Why Do Many Japanese Struggle To Speak English? #shorts

#shorts #japan #english #education #language #study #asia #asianboss #staycurious

[Kenjiro]

As part of the Japanese American community in the US, there are plenty of 1st generation Japanese here who speak flawless English. It really is about immersion and habituation. Japanese only get to practice English with other Japanese, so there is no improvement.

[quasar]

I think because Japanese people don't really think they need to learn English unless they travel abroad or study abroad. Japan is a pretty advanced country themselves. People go to Japan rather than Japanese need to go to the other countries.

[kieranmandy]

Ex english teacher in Japan here.

The formal English education system is in Japan is formatted around ease of assessment and standardisation of output over actual language outcomes.

There is little room for creativity of expression in most of the system. instead the concept appears to be that if you learn a whole lot of simple grammar rules, words etc, your ability to replicate that accurately in very narrowly focused contexts will lead to you magically being able to construct larger, more complex language patterns...

As usual, everyone works super hard to do their best in the Japanese education framework, but in the case of English, the system itself leads to poor outcomes.

[sincerelysof]

The last girl is probably correct. Here in the Netherlands, we start learning English at elementary school. So, the second girl may not be completely correct. But we do work on reading, listening, conversations and literature. So that makes the difference.

[garyi.]

Conversely, why is it that most Americans are not adept at acquiring foreign languages as well as not being able to write English well in terms of spelling, grammar, syntax, logical sequence, etc.

[VermilionLotus]

Japanese people learn English for classes in school (to pass tests). Most people don't study English to actually LEARN English. Therefore, when it comes to actually using it, the odds of them being able to effectively communicate are low. Not to mention they are seldom tested on their speaking skill, only reading and writing.

[JJamesmale]

Due to the limited number of sounds of the Japanese language, I'm convinced that an early focus on pronounciation would do wonders.

[aznmochibunny]

I think the main issue is exactly what the last girl said and what the first guy said. The way that Japanese learn English is solely through textbook and repetition, but no actual conversation practice, which makes it harder for the language to stick. Most Japanese will know basic English phrases (or what I'd like to call "survival" language skills - just enough to get by but not enough to have in depth conversation with someone). They only learn enough to pass the tests, but everything goes out the door once they stop learning it.

[nattojelly]

I am from Germany living in Japan right now. I did a home stay at a Highschool here back in the days and was shocked about the English lessons. There is not communication training, like expressing your own thought or eg discussing themes of a book etc with everyone. I think that is the biggest reason why it is so hard for people here to speak English because they did not learn to use the language intuitively and their brains are not used to speaking without thinking (does anyone understand what I am trying to say?)

[mrkisukes]

If you want to learn a foreign language, then you need to accept that you will make mistakes…a LOT of mistakes. Even after years of studying the language, you will make mistakes and you need to not fear looking like a fool in front of strangers or you will never learn.

[johnprivat]

Correct me if I am wrong and mistaken. I'm open for answers (but not rudeness).

Could it also depend on that the Japanese people haven't had so much need to use the English language since they got everything they need, required and wanted in the Japanese language as they live in Japan?

The shows and movies they make are already in Japanese, the works and jobs needs mostly to be their own language, the influence and importance of society has already been so useful with Japanese that the English language got less important for them or something like that?

Which could lead to having a less need of using it on the daily basis and therefore gets harder to develop their English skills in the long run I suspect.

[jayme]

Because of pronunciation, going from Japanese to English, as with a LOT of of languages going to English, we pronounce our words "hard" with our tongue placement and the other languages use more of a "loose" tongue placement and it can be confusing, just as it can be from Native English Speaker to use a "loose" tongue trying to learn Latin/Asian languages. So each person can end up tongue-tied and frustrated.

[tyrellwithbapes]

They teach English from elementary school in Japan, and many kindergartens also teach it.

[ian-blum]

That part about the perfectionists hit home. I'll stay silent over saying the wrong thing and English is my first language 😅😅

[gosaiidsakikan]

We learn English as a subject not communication tools

[ReynardNathaniel]

I mean tbh, even if the school start teaching english from elementary school, unless they want to learn, it won't really that effective imo.

[Pana]

I'd say HOW languages are teached in Japan and by Japanese is mostly the issue here.

I took Japanese classes in Tokyo for 3 months and for about 2 years back in Germany, both times I felt like the way they try to teach you the language was just worse compared to what I was used to from being teached English since 3rd grade.

Probably a huge reason why a lot people just stick to self study.
Now I'm not a teacher so I can't exactly tell you what they to wrong but it just felt less like quality language lessons to me.

[angryangel]

The third girl has same facial feature as my friend even her smile😶😆😆

[youtubehand]

Why do so many English speaking people struggle to speak Japanese?

[pebblesandwoowoo]

I think their English is perfect! I see Asian Boss and Koreans, Chinese, Japanese, about speaking English and how it's down to not feeling confident due to perfectionism.

It breaks my heart because it is so amazing!! One creator had a child who spoke only English (although they knew the native tongue) ask for help from stranges and so many people said they couldn't speak English but tried and OH MY GOODNESS IT WAS PERFECT!! The child and creator said how brilliant they were and that it's such a shame people don't have the confidence to say they can speak it!

I can barely speak any languages, but when trying, people have been so kind. I'm trying to learn Korean, but it's so hard as no one teaches it! I did find a Saturday school for my 5yo though so I hope she can start when there is a space 🤞 I would love her to experience the Asian side of the world as my stepmother is Chinese and we have family over there; so for my daughter to have the opportunity to travel and maybe study there would be amazing if I can set her up with the right tools. I just hope everyone is as lovely and helpful with her language studies too lol xx