speak fast Japanese thus foreign visitors don't understand what they said.
by tokyo friend 48 rate this post as useful

Re: In tokyo should i use english or japanese? 2015/3/31 13:42
English only enough most at/for airport train bus hotel shopping and more
but some basic Japanese phrases make u happy.
Thank you! is Arigatou! and more.
https://youtu.be/NuK3nRXulGs

Use Google translate apps for iPhone/iPad helpful 3 ways by text,voice and camera.
https://youtu.be/uDqO8uCsD10
Also younger Japaese bring smartphone(iPhone or) usual no worry.
https://youtu.be/FWDpu0CDfHk
by Maon (guest) rate this post as useful

Re: In tokyo should i use english or japanese? 2015/3/31 13:51
If I were you, I would speak Japanese if I wanted to :)

Having said that. I can share my non-Japanese husband's experience, he has been living in Japan for more than 20 years. He is and looks northern European (and I am Japanese). In his daily life around where we live, he simply uses Japanese with the neighbors, shopkeepers, etc. And everyone answers back in Japanese. But when we go to somewhat touristy places, like Asakusa and similar places, we've had experience of: (1) him asking in Japanese a policeman for directions to a somewhat difficult-to-get place, and the policeman happily tried to answer in his broken English, which we had a bit of difficulty understanding. He wouldn't even look at me. We put it down to his enthusiasm and kindness :). (2) someone walking right up to him and asking him if he could practice speaking English with him - which he did just for a while, and the guy said thank you and walked on after a while.

So... you might bump into people who prefer to answer in English, but that is out of consideration - valid or not - that you "might" be struggling with Japanese. And it is not that your Japanese is being "ignored" :)
by AK rate this post as useful

Re: In tokyo should i use english or japanese? 2015/3/31 20:50
There's also the situation of people just really wanting to take advantage of the chance to use the English they've been studying.

In my experience, 99% of the time people are super happy about being able to conduct the transaction in Japanese, and will readily make the encounter Japanese-only. But even when you get the person who will only use English with you, you can always just keep using Japanese with them; I have yet to meet someone who seemed upset with that.
by Harimogura (guest) rate this post as useful

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