When a Foreigner Speaks Japanese in Japan

🏫Join my Patreon and learn Japanese more!
SUBSCRIBE NOW→ / bitesizejapanese1
💌 My Email magazine!
SIGN UP NOW→nihongolayla.podia.com/88e9b2...
🦄Instagram!
FOLLOW ME→ nihongo_layla?r...
⭐️TikTok!
FOLLOW ME→ www.tiktok.com/@nihongo_layla
🎙Podcast for beginners!
LISTEN NOW→anchor.fm/laylas-podcast
🎙Podcast for from intermediate to advanced learners!
LISTEN NOW→ / @the_bitesize_japanese...
🔽My website and all of my links🔽
nihongolayla.podia.com
【ABOUT ME】
Hi, I'm Layla from Japan! I'm so happy to be a part of your Japanese learning journey!!
I love sharing my language and culture with people from all over the world. I also love watching people study new languages. I learnt to speak English using Podcast and KZbin videos on my own. So now I really want to help Japanese learners to speak Japanese with my videos!!
いつもありがとう！これからよろしくね！
Layla
-----------------------------------
#nihongo
#日本語
#learnJapanese

[@sususs333]

If I was studying Japanese, this vid would discourage me from trying to speak

[@callmewhatever.7963]

You shouldn't be discouraged based on solely this. When learning a new language there's usually gonna be rude/ignorant people, so you just have to push through that and keep going. I mean it's not like those people are gonna do anything about it anyways 🤷‍♀️

[@kyletruskie966]

I’ve had it happen to me, and it was.

[@Luneth0]

It may happen, there is a higher chance if you’re with a native, they’ll just look for them to speak even if you speak perfectly They don’t mean to be rude (I think) They just don’t wanna mess something up or serve you something wrong (although that wouldn’t happen in a situation like the vid)

[@ariban]

Yah it happens to me a lot and I'm shy to speak it around people sometimes. But you gotta power through.

[@xLinksDreheRx]

@@SkyeAten rlly never ? happened to me 24/7 in japan. still happens to me regularly at work xD like the amount of times i ordered food and they brought the english menu to me to then still repeat the order in japanese and suddenly they got it ....

[@tacticalmisandrist]

“They won’t understand you” you mean they intentionally don’t understand you/pretend not to lmao

[@bartsimpson1161]

Generally they are processing your accent. I thought people in China were being rude af to me because no one understood my Chinese. Turns out my Chinese was just reallllllly bad. I'm much better now and don't have any problems. I assume Japanese is similar.

[@jxton_]

@@bartsimpson1161 but ive seen a lot of comments that his japanese / accent are really good so that may not be it

[@tacticalmisandrist]

@@bartsimpson1161 it’s pretty well known that Japanese people can be extremely xenophobic and rude to foreigners. I think it could go either way, but in this case the speakers accent is nearly identical to the native speaker so 🤷🏻‍♀️ Also Chinese has tones or whatever they’re called, making it verrrryyyy hard to speak it with a proper accent. Japanese doesn’t have that

[@dotdot2560]

I'm guessing it's the accent like how it happens when foreigners speak English

[@daano465]

@SilkandStones you mean they demand you to speak English in America?

[@griff7543]

15 yrs in Japan. It's not usually being rude. They see the foreigner, their brain desperately starts digging up half-remembered highschool English lessons but nothing you say sounds like the English they know. By the time they realize you're _not_ speaking English the situation has already escalated.

[@ghanaria7996]

Maybe say “ano…” first since it’s smth most japanese people say before speaking. Like using “ummm” in english.

[@reubenprasanth271]

Hello! Nice to meet you~ how do u bdo? 1 cheese caki pleasu

[@Prince.M00NBEAM]

In my country the Netherlands we have a similair "problem" alot of people who try to learn the language ( Dutch ) and they stumble alot of Dutch people will automatically switch to English, completely defeating the purpose of the person trying to learn. It is not done intentional but I have noticed this happen every time again over the years

[@jamegumb7298]

​@@Prince.M00NBEAM I do the same. Switch to French or German or English or Sranang or Papiamentu or Crioulo and not really notice the other side prefers not to.

[@marugav6632]

Imagine if you are not speaking English yourself. It would be funny because u are only fluent in ur native language and has Japanese communicational skills. They will be ao confused when you say "I don't speak English"

[@user-gb3vu5rv1m]

I am Japanese, but if the man in this video speaks Japanese as well as he does, I can understand him without any difficulty.

[@toddjohnson271]

I'm trying to learn mandarin. I'm sure I butcher it at my level. I am always super understanding to asians learning english.

[@Nezuji]

Yeah, as a foreigner in Japan, my experience has been that some Japanese people might be nervous about speaking to a foreigner, but once you start speaking OK Japanese, 99% of people will talk to you normally. There's just this 1% who see a foreign face and can't understand. I have spoken to people like this with no problem while they couldn't see my face, then when they saw I am a foreigner, suddenly they couldn't understand anything I said.

[@ayakosaito7323]

同感。こいつの発音はそんなに悪くないよ

[@r.8902]

@@Nezuji I would think it would be just surprise because I would bet that not many foreigners actually take the time to even learn the basics when they travel lol

[@gaddamjithendra8401]

I am learning Japanese Please help me friend

[@dennisengelen2517]

Say something rude and they'll understand you perfectly fine.

[@cristianking13]

Urazai 🤣

[@AlexandreTateishi]

Once I was talking about namco games in a store and a woman got scared

[@Ludsama]

Isn't the case everywhere though? 😂

[@Ludsama]

@@AlexandreTateishi Everyone is scared of BANDAI NAMCO's monetizing practices, no surprise here 🤣

[@orangefruit9166]

Okay

[@jasmintea8825]

Thats the equivalent to when Americans tell you "wow your English is so good" although you've been living there since you were born 💀

[@dawniebug784]

Not quite. The mindset is more negative in this case. "Your English is so good" isn't the same as "I refuse to let you believe I understand you because in reality, I don't want foreigners learning Japanese". I had an old woman say "いってらしゃい!" as I biked past her on the street nowhere near houses and she didn't even know me. She told me she wished me safe travels.... but implied *out of her country*

[@Midnight_Star1021]

@@dawniebug784 ? How does safe travels imply out of my country?

[@Nerdle777]

This comment gives me flashbacks

[@cowbug7146]

@@dawniebug784 man she was just telling you to be safe😭

[@dawniebug784]

@@Midnight_Star1021 いってらしゃい is a phrase you only say when someone is leaving the house. That part is lost in translation.

[@gco2075]

Start by saying the magic intro word. "Hai eeetto/はいええっと" then say the name of the product. Always works like magic. I do it all the time. So in this case. Hai, eeetto, chiizu keiki onegai shimasu, would work perfectly. Eeetto is the word to switch Japanese people from English to a Japanese mode. You are welcome.

[@DatingDilemmaBreakdown]

Haha this made me laugh so hard and I bet it's true!

[@shophet125]

Papa bless. Thank you for sharing the secret.

[@theshisho]

ホワット エィ レジェンド！！

[@bgustinjr]

Went to Japan for the first time last month, can confirm this is true. Aa/Eto/Ano are like dog whistles to get the attention of native Japanese speakers. I don't mean that in any kind of rude way, I just mean when you say those words you get their attention automatically, like a reflex.

[@oz_jones]

Bless

[@bellgrand]

This is common in Japan. The locals do not expect you to be speaking their language. So they are trying to process what you are saying as English. Japanese is full of English loan words, so it's an easy mistake. On a side note, this can also happen in reverse. There may be the rare Japanese person who is confident enough to try to speak to you in their heavily accented Japanglish, and you might not immediately recognize that they are speaking in English.

[@shl0394]

Yeah I think this is exactly what happened here, dunno why many people in comment section take it in a more negative way.

[@d3l_nev]

It happened to me the other day, I was trying to understand something in english, and didn't understand anything, turns out it was spanish with accent, then I could understand everything.

[@nemesisnyr9494]

Not, it's just that they doesn't want to, it's easy to ear english from japanese

[@Rabbi_Rabbs]

I'm a Band-Maid fan, and that description of their "Japanglish" is spot on.

[@kaeltkottmir]

Now i'm understand about this issue, it's about the accent and foreigners tone which locals get surprised and hard to understand

[@liliopetale]

For those who didn't get it : Some Japanese deliberately do not understand foreigners who speak fluent Japanese because they do not look like Asian-

[@JAIRMOREN0]

What if I look asian but have a strong accent?

[@irsyadamir4166]

Oohh i thought it because was because they dont understand because of the intonation or whatnot, its the same when my friend tried to try speak malaysian with me for the first time and can only roughly understand him lol

[@Fellapart]

What, didn't they meant to say some foreigners have deep hard accent which is not understandable for the natives

[@flowflower2816]

@@irsyadamir4166 his pronunciation was actually very well, he even pronounced the Japanesed English words like the Japanese do

[@flowflower2816]

@@Wcrklmn you must be horrible at Japanese then

[@tortellinifettuccine]

In my experience, they try to do this, but I immediately tell them I know what they're doing and that it's embarrassing for them, and they suddenly understand me perfectly

[@Pandolcee]

Bro imma do that next time 💀

[@brandicunningham7243]

May I ask a situation in which you respond? I'm going to Japan for Christmas and speak it conversationally. I have a friend as a local guide, but I'm trying my best to speak it fluently.

[@madeofcastiron]

pro gamer move. i seriously admire your determination and confidence.

[@naevisx]

I thought the video was an exaggeration damn 💀 good for u tho I would start crying on the spot lmao

[@erenjaegar2905]

My boys a menace to Japanese society🤣

[@Yuki-qh3zt]

His Japanese is 100% understandable😅

[@AThreat2Democracy]

What the video's pointing out is what's called, Japanese bullshit.

[@SMCwasTaken]

¿Hablas Español?

[@electrictroy2010]

THE Japanese seem picky about pronunciation. I said “anime” like an American and my Japanese friend didn’t understand. I then said “ahhh-neee-may” and she finally understood. Told me she loves it. When I hear a foreigner speaking incorrectly-accented english, I can still hear what they’re saying. It isn’t difficult, but Japanese seem unwilling to try, even if pronunciation is slightly off .

[@FrankBrennosTheGreatest]

@@electrictroy2010 To be fair that's not typically Japanese. I speak English as a second language with close to no accent and yet if I slightly mispronounce a word, suddenly many people seem unable to understand me. At first I thought it was my fault but then eventually I realized it wasn't. Many people seem unable to guess what you're trying to say from context alone.

[@andresleon2293]

the joke is that he didnt say please, or onegaishimasu, did you get it?

[@DentyOne]

I can't tell you how helpful this video is. I already suffer from crippling social anxiety and I have a tremendous fear of being misunderstood. Now I know that I will certainly experience panic attacks in Japan. Thanks!

[@france-gall]

learn how to cuss them out and they'll understand you real good.

[@TopAnimeLoverEver]

I too have a lot of social anxiety, but honestly poointing at the menu or just whipping out google trsnslate (SMALL WORDS AND PHRASES ONLY. I cannot explain enough to you how WRONG google translate will get long sentences. It lacks context, proper formality vs. Informality, and the order of sentences. And just words in general. But short things like "where to buy hat?" And "one cheesecake please" will help a lot. I got around perfectly fine with my limited Japanese and barely speaking much of it both times I went. They are generally very helpful too, and not too judging, so I never felt much anxiety there as opposed to America. Only once, and that was because of my own malfunction. I felt embarrassed because I didn't know if a shop was open or not and walked in, and they were like "CLOSED!" So I rushed out and... opened the door too hard. It hit the wall and I wanted to cry.

[@m1lksoda]

nah it’s usually on purpose though i went to japan once and they refused to serve us because we weren’t asian 💀

[@SkyeAten]

How do you know it's because you weren't Asian? Did they actually say that? This is never ever happened to me or any of my foreigner friends living in Japan. However I have heard of foreigners being kicked out of bars for starting fights or using rude language... So....... (also, if the restaurant even has English menu's you know being a foreigner is not the problem... they usually serve foreigners then. I know it's easier to accuse people of racism.... but you need to check yourself too. Were you and your friends smashed? Or being very loud? Was someone rude to a waiter? Being a foreigner is not the common denominator , it's not the problem, or this would have happened to me by now and I've been here nearly 4 years. Hasn't happened to any of my foreign friends either. What kind of crowd you hanging out with that gets kicked out a restaurant? lmao

[@m1lksoda]

@@SkyeAten nah they had a full english menu there, ignored us and then proceeded to serve everyone who came in after us i love japan and i’ve been learning japanese for at least 8 years

[@m1lksoda]

i was with my parents and my sister and we did nothing wrong at all and were ignored completely

[@skyblue9213]

@@m1lksoda i’m sorry to hear that. as a japanese person, i think they ignored you because they assumed you couldn’t speak japanese and got scared (you might be surprised as to how scared people in japan are when they meet a foreigner because they want to be polite but don’t want to mess up).

[@m1lksoda]

@@skyblue9213 i can understand that, it just felt a little weird considering they advertised as being a restaurant that had an english menu

[@itzame2127]

What a great way to discourage me from continuing my japanese studies

[@AnnoyingAllie3]

Don't be discouraged, that's what the racists want, and you don't want them to win, right?

[@user-pn9qh3sw1t]

Im not trying to be rude but arent you being a little dramatic?😅

[@itzame2127]

@@user-pn9qh3sw1t Yes!

[@brennenlooney2402]

They are extremely racist BTW so if your doing it to go there and your not Asian then 💀 ☠️ 💀💀

[@notcyfhr]

There could be many reasons she didn’t respond it could’ve been she straight couldn’t understand as he had a very heavy English accent. Which by the way can be practiced. A lot of people that learn Japanese think oh I know the words, I know the grammar and can make sentences perfectly so I’m fluent, they will be able to understand right? but just like any language perfecting your accent takes time. Also if something like this discourages you think about why you wanted to learn is one mishap gonna change why your interested.

[@76rjackson]

If the listener isn't expecting to understand you, doesn't matter how fluently you speak. The phenomenon this video depicts is universal. It's not just a problem for folks trying to speak Japanese.

[@electrictroy2010]

THE Japanese seem picky about pronunciation. I said “anime” like an American and my Japanese friend didn’t understand. I then said “ahhh-neee-may” and she finally understood. Told me she loves it. When I hear a foreigner speaking incorrectly-accented english, I can still hear what they’re saying. It isn’t difficult, but Japanese seem unwilling to try, even if pronunciation is slightly off .

[@76rjackson]

@@electrictroy2010 It's not an unwillingness to understand. It's inexperience hearing the language being spoken by foreigners. We are used to sifting through alternate pronunciations. If they haven't had to communicate with a lot of different accents they just have not learned how to shift mental gears and bring the words into focus.

[@farialmab4723]

Americans generally don’t have this universal problem; we have _so many_ people from all different countries, speaking English, which is also a challenging language, that we _have to_ learn to understand anyone. 😊 My favorite time was when I got to “translate” the English of two Different foreign people for each other!

[@Un1234l]

​@@electrictroy2010 You ever seen the Key and Peele Roll Call video? Maybe same concept. Your mispronunciation is so far off. Like calling a torch (flashlight) a touch.

[@Jessie-ev2th]

As a South African we have 11 official languages. This causes a multitude of accents. We all have become proficient to understand every single accent.

[@derpycows671]

That's really cool actually! 👍

[@cjdoesall]

South African here. I agree with you completely. I can speak English and Afrikaans, currently studying Japanese and would like to learn Xhosa. For us it's usually easy to understand pretty much anyone who speaks English with a foreign accent

[@Jessie-ev2th]

@@cjdoesall wow! I speak Afrikaans and English fluently and a little bit of South Sotho. Still learning.

[@cjdoesall]

@@Jessie-ev2th keep practicing. Always good to learn a third language

[@melsilva2907]

That's actually so cute! Like you guys don't want to let such a silly barrier as accent stop you from understanding each other

[@Krader2121]

For some natives, it’s probably more of an intonation thing. But y’all can’t deny some natives def are racist as heck for like no reason. I wish we could all just vibe together.

[@SkyeAten]

True, but it's very rare. But this video is making it seem like it's extremely common, and that isn't right. More often than not foreigners simply have a worse accent than they'd like to admit... (As a side note the guy in this video has a very good accent... But he's obviously just demonstrating exaggerating the situation. It's not necessarily him that's having this problem.)

[@alexandert2275]

>all just vibe together Eh sure, but I would rather countries and cultures preserve their tradition and identity. I really hope Japan doesn’t make the same mistake as the West and become a melting pot of different cultures and ethnicities.

[@councilofyike1088]

@@SkyeAten thats just it with accent, im 99% sure if a southern or a british born went to a place like Germany or Italy it would be hard for them to understand as certin accents speek much differently even tho its the same language

[@Krader2121]

@@alexandert2275 lol you can preserve your culture without shitting on others in the meantime.

[@Itoshimi]

@@alexandert2275 The west has invaded every country and killed its natives to almost extinction. It’s just sweet karma.

[@user-lo4be6mq7g]

I’m Japanese. Still understandable. I think salesperson is Foreigner too. 😅

[@naylisyazwina6836]

Ahahah

[@lemon4087]

Lol

[@Zoeyyyyy16]

私はその言語をあまり話しません。私は部分しか理解できませんでしたが、私には理にかなっています

[@nene5417]

@@Zoeyyyyy16 『私は』は省略可能です^ ^

[@faithtrout1181]

Whyy... that's horrible. I live in a section of the United States where we see LOTS of Spanish speaking customers. It would be disgusting if we pretended not to hear them based on their accent even though they're speaking English 😐🤨

[@ammaranuar2544]

That's why listening is so important.

[@skt2821]

ここまで綺麗な日本語を理解できない店員が居たら、単純にその店員に問題があるので気にしなくて大丈夫。というか、こんな店員居るか？？笑笑

[@Mikehawkbigg]

日本に旅行した外人として、どこでも行けばこんな店員いるよｗｗ

[@belog.7871]

@@Mikehawkbigg そうなんだ。こんなに綺麗な日本語を話しても理解されなかったら、嫌な気分になるだろうね。しかもこの動画のような反応の店員ってことは、そもそも話を聞く気がなさそうにも感じるし。日本は移民が少ない国だから、外国人＝日本語を話せないっていう偏見が強いのかも

[@ametokiwa8145]

めちゃくちゃ綺麗ですよね…… 大学生の頃に京都でバイトしてましたけど、仮に接客時にお互いの言語を聞き取れなくてもメニュー（英語）を指差し確認したり、ボディーランゲージでコミュニケーションを取るのがバイト先でも他の店でも普通の光景だったので、この動画を見て「日本語をネイティブレベルで話せないと外国人は観光もできないんだ」って誤解されても……悲しいです まして日本人同士でも吃音や難聴で滑舌が悪かったりコミュニケーションを取るのが難しい人ってたくさんいるのに、この店員の対応は……地域によってはあるあるかもしれないけど、これが日本の標準ではないと思う

[@user-xn4yx4tf9h]

I’m Japanese and I perfectly understand what the guy were saying; his Japanese is pretty good!

[@santosdr2]

I speak English and i'm sorry I couldn't understand your writing. It just doesn't look English to me.

[@user-re4qm1fs2w]

@@santosdr2 tf what’s your point ?

[@santosdr2]

@@user-re4qm1fs2w parodying the video.

[@santosdr2]

@@user-re4qm1fs2w It's just a joke :) it just isn't clear.

[@rockpaperscissors5059]

hmmmmmmmmmm

[@papurica400]

I'm Japanese but I could understand his Japanese very well. I honestly can't tell much difference between two people😅 So don't worry! Japanese people, at least those around me, are happy when they see people from other countries studying Japanese! Sorry if this is not the main point of this video. I'm still learning English, so I hope you can understand a little bit.

[@uggibug3803]

This comment is so cute 💖🥰🥹

[@SkyeAten]

Yes, I live in Japan and this has never happened to me. Everyone is always helpful and kind when I speak Japanese here. The Japanese staff always understand what I am saying. This video is a bad example, it's really exaggerated. I think it's offensive to Japanese people because it doesn't actually happen like in this video.

[@mckennaevans3226]

This is encouraging to those that are learning the language 😊 Your English is great as well, perfectly put I would say. Keep it up! The encouragement and the great speaking skills!

[@crankylucifer]

The video discouraged me a bit to continue with learning japanese (already have a hard time to stay focused on it). Your comment made me want to study it more. I hope I can learn it so people can understand me when I travel to Japan in the future! Your written english is very good!

[@the.komoru]

Your English is really good. Keep it up! :)

[@ericpalacios920]

I think in the US we have the benefit of hearing lots of accents. Going to college I was taught by people with strong Russian, Chinese, Indian accents and by the end of the year I was able to understand them perfectly.

[@KaiOpaka]

End of the year? It took a year?

[@ArachnusPorkus]

How to speak Japanese as a foreigner in Japan: Have a beautiful Japanese woman repeat your statement while pointing. Done!

[@ayakosaito7323]

You nailed it! I'm a full-time Japanese-to-English translator/interpreter but have my wife order everything when we go to Japanese restaurants - Path of least resistance!

[@ArachnusPorkus]

@@ayakosaito7323 Does she also point? That's important.

[@ayakosaito7323]

@@ArachnusPorkus That is true though. They tend to point if there is a menu. I think it's helps them cope with the anxiety of dealing with another Japanese. LOL

[@user-bi5ev4tl4w]

i don't have one, so had to learn how to communicate by myself

[@derp195]

"I have no idea what language he's speaking, but whatever he said sounded exactly like ordering cheesecake in Japanese!"

[@allendracabal0819]

This comment is underrated. I threw you a like.

[@georgealexanderdemarques3362]

W derp

[@JD-ht7yw]

lmaooo

[@laurynspencer2197]

😂😂

[@madhououinkyoma]

That’s so funny 😂

[@Emblematicify]

The secret for foreigners: Start your sentence with あのー えーと The staff will switch to Japanese mode and understand your foreign face speaking Japanese.

[@ch5924]

This is a really good tip!!!

[@nys3376]

Thanks!

[@Ann-yo6sv]

Also "eh?!"

[@myketlg]

this is so funny but so true lol

[@alexlaurence]

It doesn't work. Maybe if you watch anime all day, you believe this. But I live in Japan and you're better off starting your order by clearly stating what you want rather than mumbling through some filler words. あの does not make you sound fluent 😂

[@milton7763]

“When a foreigner speaks the local language in literally any country for the first couple of months”

[@AccordingToWillow]

it’s not that his japanese is bad, it’s just that she’s not listening for japanese. english is my first language but working in LA, when i had customers who were obviously more comfortable in spanish i would expect to take their order in spanish. sometimes i couldn’t understand what they were saying at first if they ordered in english, not because their accent was too thick for me to understand but because it’s not what i was preparing to hear.

[@fuumaxkamui]

Living in Korea and get this all the time. I realized my Korean isn’t actually that bad when I noticed I had no trouble being understood on the phone 🙃

[@LadyPelikan]

Especially since speaking on the phone in a foreign language usually is a couple of levels up!

[@Lemontarts01]

Korea and china are a bit morr nationalistic in those areas, but in my experience they stand by it and wont beat around the bush about it and just annoy you. Like you'll know why a korean or chinese is being a douche, but the japanese will sternly deny it to the end

[@basedbrit4206]

​@@Lemontarts01 I'd just switch to English and say "Sorry I thought you could speak Japanese/Korean (Depending on where I was)" and make a snide comment on how they are Japanese/Korean but can't speak their own language suddenly I imagine that they'll understand what I'm saying after

[@jakubkruczek2772]

@@basedbrit4206 well British people do it to foreigners on daily basis as well, so why are u so shocked.

[@basedbrit4206]

@@jakubkruczek2772 Because foreigner's oftentimes speak American and we do genuinely struggle to understand

[@Guy-Lei]

I’d love to travel Japan and learn more about their culture and language but there’s one minor problem.. I’m Black 🧍🏽

[@pluradox]

@@rhythmneko you missed the point of this video

[@ao9951]

To be honest, whether you are black or white, the feeling of being afraid of foreigners is the same for both.

[@rhythmneko]

@@pluradox the point of this video is heavily dramatic. There’s nothing physically holding any foreigners from coming to japan.

[@pluradox]

@@rhythmneko literally not what his comment was saying

[@Sam_Jayd2]

I’m with you on that one.. I’m brown😭🧍🏽‍♀️

[@sashac9894]

I had watched other videos of this kind a few years ago and thought this was true until I went to Japan and actually tried to speak Japanese and saw that most of the people understand or at least make the effort to communicate with you. I could tell that they appreciate it a lot when a foreigner tries to speak their language and they try and help you as much as they can. If you are studying japanese and plan to go to japan, don't let this video scare you! If you really love Japanese culture and language, you'll have a great time! And if you are an english speaker, start studying Japanese by discovering how Japanese pronounce English words, it's very helpful and a good way to start. 😊

[@stephaniehavoksen1761]

When I went to Japan, most of the Japanese people could actually understand what I said! I was so glad for that cause I would have been so embarrassed if they couldn’t 😭

[@Duskraven67]

Bonus round: when someone is Western and speaks fluent Japanese, is with someone that is Asian that only speaks English. Their heads explode and they don't know what to do. It's pretty funny to watch until you remember how blatantly racist this is. In most other cultures, they will default to whoever they can communicate best with. But in Japan they default to those that look like them the most. Especially outside of Tokyo and Okinawa.

[@pauloazuela8488]

Racist or Xenophobic?

[@Duskraven67]

@@pauloazuela8488 you understand that those really are the same thing right?

[@pauloazuela8488]

@@Duskraven67 No they do not.

[@Duskraven67]

@@pauloazuela8488 Racism: the irrational fear/hatred of those that don't look like you Xenophobia: the irrational fear/hatred of persons and/or cultures unfamiliar to you.

[@pauloazuela8488]

@@Duskraven67 You gave the definition enough to be known there's a difference. Just believe what you believe but the majority and even in literature looks at them as different terms

[@user-js2pw5oe2p]

I’m Japanese but I can understand and he speaks Japanese naturally. She means Japanese have a stereotype about foreigners’ language, maybe.Actually,however, his Japanese is so good, so most Japanese would understood the phrase. Please don’t be disappointed😔

[@NoHope_]

This isn’t to be rude, but I would like someone to point it out to me. My punctuation as an American isn’t the best either so don’t take this to harshly. Your punctuation and grammar could use some work. A quick example: “foreigners’ “ should just be “foreigners” with no apostrophe, super minor, but changes a lot about the sentence. Another example: “foreigners language, maybe.Actually,however,” should be “foreigners language? Actually,” “actually,however” is redundant, either can be used, but both is unnecessary, “maybe” should either be removed or at the start of the sentence with a “?” Instead of “.” At the end. Also add a space after punctuation to keep your sentence from being cluttered looking. You did great by the way, any native English speaker should easily be able to understand that, I just thought I should add some input to help you get even better❤

[@gaming4K]

@@NoHope_ lol wtf is wrong with you? Are you the person from this video? 😑

[@NoHope_]

@@gaming4K im helping them get better at english? whats wrong with you? i said multiple times that they did great and were understandable, but not perfect. Stop overreacting because i tried to help someone clearly trying to learn the language.

[@ricya1982]

It's ok. I'm Asian from America. People here always try to make Asian people worse than them but they do it too and are very violent. They do worse than the video. They will cut in line in front of Asians, spit and punch them, but also say we are the bad ones. Don't let these foreigners lie to u and try to make it sound like they are so loving to us. Asians experience worse racism than they do.

[@timeb0mb502]

@@gaming4K bro was trying to give advice what is wrong with you?

[@StrayPaolo]

Yeah it also happened to me. But to me honnest, I can now understand cuz one time a japanese person came to me and started speaking french (because he knew I was french) I zoned out and was literally speechless for like 5 seconds. So yeah I think when you're not prepared for a certain language to come out, your brain can not proccess it or something 😂😂

[@crunkyystravels101]

This happens to me all the time. I know they are not being rude. I live in a rural area, well away from any additional foreigners and I speak Japanese fluently. But often times, when I speak to a local, they look to my wife for "translation".... even when she says the exact same thing. Other comments are correct... they don't mean to seem rude, it just happens. Gotta roll with it and move on.

[@ayakosaito7323]

In their minds, they think that your wife is being rude for not handling things. it's a form of meiwaku.

[@Vulture402]

My gf thought it was stereotyping and told me so, but in retrospect, it's the way Japanese culture works. The in group person is supposed to communicate on behalf of the out group person. It can actually be nice to have representation in order to avoid making social gaffes.

[@glimtglimt]

I’m half Chinese and when I go to China sometimes people do this to me too 😭 It’s like they choose to not understand but its just because of the culture there, and for the most part people aren’t like this. But it can be infuriating especially because I have always maintained good pronunciation and have grown up with Chinese culture but people just assume I don’t know anything…would be nice to not cause a scene what feels like everytime I just want to practice my Chinese and speak my moms mother tongue. Edit: I’m a little sad that people are assuming I have an accent or something and that I’m not as educated on Mandarin Chinese as I claimed. I assure you I don’t have an accent, I have been deeply self conscious of my Chinese my whole life and have worked really hard to maintain it to “prove” myself because I have felt excluded in the past because of my appearance. When I ask every relative or friend, they tell me I sound almost if not just like a Mainland Mandarin speaker. Chinese pronunciation has always been super easy to me, which is why as I said originally, for the most part when I go to China everyone understands me perfectly. Just sometimes, it happens that the odd person assumes I don’t speak Chinese and so they listen for English and then get confused. And even when I’m understood, sometimes it’s like “shocking” or whatever because I don’t look Asian enough I guess. I really don’t mean any disrespect to any Chinese mainlanders or other language communities where this happens, it’s not a constant issue, but it does happen more than it should, and pointing that out is in no way trying to generalize each and every speaker, it’s a cultural issue, there is no one individual or group of individuals to blame. Just wanted to share my experience. Those experiences have definitely made me feel bad and still have some effect on me, but they don’t control me and they aren’t representative of China as a whole. Man I miss China, haven’t been there in forever because of travel restrictions.

[@iGottakissU]

Maybe but it could also be that they are not used to hearing accents so they don't understand. The first time I hurd british english I was very confused. I am also a francophone and some part of my country the accent is so thick that I can understand their french.

[@singlah]

The opposite problem also exists... that if you're a non-Chinese Asian person who goes to China and everyone around you insists on speaking to you in Mandarin and carries on forever even though you don't speak or understand a word of it.

[@juliancastillo183]

When I lived there sometimes it would help me you ask kindly: “do you understand what I’m saying?” And that seemed to help shake whatever off and pay closer attention to you. :)

[@warmlavender5525]

Happens to me in Ethiopia too as an Ethiopian-American. I’ve got good pronunciation but most 2nd gens don’t know Amharic so it surprises them when I do.

[@t_ylr]

I have a theory. I like learning languages and practicing with native speakers. When you mess up or you use a wrong word that sounds like the word you meant to say sometimes people can figure out what you meant to say. The only language where that has never happened for me is Mandarin. I feel like when you make a mistake in Mandarin they have no idea what you're trying to say lol. To be fair my Mandarin is terrible, but i think it's also something about how their brains are wired. They can't hear you say x and figure out that you meant y.

[@NotTotallyHopeless]

As a forienger who used to live in Japan I felt that emotionally.

[@SkyeAten]

Did you have a bad accent? Because this has never happened to me, not in my 3 years here lol

[@BrendanishLeo]

@@SkyeAten "the only way this could ever happen even though hundreds talk about this is if they're ALL worse than me!" Why are you deepthroating so hard? Have you ever thought (unlike the Japanese) that different sections of people are different? Someone in aomori may be less willing to try understanding foreigners than someone in Tokyo (random example) Chances are, with the # saying "x" happens, you are not better than all of them, just have different experiences

[@_sparrowhawk]

@@SkyeAten Why the hell are you laughing?

[@Aethelhadas]

@@SkyeAten Maybe your appearance pass as Japanese

[@shinikyokai8815]

As a fellow non-asian foreigner who's lived in Japan for 5 years, I've never experienced this.

[@sp317]

This has happened to me but on the phone. Called my Japanese friend from the US and I was only saying who I was to her husband who had answered, nothing complicated, and he just could not understand. Oh my! I had no idea what I was doing or saying wrong. It crushed my already faltering confidence in Japanese.

[@ayakosaito7323]

It's the Japanese way of saying, "Leave my wife alone."

[@qbgrjf]

I'm Japanese. I can understand his Japanese 100%. Very clear pronunciation.

[@PacBoiTheArtist]

"Can I have a cheese cake?" **cashier proceeds to be creepy**

[@Chance57]

CHEESECAKEを頂けますか？ How can you claim to be fluent in your language and not understand what he's trying to tell you? He's saying "cheesecake" for crying out loud. Just being casually xenophobic.

[@celestialorb1680]

@@Chance57he has a very strong accent.

[@Chance57]

@@celestialorb1680 It doesn't matter. I talked to people with way stronger accents all the time and it's no issue. She's just being ignorant. Cheesecake isn't even a Japanese word, it's a loan word for Christ's sake.

[@sn1p3s29]

@@celestialorb1680 if I can understand an Indian guy talking twice as fast as normal and only pronouncing half a word. Then a Japanese person can understand a small mispronunciation

[@thebottles2684]

@@celestialorb1680 彼の訛りがこれを妨げてはならないと思う.チーズケーキはかなり普遍的です

[@chulip8336]

全く問題なく聞き取れます笑笑 きれいな日本語

[@robinolsson7003]

カフェで働いてないでしょう。

[@ayakosaito7323]

うけるよｗ

[@notinterested8452]

These videos are like the pre war German propaganda films.

[@rx5tf74]

​@@robinolsson7003なんの関係があるんですか

[@rx5tf74]

​@@notinterested8452wdym??

[@animated000]

Such a beautiful language

[@SMCwasTaken]

Wait till you hear Spanish "La Mancha" sounds so cool

[@irememberla6460]

I have been getting along fine with my limited Japanese ability, and for the most part, the Japanese seem to appreciate the effort!

[@PlzCa1mDown]

I'm a foreigner who lives in Japan, and speaks Japanese, this sometimes happens. But, DON'T BE DISCOURAGED OR TAKE IT PERSONALLY. Sometimes it's because they get a bit shocked or nervous, sometimes it's because you have a thick accent, and sometimes it's because the person just sucks. Unfortunately, this situation exists anywhere when using your non-native language. PLEASE CONTINUE TO WORK HARD!!!

[@dariashchipkova683]

thx!!!

[@Peyboreit]

naw bro im literally gonna quit my duolingo japanese lessons at this point

[@PlzCa1mDown]

@@Peyboreit 🤣 lmao

[@Peyboreit]

@@PlzCa1mDown lol

[@chadthundercock5641]

Why are you calling yourself a foreigner like that's normal. Tf is wrong with you.

[@nervousbunnygaming]

This happened to me probably twice while I lived in Japan for three whole years. It’s not like an everyday occurrence don’t worry. I think it would happen more if you were with a Japanese person because the person may assume that Japanese person is there to translate for you so they probably don’t even pay attention to what you sai the first time. That happened to me when I was out with my husband. But they don’t just stare and silently beg for help from him they do honestly try to listen to me the second time.

[@YandereDay]

Yeah, I feel like if anything, people were excited that I was making an effort to learn the language

[@SkyeAten]

Same. Same. Actually hasn't even happened to me yet. Been here 3 years too.

[@DagamingbeastXL]

I went to Epcot in Disney Land where they have a bunch of different cultures up for display, with actual native speakers working in their respective cultural segment. Whilst in the Japan zone, I went to a steakhouse. When I was ordering my food the Japanese waiter (who was most likely in his mid 20’s) asked me “And what would you like to drink.” Btw, this man spoke perfect English, couldn’t even tell he was once a native Japanese person. My response to his question was “Mizu kudasai.” Which means “water please.” He responded by saying “what?” So I repeated. He then seemed confused, so I said I’m asking for water, did I say that right? He then told me I said it perfectly fine, he just didn’t expect me to speak Japanese. He then said he never had anyone he served respond in Japanese before. I believe the reason they can’t understand even when you’re pronunciation and grammar is good, is because they just get thrown off by a foreigner speaking in their tounge.

[@weishi5286]

So that is why police 👮 doesn’t shoot an unarmed Japanese person, they were perceived to be unarmed 😂

[@xavierbravo7739]

They always try to help you even when you do not speak the language

[@borrow4654]

Meanwhile, someone attempts speaking French to me and I'm over the moon. No matter if they have an accent or are learning, it's very touching being addressed by a stranger using your mother tongue, especially if you live overseas

[@mikir1741]

Parle vu france

[@margotsangster8776]

Oh du français ! 👋🏻

[@andybliss5965]

C'est la raison pour laquelle j'ai arrêté le japonais et j'ai commencé à apprendre le français.

[@molylepke9522]

Mais normalement c'est pas le cas.

[@dariashchipkova683]

lots of japanese people say "jyozu" which is mean "skillfull" even if you japanese is a bunch of trashy weeb words like "doumou arigatou")

[@Nezuko.273]

pov: you went into the comments to find the meaning of this video.

[@flumyxx]

Legend has it we're all still searching 😂

[@meihatsume1165]

@@flumyxx for real, I’m confused with multiple answers😂😂

[@alizardguy]

Dose anyone know

[@jeread5193]

still looking

[@Iheartlisa]

@@meihatsume1165 so basically from what I heard from some of the comments were that “maybe the accent is off” or bc “they are being blatantly rude bc it’s a foreigner” or they “don’t look Asian” but don’t really take my word for it that’s just what I heard from the comments

[@ivydenver260]

I had a Japanese lady tell me today that my pronunciation is perfect and that she could understand me perfectly! It made my day ☺️ (I approached her and asked politely if she happened to speak Japanese)

[@turkeysamwich00]

That’s when you hit ‘em with the “OI OI MAJI FUZAKENNA”

[@pandalily5186]

I'd be like "am I speaking another language? Shall I repeat myself in hindu?" In Japanese just so it can be ironic

[@TheNewGreenIsBlue]

Sarcasm is not common in Japan as a form of humour... you'd just come across as being a jerk. British people often are overly sarcastic in the US and it's often received as being mean. Japan's far less sarcastic than UK/US/Canada/Australia/NZ

[@ludwigwittgenstein1280]

@@TheNewGreenIsBlue they deserve it.

[@fernandocarneiro804]

@@TheNewGreenIsBlue but his intention in this case wound be to offend

[@lightbreaker8120]

@@user-zk3wu2yp9y you’re lying to make this sound better, everywhere I go there’s always someone who doesn’t have, in your words, “perfect English” even I don’t speak “perfect English” because I have a speech disability which hinders me from pronouncing certain words correctly, yet I was raised here my whole life, white, blonde hair, blue eyes the whole cabash. You can go pretty much anywhere and be served if you have the money and are able to show some kind of knowledge of what you want. America is the lease racist country compared to foreign third world countries, clown😂🤡

[@divx1001]

@@ludwigwittgenstein1280 regardless of whether they deserve it or not, if they don't understand the intended meaning, your petty offense will just go over their heads.

[@ducktastic8495]

Isn’t this, like, really rude? I mean if you accent isn’t too strong and you speak fluently, are they choosing to not to listen to you or..?

[@CC-en1um]

I think it's the intonation/pitch accent thing.

[@peachrose744]

I feel as if it's not an active choice, I mean sometimes you cant understand people because they have a strong accent or speak really fast so I wouldn't call it "racist"

[@gasun1274]

@Shoka Lgbt japanese people will panic at the sight of a white person speaking japanese, that's all.

[@siratshi455]

@@peachrose744 exactly, the thing is foreigners often pronounce anglicisms in Japanese same as they would in English, for Japanese it is hard to comprehend because they adapt everything so it would sound Japanese and easier for them to pronounce

[@elevatemovementYT]

@Shoka Lgbt 黙れ

[@cantcatchme6749]

A similar situation happened at the airport when the guy at check-in saw our passports and asked us a question in our native language. Literally none of us could process what he was saying because we expected English. Despite the fact he was talking fluently, he had to repeat himself 3 times for us to finally realize he's speaking in our language, lol

[@ayakosaito7323]

At Narita?

[@cantcatchme6749]

@@ayakosaito7323 No, it happened at Vienna airport if I remember correctly

[@JayDeeMC]

When I lived in Japan, this rarely ever happened to me. They routinely spoke Japanese to me, and I responded in Japanese. No misunderstandings.

[@637dan]

This is the most counterproductive bull. “Oh you want to learn my language in an attempt to make communication easier for the both of us? Great, don’t YOU speaking MY language is too confusing.”

[@emilyvera8538]

Because that's not the message.

[@nashooo5903]

maybe try getting good so people can understand you?

[@Happyfoam-lw3yt]

They're not saying "don't speak Japanese", they're saying that Japanese people are deliberately racist (which isn't entirely untrue).

[@jamesflames6987]

She can't understand because the Japanese pronunciation of foreign words is subtly different to what you'd expect so that Japanese can't understand when foreigners say them. It's doubly difficult as a foreigner because you "think" you know how the word is pronounced because you recognise the same word in English. I can confirm this is highly accurate.

[@Locopueblo]

You want productivity, get an activity book.

[@lonely1951]

I remember studying Japanese in America and working at an ice cream shop. A Japanese tourist ordered some ice cream in English with a heavy Japanese accent. I had to ask her to repeat herself three times before I understood. She was saying all the right syllables, but with the emphasis slightly different, my brain couldn’t register what she was saying. “Strawberry ice creams please” It’s interesting how a slight change in emphasis can make a word totally unrecognizable

[@dealcruz2673]

for me i always take a pen and paper ,write it down,maybe easier for them to understand ,or pointing the item i like ,i survive that way in other countries i worked

[@WisdomAndEase]

Have you been exposed to different nationalities where you live? Growing up in NYC it's so common to hear different people from different parts of the world trying to speak to me in English. That helped me a lot to get an idea of how each country has their way of pronouncing things. Also being curious of what they're trying to say.

[@jcnot9712]

From what I see, that’s not the case a lot of the time in Japan. Even in this video the guy says it in perfect Japanese and is still not understood.

[@firghteningtruth7173]

Yeah, hard to understand when you put the emPHAsis oN the WRong syllABLE. 😂

[@lawrencegeorge6089]

​@@GG-tb4ru interesting example lol I don't think I've ever used strawberry when speaking. Always default to Ichigo 😂

[@Dust_kormoi]

Its true. I had this happen often, but more especially among children who were not as familiar with foreign accents as the adults were.

[@yoranthium]

happens in the USA when your Japanese spouse speaks perfect English at Walmart and you become the English to English translator because the US cashier only hears the accent and not the English.

[@saiwaqa2573]

Don't even need to be asian. It happens to Australians in America too.

[@yoranthium]

@@saiwaqa2573 That must be really weird, English to English to English translation.

[@Idle_adventures]

Same experience when i was at Australia and asked the shop assistant where i can return the clothes i tried. I repeated twice and she still couldn't understand me. I'm Asian but we speak English as our first language in our country so I couldn't process her reaction in my brain. I looked around wondering if I'm on Earth, realised that I'm definitely on Earth and cursed at her. And suddenly she understood me.

[@yoranthium]

@@Idle_adventures Sometimes it's speed of conversation. Some people are patient and good listeners while some are brash and hurried listeners only hearing what they want instead of what is said. Case in point there is this mayor liberal who is rash and unfair in thought and opinion. I speak clear and slow with words that are sometimes uncommon. On City Council meetings she often claims not to understand me and she is rushing. A principal of an elementary school of those with speech impediments and she claims she can't understand me. If she can't understand me then she is cruel and abusive at her elementary school. Because she can't understand the children at her school either. She can't understand because she is listening to her self only. Often I get questions and my answers are complex. Because the hurried and rushed English speaker doesn't understand the question has a complex answer that can not be answered in under 5 minutes. They often want a Yes or No answer but either way would invalidate the answer to a question. This is where you find those of low English ability in the USA who only know English. When they complain they can't understand someone who speaks perfect English well these persons have enormous difficulty in solving even foreign language let alone accents.

[@jcnot9712]

Yea, only in the midwest. Pretty much any big city is used to foreigners of all nationalities.

[@lily-hk1gk]

私はアメリカに住んでいたこともあり日本に外国人の友達も結構いますが、このような状況になったことは一度もないです。外国人の日本語が理解できなくても、丁寧に聞き直したり確認するだけで、隣にいる日本人であろう私に無言で目線で助けを求めるなんてありえません。そんな失礼な店員がいたらクレームレベルですよ。英語のコメントを見ても日本人は人種差別をするのかと誤解を招いているのになぜ動画を消さないのか理解できません。

[@tidenly]

こういう経験がない在日外国人はいませんよ笑。外国人の友達がいるのはちょっと信じがたいです😄 ちなみにレイシズムだとなんて誰も言ってない、ただ店員は客さんが日本語を喋ってくるの期待してない問題なので、被害者意識ならなくて結構です👍

[@lachimolala04]

それな

[@Ebi_fuwafuwa]

急啓、 彼らは日本人を傷つけ、日本人の衰退を推し進めたいと思っています。 彼らはそれを「多様性」と呼んでいます。 日本人の抹殺。 白人の祖国の大部分に対して行われ、現在は日本人とすべてのアジア人に危害を加えようとしています。 「反白人」と「反アジア人」 私は本物のアメリカ人であり、人種によるヨーロッパ人であり、真のアメリカ人です。 彼らは私たちを傷つけるように日本人を傷つけたいと思っています。 反白人の人も反アジア人になる。 反撃してください！

[@petterinakamura8672]

ほんまに

[@petkamoravcikova]

Many people in the comments are saying that they have similar experiences living in Japan, Korea or China. They speak the language fluently but still get ignored or just stared at without an acknowledgement. If it wasn't a thing that happens, there wouldn't be multiple videos making fun of the phenomenon as well as something that people mention about their experiences in Japan as foreigners.

[@syyy468]

I'm Japanese and I fully understood what he said.

[@Sepricotaku]

I actually didn't have this issue at all all the people I spoke to were very nice and helped me out a lot.

[@Paul-yk7ds]

It's because of having a strong foreign accent? Or why do you think it happens?

[@Leale4Vita]

Yo, some people really do have strong foreign accent, All I do to solve the issue, is setting a type of stereotypical chinese tone + acting using an Anime Character type of voice, When you do this it tricks some people to believe that you are very good at it! Unless you can't help but say : Whyta-ishey Waw Pollll Desuuuuu. In that case someone needs to train a lot!

[@cheesyboy8747]

@Shoka Lgbt nah I don’t think it’s racism, I’ve spoken Japanese at restaurants before and after repeating myself a few times at first they told me that it just threw them for a loop. It’s like when I worked at a factory and if you started to speak Korean to the Koreans they’d freeze for a sec or you’d have to repeat yourself a few times at first. My buddy khadar is Somalian and has a very strong accent, when I first met him it took me a few tries to understand his accent so I think it’s along those lines.

[@cheesyboy8747]

@Shoka Lgbt also his Japanese was ok but it was kinda mumbled a bit

[@cheesyboy8747]

On a second listen it was fine

[@renmasaki2331]

@Shoka Lgbt 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

[@iNinjeek]

HAHHA im weak. I remember i was on a bus with my japanese friend. The elderly japanese lady thought i was japanese, and my japanese friend was a forigner🤣 so she spoke to me the whole time while i looked at my japanese friend for translation🤣🤣 poor guy.

[@brewcology]

This clip illustrates perfectly the Japanese art of how to annoy a gaijin😂

[@rodan2852]

I woulda just drawn a picture dude "🧀 +🎂"

[@jayraitt9023]

I work with a lot of Japanese engineers, they get excited every single time they see a non-japanese person try to speak it.

[@brinicole2999]

Exactly. This just doesn't happen in Japan. Maybe the very very minority. I've never had a problem. Every Japanese person I've encountered has been so patient and kind.

[@ayakosaito7323]

@@brinicole2999 That's because you are at infant level and they don't feel threatened.

[@cockatoo4103]

I’m Japanese and I can understand it

[@displayname2198]

Rare cheese caky

[@yankmyass]

I think it's a deliberate thing. I'm Japanese as well and I could've understood that if that dude was underwater.

[@SkyeAten]

Yeah because this guy has a good accent. The foreigners that this is happening to are actually bad at Japanese... But they prefer to blame others for the misunderstanding. Lol.

[@lieutenantpepper2734]

tatemae!

[@stdlr1565]

@@SkyeAten because their trying dude, its a difficult language that some people are giving three fucks about it to learn it. We need to be more empathic

[@timothybodey9168]

I make it a point to try and understand how different non-native English speakers from different cultures speak English. It really helps with these misunderstandings and allows me to adjust how i speak. Last case scenario, Google translate. It doesn't translate everything well. Example: idioms like "hitting on you". But it does help a lot.

[@peacefulwarrior9518]

I feel this in my bones. So often I feel like Japanese assume they won't be able to understand me before a conversation begins and then getting it right doesn't even matter. Ofcourse it may also be my intonation...ok its def my intonation. But I still think some of it is that first thing.

[@frangild]

I love that you're being honest and not just painting a fantasy of Japan like nearly everyone else on KZbin

[@ayakosaito7323]

It ain't no fantasy land, trust me.

[@drcox012]

Hey I'm learning Japanese to increase my marketability, not feel accepted every time I go to order a taco.

[@allergictohumansnotanimals5671]

This is the least of Japan's problems lmao

[@TopAnimeLoverEver]

Watch a lot of the big name Japan youtubers, like The Anime Man, Chris Broad, and Connor of CDawgVa, as well as AkiDearest, Sharla in Japan, amd Tokyo Lens, and Gigguk. They all have mentioned this a few times, especially Joey (The Anime Man) how you will speak perfect Japanese to them and they start answering in English everytime you say another thing in Japanese. They either just act like you aren't speaking Japanese and insist they can't understand, or answer you in English despite how many times you answer in Japanese.

[@Cloudyqueso]

"They won't understand you" That's a weird way to say "they're being racist" Edit: these guys arguing the difference between xenophobia and racism is funny. They both mean being prejudice towards other people, it doesn't matter the race or country, if you're acting like this, it isn't okay. As a Mexican, I can assure you, I understand, but you gotta understand that this video, albeit staged shows that you can annunciate and sound out something completely correct, yet the native will only look toward the other Japanese person for the answer. There shouldn't be no context, no other meaning to what he said, it's plain wrong to ignore and disprove someone solely because they come from another country. As for people telling me "oh you're wrong, this is xenophobia, it's different." I just gotta say, naw,, it isn't. Whether it be race or country, you're still showing prejudices against other people. There's no justification for that, go ahead and argue some more, my opinion stands.

[@starrs802]

First wtf second: just think about it like this. as a natural english speaker you are not used to speaking to people you can barely understand and if someone is standing next to say a chinese woman who looks american you naturally turn to that person immediately. Personally, I'm German and I have no problem understanding why they do it...if you're not a native speaker, it's 80% sure that even if that person thinks they're good at German, you absolutely do can not understand XD

[@starrs802]

Also...bro u dont know what racist means

[@sn1p3s29]

@@starrs802 I can easily understand someone speaking english with a strong accent. I don't know what you're on about. Japanese people definitely pretend they don't understand what foreigners are saying on purpose to be xenophobic

[@Ebi_fuwafuwa]

Access to Japanese people is not a human right. Their body, their choice. Stop harassing Japanese people to be in your life. Anti-Asians do not belong. Asians will not erase ourselves to please hostiles for their benefit. Get out colonist.

[@themartianway]

@@zenamo1848 ?

[@jamiehamilton4602]

Thanks for helping us learn the language...

[@kristam6885]

Visiting Japan is my dream trip and learning to speak Japanese is something I always wanted to be able to do. But I am terrified of visiting due to language barrier and I’m painfully shy when speaking.

[@hatsuneoka6887]

I’m Japanese but I sometimes get comments “your Japanese is so good” 😅

[@kylespevak6781]

日本語上手!

[@Chance57]

My mom had a hard time being raised with English as her second language, so she made sure English was my first. I didn't start learning Spanish until I was already ~6 and till day I'll get "Why do you sound like a white boy?" It's cool. I just speak English instead.

[@user-nr4ty6tc9x]

I’m Japanese and feel like his pronunciation is perfect tho!

[@jama211]

Yeah this isn't a great video I think

[@jerryrivera4298]

He said it just fine. That lady is just giving him a hard time. 😂

[@randomsandwichian]

This is one reason I myself am teaching English, it's sort of a two way exchange between me and them. I get to learn more about the culture and get 1 foot in the door in building a community with many others while creating an environment for them to learn outside of their local environment and not be totally insulated from language and cultural barriers and get to see more of the world. Win-win-win.

[@Oliviax_Loren]

I wanna go to Japan so bad but I’m afraid of this happening 💀

[@snowfront9357]

Don’t worry. This is literally exaggerated and never happens now. It’s not 2000.

[@andrerose3386]

Learn pronounciations

[@user-lo4be6mq7g]

心配せずに日本に来てください！日本人もスマートフォンを持っているのでコミュニケーションできます！英語の能力はあまりない人が多いですけど…ごめんなさい🙏

[@Oliviax_Loren]

@@user-lo4be6mq7g 👍

[@droolingpine9658]

@@snowfront9357 there are plenty of people who say it does

[@DrowsyScientist]

Dude. This always happened to me when I lived in Korea. It also happens to my friends when they go with me to Mexico and they speak Spanish. Maybe I’m biased since I was an ESL teacher for years, but you can talk to me in the most broken version of a language I know, and I have no difficulties.

[@aritomiblog]

I’m a foreigner living in Japan, this situation is so rare, happened to me probably less than 3 or 4 times in over 20 years. People talk to me in Japanese and they understand what I say even though my accent and my grammar are far from perfect.

[@7ylerD]

I’ve heard that even if you speak in fluent Japanese, they will still try to reply in English if you look foreign, lol.

[@tomotomo2435]

私は日本人ですが、男性の"レアチーズケーキ"よくわかりますよ、

[@schizofren_ia]

なぜ女性は「え？」と言うのか？ あの女性はひどい俺は思う。。下手な日本語ですいません、外国人ですから。

[@Ebi_fuwafuwa]

急啓、 彼らは日本人を傷つけ、日本人の衰退を推し進めたいと思っています。 彼らはそれを「多様性」と呼んでいます。 日本人の抹殺。 白人の祖国の大部分に対して行われ、現在は日本人とすべてのアジア人に危害を加えようとしています。 「反白人」と「反アジア人」 私は本物のアメリカ人であり、人種によるヨーロッパ人であり、真のアメリカ人です。 彼らは私たちを傷つけるように日本人を傷つけたいと思っています。 反白人の人も反アジア人になる。 反撃してください！

[@shinikyokai8815]

@@schizofren_ia Because my dude, the video is an exaggeration. They wouldn't get tripped up over "cheesecake." This is more likely to happen at a post office or government city hall, which is much more understandable. Japanese people can get nervous when talking to foreigners, and these things happen.

[@schizofren_ia]

@@shinikyokai8815 is she just racist?

[@kukunoyutube]

I’m Japanese and I’m sure I understand what he says instantly!! Please don’t be worry☺️☺️

[@user-nz9oy8to4r]

Thank you 😊

[@ayumikamukura1041]

Thank you/2

[@NoName-ip4si]

Thank you very much. I got really nervous.

[@will-ellington]

Lol, as if you speak on behalf of Japan. And therein lies the problem.

[@allendracabal0819]

"don't worry" または "don't be worried"

[@thenoodlenabber]

awesome. that’s very encouraging-

[@user-wb3yj1ub7p]

Your Japanese is great so that I can tell what you say. As a Japanese, only if there would be “r”are cheesecake and “l”are cheesecake in the cake shop, we couldn’t tell which you ordered😂😂

[@64Papiculo]

もうすぐ８年間日本に住んでいるフランス人ですが、一度もこういう店員さんに会ったことがないです！ うまく伝えなかった時は自分の日本語がポンコツだったからです。。😅

[@max-du1ff]

Same man, Ive lived in Japan for over 5 years and never once have I ever experienced this

[@phillnineteenninetysix]

I'm half Japanese but look fully Filipino and I've never experienced this. 違う動画でも同じような内容を投稿していたハーフの方がいたんですけど、投稿者の見た目は日本人にもいそうな外見なのにそういう経験をしたって言ってました。 しかも東京で。

[@scottprina1207]

30+ years living in Tokyo. I do not find this to be a big issue at all, and it is not my impression that there are a lot of Japanese who are deliberately pretending not to understand foreign pronunciation of the language. Conversely, it is my experience that some foreigners can underestimate how small differences in their intonation can impact the comprehensibility Of their speech to some Japanese listeners. I also find that some foreigners seem to carry a base level of frustration around with them, a kind of resentment if you will, regarding their language skills. The emotion makes solving any communication problem which may arise more difficult.

[@anshahouse]

@@scottprina1207 Totally agree. I've lived in Japan 22 years and never had such a problem except during my early years when I overestimated my Japanese ability.

[@kaankaragozkao]

When I speak Chinese, they also give same reaction because they don't expect you to speak their language. that's why he thinks he speaks English, so he can't fully perceive it. When they continue to talk, they are very surprised after a while because they cannot believe that you can speak that language.

[@shadowfaxdog9733]

As an American this is so funny because a *some* of us expect everyone to speak English Even in other countries And a lot of the time they do It’s weird

[@Metqa]

@@shadowfaxdog9733 a lot of my fellow gaijin coworkers didn't bother to learn Japanese, but we were working there at least a year and longer. Because I learned and tried speaking, I got invited to events, people's homes, and places that gaijin typically didn't go as often because there were fewer Bilingual/ English speakers to translate. Of course my Japanese friends who took me along would translate for me on really confusing parts but they included me because I bothered to try, and they could laugh at my many faux pas and teach me too. And they got to learn American English from me as well. It was more fun than just going to all the international English centered pubs. I climbed frigging Mt. Fuji all night ( and alone after the 2 gaijin i started with went off on their own) so I could experience sunrise above the clouds 🗻🌄 and I got to hang out with some Shinto at the top who invited me to walk down with them They overheard me speaking Japanese , noticed i was alone, and invited me to join their pilgrimage group. I wouldn't have had that great experience with the Shinto followers if I had tried to keep up with the English-only hikers. The Shinto people were kind and interesting. And , BTW, I learned first hand that clouds are not soft, warm, cottony puffs like in cartoons, ...they are cold. and dark. and wet inside. ☁️🌧💦😢 And I'm glad I made them laugh at my surprise yelp at being doused in cold wet vapor totally unprepared.

[@user-ts2ch3xt2j]

I’m Japanese and I can easily understand what he says

[@mateobravo9212]

When a foreigner speaks Spanish in Spain too. 😂😂😂

[@nashaec3233]

This the type of thing to make me say never mind and go to another store smh. I bet if they said never mind she would understand quick 😒

[@shinikyokai8815]

She'd probably feel bad that she couldn't help you. She's more likely nervous because she's never talked much to foreigners and it's an unfamiliar situation so her brain shut down, kind of like how ours do during presentations, interviews or other stressful or unfamiliar situations. Let's not be so quick to automatically assume the worst out of everyone.

[@phia888]

great. i’m going to japan next june and this made me feel fabulous 😭

[@shinikyokai8815]

It's an exaggeration. You'll be fine. Japanese people sometimes get nervous talking to foreigners.

[@Flow.ability]

I had no issue. Everyone i met was kind and respectful. Even the taxi drivers were shocked to have a conversation and also appreciative. Don't be worried!♡

[@SkyeAten]

...has never happened to me in the almost 4 years I've been here. Not to me, not to my other foreign friends... Not when I'm alone and not when I'm with my Japanese friends. Please... please don't let the foreigners who show up here with a victim mentality make you worried about coming here. They get here, experience a miscommunication (bound to happen), or just some rude person.. and scream racism. It's ridiculous. It's not like that and it's NOT common. When I first arrived, I hardly spoke any Japanese and there were so few "bad" interactions (aka, I didn't know how to say it in Japanese, took out my phone and used google translate while they patiently waited to try and understand what I wanted). But everyone did their best to understand me. I lived in Europe before and even with people speaking English, and being the same race, I met so many rude people.. so rude doesn't equal racist. lol. And I met at almost one rude person per day in Europe... whereas in Japan, gosh, I met one "rude" lady once, in my time here, at a phone store that said "please bring your Japanese friend and come back next next time"...because I couldn't possibly read the Japanese contract myself... I felt hurt when she said that, but then I realized, it's not because she was even actually being rude... it's because I felt incompetent. But most people experience that, them make tik toks of how racist people are.. lmao.

[@PIVfirestarkproducon]

Take what you see with a grain of salt. I think it's as unrealistic to think "this isn't true! no japanese act like this! it's a gaijin victim complex!" as it is to think "all japanese are xenophobic". People are very diverse and unique, so anything can happen, and as long as you are prepared to accept the possibilities, you will be fine.

[@SkyeAten]

@@PIVfirestarkproducon Yeah but this video is absolutely screaming "all Japanese are xenophobic", which you can see in the thousands of people saying how discouraged and angry they are about this. In truth, it's a very rare occurrence but I do think people with victim complex will be more likely to interpret any sort of communication problem as xenophobia. It's what they're expecting, hence their experience that "it happens 24/7 " (as one woman once told me here when I said it hasn't happened to me yet). Whereas in truth, there will always be communications problems between non-native speakers, as well as big cultural differences. Those don't automatically imply xenophobia but some people interpret it as such and make things worse by approaching staff as if they are already expecting them to be rude... they give off a bad vibe, and actually just end up attracting it themselves. *psychologyyyyy~

[@Dallas_Scott]

EXACTLY the same in Thailand 😂 Sometimes I have to look Thai people in the eye and ask them bluntly, “Do you speak your own language?”

[@Chironex_Fleckeri]

In the end it was fine because his friend spoke Japanese as well as being the cashier too

[@mdgeisto8953]

Why is this such a common trope/meme? Western foreigner here. Traveled through Japan for three weeks in 2018, speaking Japanese only - in hotels, conbinis, trains stations, stores, ramen restaurants, clubs, you name it. This didn't happen to me even once.

[@shinikyokai8815]

Been here five years. Same, it hasn't happened. Or when it has, it's because I'm lazy and told my Japanese girlfriend to do the talking for me, or she just automatically speaks for me anyways.

[@tofu5052]

thats when u hit them w the "sorry do u not speak japanese..?" to throw em off. id honestly rather just have them deny me service up front than beat around the bush & pretend we all dont know whats going on lol.

[@Bearmund]

Oh snap, I'm gonna have to try that, I bet if I say "sorry do u not speak japanese..?" the feckers will start listening/responding to me! :D

[@BewareOfStinger]

No, please don't use such passive aggressive phrases. It won't make the situation better. It would make it only worse.

[@BewareOfStinger]

I would recommend speaking a bit more loudly and clearly, maybe also emphasizing that you are going to repeat yourself slowly: 発音が悪くてごめんなさい！もう一度ゆっくり話しますね！XXXをお願いします。 I would bet that in most cases this would resolve the situation. But in case it does not, you can proceed with being passive aggressive haha. I'd probably just that I'm going to go to another place and leave..

[@theoaky8924]

@@BewareOfStinger Save your breath, my friend. A lot of people from western countries (especially people from the U.S) are just really eager to take any sort of presived slight as malicious intent, especially when it comes to 'racism'. You will not convince them that their could be any reason why people from other nationalities might treat them a little differently, other than "they are just racist". But I commend your efforts.

[@onemanfunkband5545]

I ask them if they are Chinese in Japanese straight up. When they look offended ( which they always do), I say, ' Oh, you speak Japanese'!

[@dannyjorde2677]

So remember, no matter how hard you study the language, Japanese people will simply reject the fact that you speak the language 👌

[@EricSuede]

Oh my God. Not just japan. Same happens here in Honduras. Despite the fact that Garifunas (Black Hondurans) are here, I suppose I still stick out as American and they do the same thing when I speak clear spanish.

[@BongoMaster99]

Lol this happens to me every other day too. Sad when my friends are not around 🙃

[@renmasaki2331]

@Shoka Lgbt 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

[@JAIRMOREN0]

@Shoka Lgbt Guess looking like an asian finally has it's benefits

[@ProbablyMeMaybe]

@Shoka Lgbt 🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡

[@SkyeAten]

What exactly are you saying and who are you talking to? I've lived in Japan for 3 years and this has never happened to me. I've been to big cities and countryside areas. None of my foreign friends have experienced this either. Then again, people have said that I have a very good accent... Maybe your Japanese just isn't as good as it could be? Just keep practicing! ❤️😊

[@watchmesquatch]

@@SkyeAten get over yourself. 🤣🤣