Can Top 1% Students in Japan Speak English? | Street Interview

0:00 - Preview
0:19 - What's your major?
1:42 - How do you rate your English skills?
2:29 - English Challenge
8:02 - How difficult is speaking English fluently?
8:38 - Why Japanese students struggle with speaking English
10:08 - How important is English for young Japanese?

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this video do not represent that of Asian Boss or the general Japanese public.

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[bryantmissions]

Confidence is the biggest issue when speaking a foreign language. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. My best English students haven’t been the best at actually speaking English, but they weren’t scared to make mistakes trying.

[yinglilien]

Speaking from a Taiwanese perspective, “how are you?” is definitely the most difficult question to answer for any East Asians 🥹 We’re soooo not used to being questioned about our well-being so when being asked, all the self-doubt and overthinking patterns becomes overwhelming that we come up with a cringy “I’m fine, thank you! And you?”

[CarlsAnne]

Unfortunately so many students aren't good at speaking English because the way it is taught. Like they said, the learning is so passive and focused on the rules. However, language is alive, and you have to interact with it fully to get the most out of learning. Toddlers don't exactly practice conjugating verbs...

[IKEMENOsakaman]

We don't need to be fluent or need to have American/British accents. If we can communicate, that's enough.

[KestrelHarper]

I was so proud of the student in tan/beige who was being interviewed at night, because he wasn't confident at all but he pushed through. He didn't try to look at the interviewer while he was speaking because he knew it would increase his anxiety and looking away let him concentrate more on vocabulary retrieval. On top of everything else they have to learn given the Japanese work ethic, these students should be proud of how much they know.

[zammich]

They did really well. The thing about language is that it's not just intelligence or innate skill, it's PRACTICE and TIME, so the fact that these students were able to put in so much time and effort into English IN ADDITION TO all the other subjects they had to perform incredibly well in to be accepted into a school like Tokyo University is insane. I really respect their efforts!

[asdfghjjhgf]

It's simply due to the environment. I am Japanese but to be honest, I have never needed English while living in Japan. I'm just learning because I'm interested in the language. People are not eager to learn English because Japan is a country where you can live comfortably just by speaking Japanese. Almost all books in foreign languages are translated, and you can learn almost all academic subjects in Japanese. For example, Toshihide Masukawa, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics, cannot speak English at all. And the fact that many Japanese, especially the Gen Z, have little interest in going abroad may also be a factor. Japan's passport ownership rate is 18%, the lowest among developed countries.

[RealTaIk]

When I visited japan I noticed they are very shy and completely different from a country like Germany.
For example, when I was talking english in japan it felt like people were trying to avoid talking english as much as possible, either talking japanese or saying nothing at all.
On the other hand, when I hear someone in Germany talking english, me and alot of my friends usually get excited and try to get into a small talk because this is a good opportunity to finally test our english skills. When I visited poland and croatia it was also the same for them, someone heard me talk english and they immediately tried to open a conversation.

I get the feeling japanese people are afraid of doing mistakes when talking so they try to not talk unless they are certain they don't make a mistake, meanwhile my spanish friend confidentally makes 10 mistakes in 1 sentence but it doesn't matter because we all understood what he is trying to say :D

[shyeahright]

I love that when we aren’t confident in our language skills we all have kind of the same embarrassment/stress. 😊 their English is SO much better than my Japanese, and I’m so appreciative of anyone who even tries. 💕

[hongsamwine]

One of my housemates is a Japanese on a working holiday visa in australia. She could barely string a sentence when she got here, but after she started working and mingling with more Aussies, her English has honestly improved heaps and bound. It’s so much fun when we would just hangout and talk about our varying experiences growing up and our thoughts on social issues!

[viciousoz]

3:05 Crazy. He seems to be struggling more than the others, but his enunciation is somehow better

[spikesmth]

I'm impressed that these technical students speak as well as they do! I'm American, always focused on math and into engineering and economics, but I learned Spanish for all my language requirements over the years. The study was good, but some years of working in kitchens with a lot of Mexicans really gave me the opportunity to USE the language. Some of the guys spoke nearly native English too so they were able to really teach and explain the vocabulary and colloquialisms.

I love seeing them have to think hard for the words, and they all mostly incredibly clear and understandable. There's a term called circumlocution, which means, using the limited words you know to explain/describe ideas that you don't have the words for. It's always fascinating to hear how English learners use this tool. Don't know the word for axe? Say "wood cut stick." In context, a native speaker would know exactly what you mean.

[JapanDream]

I think they did pretty good considering the pressure of talking in front of a camera. I teach English in Japan and my classes are focused entirely on conversation. Aloha from Yokohama🤙🏽

[chapterrunning]

As someone who taught in Japan for thirty years I can say Japanese are truly not interested in using English as a tool to interact. They learn it as an academic subject, as a job requirement or as a personal challenge / hobby - not as a way of communicating. Japanese find social interaction even amongst themselves as a big challenge. Communication with foreigners, even in Japanese should be kept polite, cheery and brief.

Basically, the Japanese will only pursue something if there is potential economic or social advantage in it for them. They are extremely practical and conservative. The only exception might be hobbies - English (passing the various Eiken tests etc.) being a common one.

[kishcorheunbl]

I have a friend that isn't exactly fluent in English but is pretty smart in other subjects like math, but what I really admire about that dude is his confidence. He doesn't care about being grammatically wrong, he just speaks with confidence. Now he's improved so much and I just can't help but be proud of him.
Now back to the video, I think they all are just lacking in confidence in speaking english and that leads to no one being there to correct them. I think it's also bc japan in general doesn't have much need to be fluet in english unlike other asian countries like where I'm from. Japan is fine just speaking their own language.

[Miss_Kisa]

They all did great! They should be proud. I was able to understand everything they were trying to say even without the subtitles.

[cubbance]

It's so humbling to see them holding basic conversations in English, when no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to make any real progress in Japanese. My hat's off to all of them.

[ChuckieMcHaggis]

Re entry rates: 25% is a generous way of putting it. It's around 30%, but you need a GPA equivalent in the national entry exam of 4.5 to bother applying; so that's 30% of people with 4.5+ GPA.

[BenSwagnerd]

English is my first language. These folks impressed me. Japan is so homogenous- i can see why itd be hard to find opportunities to practice english in a conversational and informal way. As an American i get lots of chances to practice my second language (Spanish) and still struggle. Languages are hard. I think those students should be very proud of all the work theyve done. English and Japanese are so different from each other, i am so impressed at how well they communicated in english.

[dcar]

If you don't need to deal with international business, that's fine. If you want to communicate with foreigners, knowing English is an advantage.