Try to adopt Dio’s voice actor’s accent and then you might get told that you sound like a lover lol
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やれやれだぜ is my natural response to being overwhelmed.
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I picked up that one of my coworkers likes saying やれやれ but his intonation is so different from Jotaro that it didn’t register as the same phrase for the longest time. He says it more like Charley Brown lol
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Oh, I don’t really think it’s an insult. I just find the whole joke thing funny and try enjoying it the most, lol.
@DIO-Berry is definitely right when they talk about how Japanese people have problems with English. Japan has a very strong culture of “learning languages is a supernatural power way beyond us, mere mortals”, so most people tend to find any language-related skill impressive.
Also there is a very strong culture of praising effort in Japan, so I think what @frologic says is also true, too. Sometimes it’s not necessarily the skill itself, but the fact you are learning Japanese that is being praised.
That aside, as long as I rationally know Japanese people are not trying to be offensive and it’s just what they do, don’t expect me, as an adult, to be thrilled because someone said it’s impressive I can lace my shoes (or use chopsticks, for the matter), lol.
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JoJo is just Charlie Brown for Adults. Lets be real. Dio is just Lucy with Blonde Spiky hair.
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Though I confess I wouldn’t mind too much the American practice of speaking louder and slower. 
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DO YOU NEED A SPANISH SPEAKER?!?! OR A SPANISH SPEAKER!
busts out a D.A.S. Audio branded speaker and ups the volume
Finally found it.
A lot truer than I would like to admit.
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I feel like I need this as a poster lmao
I think that’s another case with context is key. I know tons of people who have lived here for years, but due to the very stressful burden of raising kids haven’t been able to study much so even though they can speak pretty well, they don’t know many kanji. Those folks totally deserve praise for the amount that they have been able to learn! But if you’re regularly handing me lesson plans written entirely in (non-simplified) Japanese and literally watch me read them without issue, maybe you can just go ahead and assume that I know 一年生 level kanji, ya know?
In a similar vein I also hear from professional translators that they’ll get 日本語上手’d by colleges for being able to read simple kanji. They’re working in your office as a translator. Of course they can read kanji. Pls use your head.
At it’s worse I feel like this attitude can play into the “Japanese is so uniquely difficult that a foreigner could never truely learn it.” Which then just leads to a shit ton of housing and employment discrimination as people just assume that they won’t be able to communicate with you in Japanese, and therefore refuse to hire you or rent an apartment to you (not everyone’s like that obvs, but it happens)
So yeah basically I have a bone to pick with this kind of praise because sometimes it can play into some really harmful stereotypes and prejudices. People should just actually pay attention to the person they’re trying to compliment and give a compliment appropriate for their Japanese level
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A year later I have gotten a couple ペラペラs and a lot of 日本語上手s. Feels good man.
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Next stop, “日本人”
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The last time I was in Japan I got “Are your parents missionaries or something?”, which, I assume, puts me somewhere in the weird middle ground where your accent definitely isn’t native-like, but still, it’s weirdly good for a foreigner.
I feel I might get cancelled if I go too far with that lol.
Canceled?? Too far??
どういうこと
OH like become a citizen… (nervous laughter)
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