sneakyjapan said:However good you believe it to be, you...and I...are still just gaijins...so careful how suggestions are worded...theres a very fine line between suggestion and insult. I have been here 18 years and learned my place, sometimes it`s just better to keep my mouth shut, especially when my wife is with me...I see her get uncomfortable sometimes...this is not North America where we are taught to speak out minds, quite the opposite...they are not supposed to question anything that comes from people above, so if it were me...I`d just change out the toggle and let sleeping dogs lie...you have a good relationship with them now, better not risk that...just my suggestion. If you use the word ditch, they`ll have to look it up in the dictionary and find out it`s that thing beside the road and possibly won`t be able to put 2 and 2 together, they may think thats where you think their guitars should be left, hard to say just what they`ll think, but I follow the KISS moto...Keep It Simple Stupid when I am communicating with them.
Good advice!
I've fallen foul of the communication issues several times - the channels just go silent, no replies at all.
Somebody else (Japanese) who used to be on here mentioned that if a Japanese person is having trouble understanding you they will often just not communicate anymore rather than seeking clarification.
That's very interesting about looking words up in the dictionary, us gaijins just don't realise how confusing english can be.