So I am an American that learns Japanese. I do stutter more in Japanese than English and glad you brought up this topic because it’s in my mind a lot. I think the main reason for me is the anxiety I have from “performing” in a new language. That mixed with my perfectionism on saying the right things that match with the cultural nuances of the country. And just overall the amount of thought that has to go through my head to formulate a sentence can cause stress. I think specifically with Japanese it can be difficult because of their indirect way of communicating, requiring me to read subtle social cues while at the same time listening to the Japanese words. So maybe learning a language of a culture that speaks very bluntly would provide more clarity and take stress off. Lastly, I think just the feeling of being an outsider I can sometimes put pressure on myself to prove I can fit in. With that being said I do try to challenge myself and get out and speak with Japanese friends and my Japanese church members. I have been thinking about throwing myself in the deep end and just going to live in Japan, but it’s difficult to feel motivated because it doesn’t sound very fun to show up to a country, spending much money just to face a challenge. Overall though, I think we need to just take it easy on ourself, know it’s not our first language, and pause between words to allow ourself to calm down