“Your Japanese is so good” Do Japanese people really mean it

>> YOUR LINK HERE: ___ http://youtube.com/watch?v=oCOCc0105eA

I got asked this question: “When Japanese people say your Japanese is so good, is that a real compliment?” • Yes, it’s most definitely a compliment, but the problem is, it sometimes cannot be taken as a compliment from the language learner’s point of view. • If you’re a traveler coming to Japan for the first or second time, and it’s like, • お飲み物の追加はいかがですか？ • Would you like to order something else to drink? • だいじょうぶです • I’m okay. • And a middle-aged guy is like, • 「日本語上手だねー」 • Your Japanese is so good! • They mean it as a compliment, and you can take it as a compliment ☺️. • But if you’ve been speaking Japanese for a while, • お飲み物の追加はいかがですか？ • Would you like to order something else to drink? • 大丈夫です。お冷いただけます？ • I’m okay. Can I get some water? • And a middle-aged guy says, • 日本語上手だねー • Your Japanese is so good! • You’ll be like, “Yeah, because I’ve lived here like 10 years 😒.” • See, the middle-aged guy is just an insensitive middle-aged guy that you can find in any other country. He can’t imagine that a non-stereotypically-Japanese-looking person can also learn to speak Japanese really well. • It’s because most Japanese people cannot imagine themselves speaking any foreign language so well. Besides, they know Japanese is a much rarer language compared to English. So they are purely amazed that you took the time to learn that. • So 日本語上手だねー is a genuine compliment. • But still, if you’re way past the 上手 level, it’s insulting. So I wish Japanese people would stop saying that. • But if a Kyoto person says it to another Japanese person, it’s an pure insult!! • ▶︎ Hi, I’m Kyota, the author of Amazon Best Sellers [Folk Tales of Japan], [Underdogs of Japanese History], and [Horror Tales of Japan]. • Please check out my books at ☺️: https://kyotako.myportfolio.com/ • #japan #japaneseculture #japaneselanguage #japantravel #learnjapanese

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