それにしても日本人と変わりませんね - this sentence seems to make no sense


I have been doing exercises from Nihongo so-matome n3 grammar book, when I
stumbled upon this question, and the answer seems to make no sense to me
(Nihongo so-matome n3 grammar pg. 59, ex. 14)

> 日本語が上手なのは10年もいるからなんですね。（＿）日本人と変わりませんね
>
> １）そのたびに ２）それにしては ３）だとしたら ４）それにしても

the correct answer is supposedly 4) but it seems to make no sense, so I must
be misunderstanding something. Doesn't it mean "He has been speaking japanese
fluently for the past 10 years. Even so he is no different from a Japanese [in
his language ability]"?




> 日本語が上手なのは10年もいるからなんですね。（＿）日本人と変わりませんね。  
>  Your Japanese is good and it's because you've been in Japan for 10 years.
> (___) you are no different from Japanese people.

I believe 3) だとしたら and 4) それにしても are both acceptable depending on the context.
If this was said to a teenager, I would certainly choose だとしたら ("If that's the
case, ..."). If I know this was a conversation between two people in their
forties, I would not choose だとしたら.

Unlike それにしては which is followed by some contrastive statement, それにしても can work
as "anyway, ...", "at any rate, ..." or even "by the way, ...". It's a word
used to break a logical link with the previous context and tell what the
speaker is feeling at the moment.

> 分かりました、明日が締切ですね。それにしても、この部屋は暑いですね。  
>  Okay, the deadline is tomorrow. By the way, this room is hot, isn't it?

Regarding this question, using それにしても means the speaker is impressed by the
other person's Japanese ability _anyway_. Ten years is a long time, but it may
not be long enough to speak like a native speaker. _Either way / The point is_
, his Japanese is really good.




> 日本語が上手なのは10年もいるからなんですね。（＿）日本人と変わりませんね。  
>  Your Japanese is good and it's because you've been in Japan for 10 years.
> (___) you are no different from Japanese people.

I believe 3) だとしたら and 4) それにしても are both acceptable depending on the context.
If this was said to a teenager, I would certainly choose だとしたら ("If that's the
case, ..."). If I know this was a conversation between two people in their
forties, I would not choose だとしたら.

Unlike それにしては which is followed by some contrastive statement, それにしても can work
as "anyway, ...", "at any rate, ..." or even "by the way, ...". It's a word
used to break a logical link with the previous context and tell what the
speaker is feeling at the moment.

> 分かりました、明日が締切ですね。それにしても、この部屋は暑いですね。  
>  Okay, the deadline is tomorrow. By the way, this room is hot, isn't it?

Regarding this question, using それにしても means the speaker is impressed by the
other person's Japanese ability _anyway_. Ten years is a long time, but it may
not be long enough to speak like a native speaker. _Either way / The point is_
, his Japanese is really good.

