I was surprised to read this comment thread on Facebook:
- I think things were better in Japan when I didn’t understand what people around me were saying. Ahhhh, good ol’ blissful ignorance. Those days are long gone.
- yeah…japan sucks wen u can understand wots going on
- ignorance is bliss
- especially when u know there is little u can do to change. I am done with teaching here. I am seriouslly hoping I have failed the interview earlier
I know that at least one of those people is really good at Japanese, AND teaches at a high-level school. Man, is it really that bad for them? I have only recently begun studying Japanese regularly (yes, I know, that’s lame), so I added:
- i want to learn japanese but i don’t want anyone at school to know about it
To which the original poster replied:
- That’s the best way to do it, Ryan! I knew of one ALT who had to translate stuff from his city’s city hall due to his Japanese ability. The more abilities and work ethic you have, the more you will be used to death. Whereas the useless lazy ALT will find himself/herself with a nice 1,2 or 3 year paid holiday. In terms of Japanese ability, it is best to follow the ol’ Japanese way of keeping everything hidden.
I am going to continue studying, but I will conceal it. (and for the record, neither of us are entirely useless and lazy!) The reason I feel that way is because I like the distance from the language barrier between myself and my coworkers. At my job, I’m happy that I get to contribute a lot, but I don’t want to get sucked into Japanese work culture, in which everyone is too polite and never complains and works too hard. I also don’t want to get sucked into awkward conversations with some of my crazy coworkers. And of course, for now, it’s very embarrassing when I speak such totally bad Japanese! Maybe I’ll change my mind in the future, but for now I’ll continue to study and I will keep quiet about it.