I wonder if what you're saying may be the reason behind something I've noticed. I think I've mentioned before that I work at a university library and that we have a lot of Japanese students - most of whom are here because of the intensive English program. At the library, two-thirds of our student workers are Japanese. They're great workers, better than their American counterparts for whatever reason. But this is the thing: they will hardly ever talk to you. (Or me or whoever. You get the point.) When they have to ask me something, they barely say more than a few words. They study texts written in English (with an electronic translator handy). They're here to study English so you would think they'd be more willing to try to converse.

I'm not annoyed about it, just surprised a bit. I've rather suspected it was a combination of shyness and fear of not getting it right. Still, I wish they'd learn that the rest of us are very forgiving or mistakes and that use would improve they language skills. *sigh*