The One Thing I Can’t Stand About Teaching English in Japan (2019)

Post by Eisenstein » Sun, Apr 09, 2023, 8:26 PM UTC

oh_sigh wrote: post #32

FabHK wrote: post #24

> I prefer someone blunt and clear who will say what they mean. I don’t care if they don’t say it in the nicest of ways, as long as they say it. Speak your heart! If that's the author's preference (fair enough), then Japan is not the right place for them (in that respect). Intercultural Communication 101. Either learn to deal with it and stop taking it personally, or move somewhere else. (Or, sure, go on a one-person…

And the fact is Japanese people have no problem understanding what people are really saying. Things can be bluntly stated in Japanese even if their direct transliteration isn't blunt in English.

Post by copperx » Sun, Apr 09, 2023, 8:42 PM UTC

ambicapter wrote: post #58

seandoe wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do they say if they are really sick, can't make the lesson, and will indeed contact you later?

GP mentioned it; they apologize profusely.

Post by huijzer » Sun, Apr 09, 2023, 8:48 PM UTC

robwwilliams wrote: post #69

timr wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not true. There's no magical bat-signal that only Japanese people can read, and there are lots of contexts that even Japanese people talk about as ridiculously subtle to the point of fiendishness (funny example: I think it's at Bishamon-do temple in Kyoto, where there's a room that was used to "greet" guests who had no chance of meeting with anyone of importance -- the way you "knew" this was because the fusum…

This is a wise comment and even applies along the north-south gradient in the USA. My family moved from New Haven CT (Yankee land) to Memphis TN—the latter being the heart of the South or the buckle of the Bible Belt. In Memphis if you ask a question or invite some one over to a party and they answer “I’ll try” that is a very polite and standard version of “Hell no”. We have lived here 34 years and I am still catchin…

Post by dudeinjapan » Sun, Apr 09, 2023, 8:54 PM UTC

throwaway426079 wrote: post #65

dudeinjapan wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is actually a great solution to the problem.

From your username I figure you might know: are any other services sold this way in Japan? I ask because if not then it's going to be difficult to go first. If yes, any idea how it influences behaviour?

Post by freitzkriesler2 » Sun, Apr 09, 2023, 9:00 PM UTC

izzydata wrote: post #45

freitzkriesler2 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you go to school in Japan? If not, then did it not occur to you that a Japanese student studying abroad would need either a work permit or a marriage visa to stay? She probably was expecting you to propose and since you didn't she left because she had to.

I went to school in the US and she is not actually from Japan. Both her parents were from Japan though despite her being born in the US. It could be a coincidence and have nothing to do with this Japanese cultural phenomenon, but it seemed pretty relevant to what I experience.