Strange Japanese beliefs & urban myths

[den4]

What kind of companies did you teach at (and what level) ? Why would that be a scary thought ? I found people in big Japanese (or Western) companies to be usually better educated than people with a "arubaito" or doing non-intellectual jobs. But even the most educated ones still stick to stereotypes and misconceptions, something that would not normally happen to someone with the same education level in Europe.

I taught at all sorts of companies in and around the Concrete jungle of Tokyo and the surrounding satellite cities. Since we were basically sent to the client (company) for an in-house Engrish (I mean English) instruction, it went anywhere from average "What is your name?" level to some assistance with translations from Japanese to English, or preparing speeches for clients that were heading out overseas (mostly to US or Canada), or advanced level conversation debate classes to ensure the clients' level of English did not deteriorate once they returned to their regular jobs once again.
Yes, you are very correct that even the advanced level folks held certain stereotypes and misconceptions, but usually they were of a level to debate the validity of such notions amongst each other, so that tended to be a plus.
I rarely taught children's level stuff, since most of our clients were in large companies...although I do recall having to test potential clients once at a company, and when the student went into a state near catatonic panic at having to speak in English, that tended to be somewhat "disturbing."

Why is it scary? Well, I figure it is frightening that you probably had to go through the same sort of nonsense I had to at those types of corporation-as-client classes.....and so, I can understand why you pose the questions that you do.....
I could be way off base, of course, but from the nature of most of your commentaries, I suspect I'm not too far off the mark....

[Maciamo]

Why is it scary? Well, I figure it is frightening that you probably had to go through the same sort of nonsense I had to at those types of corporation-as-client classes.....and so, I can understand why you pose the questions that you do.....
I could be way off base, of course, but from the nature of most of your commentaries, I suspect I'm not too far off the mark....

I think we had a similar work experience, and heard similar nonsense then. I have to say that a few of my students are really interesting and more "world-aware" than average. But they are exceptions, peope who have actually lived abroad and are very interested in at least one particular country (eg. the UK or the USA), or who frequently travel to Western countries for research purposes (for their job). Some less tarvelled people are also more careful in their questions and do not ask dumb questions. I'd say that only about 3/4 of the people I have met ask dumb questions (which is a lot, but leaves a good 1/4). But rare are the people who have never been to Europe or America (apart from Hawaii), who do not have strong misconceptions (even if they have been to Asian countries).