91–100 of 287 posts
It's kind of ironic how much he generalises Japanese people. See bad thing - link to Japanese people as a whole or in general, rather than the individual. It's an easy mistake to make. Especially if you do ever hear it in the inverse direction. "Foreigners do X or Y", etc. If he aimed to replace generic instances of 'Japanese people' or 'in Japan' with specific reference to the instance or person, I think he'd have h…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It seems that he is serious. You knew that already. Perhaps you disagree? Perhaps you can present your own findings and contribute to the discussion? Based on my own fairly limited experience in Japan, English as learned in school doesn't seem to translate (a ha ha) into effective English conversation. It seems that an academic rigor is taught (no bad thing, of course) but practical conversation skills are neglected.
I find the attitude of people from English-speaking countries that the rest of the world should speak fluent English quite puzzling. It is understandable if you are a professional dealing with foreign companies, or if you are involved in the tourism business; that leaves out the vast majority of the population, which is not willing to invest hundreds of hours learning a skill that does not provide any significant ben…
Now that I think about it, in the UK the comedy archetype of an idiot going abroad who expects everyone to speak English is well-known and a figure of fun. Which would suggest that people broadly don't expect everyone overseas to speak English.
I would be curious to know how many people in US or UK consider themselves fluent in a foreign language for a class they took for a few years in middle/high school.
I certainly remember enough of my schooldays French (last lesson would have been about 22 years ago) to ask simple questions, give directions, interact with shopkeepers, ask people how their day went, that sort of thing. I do not consider myself fluent. Of course, living and working in the UK, I do get opportunity to use it every so often, which helps a lot I expect.
I can understand, bicyclists are fucking annoying, and most of the time they are putting themselves and others in danger. For me, the road is no place for a bicyclist. And, as you can see, there's no possible debate in the west: you have to have bicyclists, otherwise you're a backwards asshole. And I have to live with that, because that's society: you have to deal with people who don't think the way you do. (You just…
Sounds like Japanese are happy with their culture and don't want it changed especially not by foreigners. It seems like a reasonable enough position, but I wonder if there a way to express this desire in a way that couldn't easily be criticized as being "xenopohbic"? Is there something inherently wrong with this attitude? (I personally wouldn't want to be a foreigner living there is what he describes is true, but no…
If the culture is good, no. If the culture is bad, yes.
White text on black background - what a horrible choice of colours. Cannot read it for more than 3 minutes.
The police situation is something I've never heard of from colleagues who have lived in Japan (5 years ago); is this a recent development?
The diversity of apparently sincerely expressed experience on this and most other matters in TFA, makes me wonder whether one's attitude isn't a major contributor to one's treatment.
I can understand, bicyclists are fucking annoying, and most of the time they are putting themselves and others in danger. For me, the road is no place for a bicyclist. And, as you can see, there's no possible debate in the west: you have to have bicyclists, otherwise you're a backwards asshole. And I have to live with that, because that's society: you have to deal with people who don't think the way you do. (You just…
Hey fuck heads I could give a shit if I kill you when you run a red. If you don't want to be killed don't run red lights, I don't do it and I have a 4x4.
Also if I'm in the right lane with my turn signal on it means I'm turning right, don't try to pass me in the slow lane fuck wit.
Sounds like Japanese are happy with their culture and don't want it changed especially not by foreigners. It seems like a reasonable enough position, but I wonder if there a way to express this desire in a way that couldn't easily be criticized as being "xenopohbic"? Is there something inherently wrong with this attitude? (I personally wouldn't want to be a foreigner living there is what he describes is true, but no…
I heard the "if you don't like it, leave line" from people all the time in America. Even with the pettiest of political disagreements, people say it. So then I went to Japan and haven't received or heard of anyone receiving similar vitriol aside from the OP. A foreign coworker (same race and nationality as me) endlessly complains about racism, discrimination, and being stared at here. I've experienced none of it. I'm…
> It's just a matter of being on the other end of it now. Not quite. It's a different degree. When I was in Japan, for example, no Japanese person would start a conversation with me in Japanese. It was always English. That mostly doesn't happen to Asian residents in the US.
I can understand, bicyclists are fucking annoying, and most of the time they are putting themselves and others in danger. For me, the road is no place for a bicyclist. And, as you can see, there's no possible debate in the west: you have to have bicyclists, otherwise you're a backwards asshole. And I have to live with that, because that's society: you have to deal with people who don't think the way you do. (You just…
Cars kill far more people than bicycles, both absolute and per capita, so if that's your measure, then the road is no place for cars.
Danger is calculated in risk per mile, not per capita / absolute.
I drive a 4Runner because it has lots of steel and is very safe so that when my kids get into an accident learning to drive they don't die.