Speaking of learning Japanese, it reminds me of something that happened years ago..
Our company once had a meeting with Sony Ericsson staff. At the beginning, the two teams walked toward each other and exchanged introductions.
To show respect for our Japanese counterparts, we all introduced ourselves in Japanese.
I remember that at the time I said:
こんにちは、孟XXです。
初めまして。よろしくお願いします。
As our teams walked toward each other, I kept repeating the same self-introduction to everyone I met. Then I came across a young man — I had just started my line when he suddenly interrupted me:
我是中国人，我叫李X。
He completely broke the pattern, and I was caught off guard. I mechanically finished the rest of my memorized sentence, then my face turned bright red with embarrassment.
Lol! He was Chinese! :)