Assumptions that gaijin cannot speak Japanese (at all)

[Maciamo]

Maciamo... There is one part of your argument which appears flawed to me. You seem to describe this 'insulting' surprised reaction as something which is pretty unique to the Japanese.

I (yes ME) am often surprised when a foreigner I meet displays a solid command of Japanese. So, I discriminate too. And what's more I don't really care if you want to accuse me of discrimination. Against who? Foreigners? Like me?

Why am I surprised? Because for every one good Japanese speaker I meet, I come across fifty who struggle to even make basic conversation. And that includes people who have been here for several years.

Don't forget that I come from a country where most people need to be bilingual or trilingual (i.e. speak 2 or 3 languages at an advanced level) to get a job (and not just a good one, even supermarket cashier). Most of my friends in Continental Europe (+ Scandinavia) can speak 2 to 4 foreign languages at least conversationally (i.e. intermediate level, let's say about a 500 to 700 TOEIC score in English). Japanese being a relatively easy language to learn (few grammatical rules or irregularities, easy pronuciation), I would be surprised to meet somebody who has lived 4 years in Japan, lives with a native Japanese speaker, cannot at least speak conversational Japanese - especially if that person under 30.

I could understand that people who live in an closed expat community, and/or people who have first come to Japan when they were over 40 years old may not speak much Japanese after 4 years. If they do not speak it at all, however, it's pure laziness and unacceptable (they would have no respect for the local culture). But these people are the exception rather than the rule, and not the people younger Japanese would normally have met before to base their comparison. I don't have statistics, but I am under the impression (from my observations in the steet, and from the age of the average age of this forum's members) that the biggest part of Westerners that live in Japan are in their 20's or 30's.

Note that I am not surprised when Japanese people I meet assume that my friends or relatives that come and visit me in Japan (and have never lived there or aren't necessarily interested in Japan) do not speak Japanese. It's obvious. I also do not say that the Japanese should expect a foreigner to reach an advanced level after 3 or 4 years, but at least have a daily conversation level. Their surprise usually comes only after a few words that I have said. Knowing that after 4 years in the country and living with a Japanese, if they still assume that I can't make a sentence or understand what they say, I find it insulting.

One of my main complaints is that typical Japanese do not differentiate between (long-term) residents and short-term visitors. For them, a gaijin is a gaijin and it is as surprising that one of them speaks Japanese when they have just set foot in the country or have lived there for 5 or 10 years. It's only shocking to me that they should not make this distinction in their mind, not the fact that they are surprised in itself. I didn't mind at all in my first year, as I was still somewhat of a tourist.