Which would you choose of these locations?

[orbiter]

Originally Posted by saibot

I recently read a reply (not on C-D) to a query about raising bilingual children in Japan. The poster discouraged it, saying that there is no need for English as everyone speaks Japanese everywhere in the country. Furthermore, it's really important that all Japanese children feel like part of the group, and speaking English at home would be detrimental to the child by making him feel like an "other."

I was amazed by this reply and don't think it is typical, but it goes to show that there is still a certain amount of insularity in Japan that Westerners don't necessarily expect these days.

They want foreigners to communicate with them in Japanese, in a subtle or not so subtle way.

New Tokyo restaurant charges higher prices to foreign tourists than Japanese locals
https://soranews24.com/2024/05/08/ne...panese-locals/

[roadwarrior101]

Originally Posted by Type O Negative

The company I work for have pretty much a office in every major country in the world and I can easily get a job in any of these locations. Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand or Japan.

If you could choose, where would you live based on:
Cost of living
Acceptance of foreigners
High level of english
Affordable Private/international schools

Thanks

Long-term, I would probably pick Malaysia. There was not any problem on my visit to KL and Langkawi in speaking English. I found prices very affordable, people friendly, food was generally high quality and the scenery was very good. I have also heard good things about Penang, but haven't had an opportunity to visit.

Here are my thoughts on the other places (I've visited them all):

-Japan - Amazing place to visit (I've been to Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Okinawa). Very clean/punctual and affordable for a traveler (unless you want to hit up Michelin starred restaurants in big cities). However, English is not widely spoken and while people are polite, they aren't all that accepting of foreigners (very homogenous). Would love to spend more time traveling in Japan but not sure about long-term living
-Thailand - I've been to Bangkok, Phuket and Krabi. Bangkok is a fascinating city. We stayed in Sukhumvit and you had all the amenities you'd expect at home. I found English was spoken a decent amount (much higher than where we lived in Seoul, South Korea). However, air pollution is terrible, infrastructure is not great (lots of flooding) and you could definitely see a lot of rough edges outside of upscale areas. Phuket was gorgeous but I didn't really care for the area of Patong (very seedy). If I were to stay in some of the smaller towns of Phuket or Krabi, I'd enjoy that. However, not sure about job opportunities.
-Indonesia - I went to Bali and had a layover in Jakarta. I am not an expert of Jakarta but have heard that traffic/pollution are terrible there. I don't think it would be very livable. Bali could be livable as a digital nomad and I found English was spoken fairly well there.

[Tomboy-]

Originally Posted by orbiter

They want foreigners to communicate with them in Japanese, in a subtle or not so subtle way.

New Tokyo restaurant charges higher prices to foreign tourists than Japanese locals
https://soranews24.com/2024/05/08/ne...panese-locals/

For most jobs other than language teachers, foreigners have to pass various levels of japanese language tests before they can work in Japan. There is no such strict requirement for foreigners in South Korea, Taiwan, HK and other parts of Asia.