Do you ever speak to foreigners at work/school/etc. in Japanese?

[Mikawa Ossan]

Without getting into details of your workplace, etc., do you ever have to speak to non-Japanese people using Japanese? If so, what are your experiences with it? How do you feel? Have you noticed anything about language ability?

I on occasion have to speak to other foreigners in Japanese both at work and otherwise. I have noticed that I generally feel uneasy at first, because I never know how much Japanese the person I am talking to knows.

I have spoken to people who don't know much Japanese at all to people who are practically native speakers, but I never know at first where people fall in the spectrum, so it is very awkward for a while.

For example, I had to give a Brazilian street directions in Japanese once at a convenience store. I think he understood me, but I couldn't be sure.

My wife works with several foreigners, mostly Chinese and Korean. They have varied Japanese, but generally speaking they are very good, but I can tell that when I speak to them, we both are a little hesitant to say "difficult" words to each other.

At work I often come into contact with foreigners, and their language ability really differs from person to person.

But I notice that I always find myself wondering what words the person I am talking to knows. I always wonder if they can read Japanese. I know that sometimes people will say that they understand out of pride even when they don't.

It always makes me think of what's going on inside of Japanese people's heads when they talk to me.

[Mike Cash]

My experience and perceptions pretty closely mirrors yours. I deliver to one place that has a Chinese gentleman on staff. His Japanese seems to be pretty good other than pronunciation, which he has trouble with and which makes him a bit hard to understand until you get used to him.

There is another customer which has quite a few South Americans. There are times I have gone to deliver there and there were zero Japanese people on the scene.

Of course, I also have the experience of going to a place in New Jersey where my boss warned me to get there before 5 p.m. When I asked him why he told me it was because after 5 there was nobody there who spoke English. And since my Portuguese is non-existent things would go a lot more smoothly if I got there before all the English speakers went home.

[Glenski]

Do I have to? No.
Do I do it anyway? Only in an extremely rare moment when we are talking with a Japanese person who knows zero English.

[Emoni]

A few words might trickle in, but usually I speak English with fellow Americans. However, I have used Japanese as a proxy language many times in China, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan itself usually between the Korean and Chinese students. It was surprisingly useful traveling abroad as well.

[FrustratedDave]

I speak Japanese to foriengers all the time. My Japanese has come to a point where I can't translate it back in English. This meaning that I have had to study a lot in the feild that I am in and that study was in Japanese with Japanese explanations. So when explaining something I can do it better in Japanese especially when it comes to work. (I still try hard to look up the English meanings when I can but sometimes that just confuses what the word actually means in context).

Anyway, another situation where I speak Japanese to a non-Japanese who is American is when I go out with a mix of Japanese and Americans, I find it rude to sit there and talk in English when the Japanese around us don't speak English. Does it bother me? Absolutely not.

Mikawa, I think you have had a taste of how Japanese people feel when speaking to non-Japanese for the first time. So I guess this could answer why a lot of Japanese hesitate when speaking to non-Japanese.

[Glenski]

Anyway, another situation where I speak Japanese to a non-Japanese who is American is when I go out with a mix of Japanese and Americans, I find it rude to sit there and talk in English when the Japanese around us don't speak English. Does it bother me? Absolutely not.
Actually, they don't need to SPEAK it in your nights out, but they can probably UNDERSTAND what they hear a lot better than you think.

[YouHeDad]

I don't like talking to foreigners at ALL. =)

[Prizm]

I tried talking to this exchange student who said she was from Japan. She didn't seem to understand what I was saying in Japanese. She seemed to understand only one or two words. So I thought maybe my accent was off. But then my other Japanese friends have no trouble understanding me.

Later on I found out from her host parents that she was Korean. So she either lied, or she was from Japan but is Korean. Who knows. I find many exchange students are weirdos :)

[GaijinPunch]

I'm one of tje ones that thinks speaking to foreigners in Japanese is amazingly obnoxious (unless there's a Japanese person around and you speak Japanese for their benefit). The only times I've caught myself doing the cheesy deed of speaking Japanese to another westerner:

1: Visiting a friend in jail, and no official translator, so we were forced to, and boy was it uncomfortable
2: An Italian friend whose English really, really, really sucks. He's new to Japanese but can express himself much better than in English.

When I'm confronted with someone from India or other parts of Asia, I'm always confused on what I should do. Especially with the Thai flight attendants on international JAL flights.

[شيخة]

no i didnt but i hope i did one day

[emily00]

I've never talked to anyone but my sensei in Japanese yet, since I'm still only 'high beginner' level. Though I have overheard Japanese at times and been able to understand parts, especially cause a couple months ago we had the Asian festival over here. I heard more Chinese than Japanese there though.

[Taiko666]

I often speak Japanese with a Bangladeshi friend who owns a bar in Nishi Ogikubo. He speaks no English, but his Japanese is fluent (according to his Japanese wife, who has also learnt Bangla btw.) The main difference between talking to him and talking with many native Japanese speakers (my g/friend excepted) is that, should I fail to understand him at first, he has the ability (or inclination) to explain things using simpler Japanese words or grammar, and without sounding like he's talking to an imbecile. I enjoy our conversations immensely!

One notable thing is we're often gawped/giggled/laughed at by Japanese customers for being two gaijin speaking Japanese to each other.