Does some Japanese people speak English in Japan - Feed Post by pebbles

• 
  jc89

  Japan is not an "English speaking country," but learning basic English is part of the country's high school curriculum. If you're visiting Tokyo or another big city, it's not hard to find an adult who knows simple English if you need help. Service venues like restaurants, train stations and airports almost aalways have a fluent English speaker available. If you visit the countryside, away from tourist attractions, it's more difficult to find English speakers.

  April 8, 2016 at 10:11pm
• 
  pebbles

  thanks

  April 10, 2016 at 6:10pm
• 
  Velyzia

  @ jc89 I assume i was unlucky so. In none of these places I found somebody able to speak English. Even in my hotel most of the receptionists had difficulties to follow a discussion in English ^^

  April 10, 2016 at 7:40pm
• 
  jc89

  In my experience, if you're in a hotel or cellphone store or somewhere like that, and you can't communicate with any of the in-person staff, as long as it's during business hours, they can call a bilingual representative who can talk to you and translate to the staff. The younger the person, and the further away from a city environment, the lower your chances are of finding a random English speaker.
  
  Although, Japan's biracial population has grown marginally but noticeably in the past 20 or so years. There's a generation in the ~18-30 age group who most likely have a functional if not fluent understanding of the language of their foreign parent, so they sometimes take jobs as bilingual representatives.

  April 10, 2016 at 8:57pm