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This is my question: What do Japanese people think if I only use formal forms when speaking Japanese?

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    They'd think you are an upright language learner and respectable person. – Eddie Kal Jun 09 '22 at 00:34
  • This question is quite broad, and requires the answerer to imagine many different possible scenarios and the opinions of many different kinds of Japanese people. It would help to narrow the focus some more. – Leebo Jun 09 '22 at 00:47
  • I'd say that this is opinion-based question and should be closed. – Skye-AT Jun 09 '22 at 00:55

1 Answers1

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If you are an adult businessperson and speak Japanese only with non-family members, you should have no problem in most cases. People around you may not even notice you don't (or can't) use casual forms. Actually, I'm a native Japanese speaker, and most of my colleagues have only seen me using polite forms (aside from short interjectory-like expressions such as すごい "Great!" and やった "I did it!").

If you have a Japanese friend/partner who you hang out with on weekends, or if the atmosphere of your workplace is especially casual/homey, or if you are a high school student, then you'll eventually need to be able to speak casually using plain forms. They won't care much while your Japanese is not fluent yet, but if you stick to polite forms even after you become fluent, people will start to feel you're too remote.

Related: How do Japanese speakers transition from polite to plain form amongst friends?

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