> There is also something else I notice: some people will decide they will not understand you because you look/are foreign no matter how hard you try or even if

> There is also something else I notice: some people will decide they will not understand you because you look/are foreign no matter how hard you try or even if you don't make not many mistakes. There is a famous video about that[1] That was my impression when I'd studied in Japan decades ago (but TBH it was so long ago I can't really recall if it had happened to me personally), however it seems that it is getting better. I actually saw your linked video by way of another [0], and the people he'd interviews generally finds the scenario ridiculous, too. Moreover, there's a follow-up video [1] where he put the premise* to the test, and majority of people replied in Japanese back. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLBShiGoJFo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLBShiGoJFo [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TofNjIjt0TQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TofNjIjt0TQ (*) TBF, the various sampling / editorial biases aside, his setup was not quite right in the follow-up video. He should have had a pair, one Japanese and one foreigner, had the foreigner ask for directions, and see if the test subjects a) replied back in Japanese, and b) repeatedly directed their replies to the Japanese of the pair.