Why don't Japanese speak English better than they do?

Monday 30th June, 05:08 AM JST

Latest 15 of 105 Total Comments Show All

WMD at 08:49 PM JST - 3rd July

English english english. Arrogance! I know some japanese at my company who speak very good mandarin but low level english. What does that make them?? They need Chinese for their job but not particularly english more than any other language. English is not the ONLY language in the universe you know.
idealist at 10:50 PM JST - 3rd July

niku and WDM - I think you're missing the point.

Asking the question "Why don't Japanese speak English better than they do?" is not as ridiculous a question as you think. You're trying to portray that it's similar to saying something like "Why don't English people speak Japanese better than they do?". In that case your logic of 'Well, because it's a different country!' makes more sense. If you said "This is England, not Japan!" would make perfect sense.

But when you're talking about Japan there's a reason why Japanese are expected to speak better English, which is that it's obviously a huge deal in Japan, with an enormous emphasis on studying English, and unfathomable money spent on the endeavor, often pointlessly. First of all, it is somewhat commonly accepted that the primary so-called "international language" is English. Therefore, whereas it would be considered ridiculous to assume you should speak foreign languages in places like the United States, England, etc., there is more of a perceived need, especially for internationally-involved countries like Japan to learn the international language.

You apparently are trying to make some principle-based point that people in a country should not be expected to learn a foreign language. That's fine... but the reason this question has come up is related specifically to the dynamic of English in Japan, which doesn't fit perfectly into that principle-based thinking.

Anyway, if Japanese didn't have such an English fever, and then everyone asked "Why don't Japanese speak English better than they do?", I'd say 'who cares'? But the point is that they blow countless years of their lives and tons of money and still end up with mediocre (at best) English comprehension. Given the amount they seem to care about English, they frankly suck at it. If they don't care about it, then they should stop wasting their time trying to "learn" it. The truth is, they don't truly care about actually learning real English... they just wanna learn pseudo-English that will earn them esteem among their Japanese peers.
isthistheend at 11:25 PM JST - 3rd July

This will be the last entry I make on the subject. Do I hear cheers out there? There is English and there is "Eego". English is that spoken by all people all over the world, of different shapes, styles, pronunciations, grammatical use, from Bob Marley, to Italiana English it runs the gamut because it is as idealist above mentions considered a so-called "international language". Now, Chinese and Spanish are qualifying also in this category. Eego on the other hand, is the purely Japanese phenomenon to talk about things foreign. I wonder how many of the writers/readers of this paper have experienced what I do virtually daily here. People suddenly start to talk about "eego" (b-san speaks Eego well, she spent some time in England, but I don't understand it at all" one will say to the other in their native language) when they stand by you on the trains for example. And also, people will suddenly take to smoking more cigarettes and talking about anything when they see you on the golf practice range. Oblvious to the fact that you would appreciate silence when practicing. In other words, Eego and foreigners are a stress reliever, or battery ram depending on which angle you look at it from. And as I've said before, those who learn to speak it abroad come back here and have to pretend "NOT" to be able to speak it. Now THIS is a very serious problem, or reason why people don't speak better. Is it the cart before the horse or what? And then theres the person who has lived abroad, speaks a smattering of English, comes back here and refuses to acknowledge or communicate with us in Japanese, wanting to prove that their ability is far superior to whatever level of language mastery we've attained. In my case, I speak the native language better than they speak English in 7 out of 10 cases. I certainly don't lord it over them, and usually play the game their way, but when it becomes overbearing, I'll answer in japanese, and likewise be frowned at, and the conversation will end abruptly and unsatisfactorily. My point is, its not only the ability to speak English, but more a point of mental flexibility to really engage on a 50-50 horizontal level with another human being, and not in the I'm above you vertical society type of way. Thanks and bless you all.
kdotson1965 at 07:27 AM JST - 4th July

I would like to add that the few Japanese that I personally know actually have better English than many of the Americans that I know.
thedeath at 01:06 PM JST - 4th July

"Why don't Japanese speak English better than they do?"

japanese in japan / in general? easy, because this is japan and english is not their official language.
knucklerap at 12:30 AM JST - 6th July

However, recently, I have noticed some oppression of foreign language learning by higher ups in the academic school system which is unfortunate for both students and teachers.

For example?

Not to mention, just horrible teachers.

Not to mention what?

Where does language learning fit in Maslow's hierarchy? If the second language produces income, it helps us make money and eat and there would, therefore, be motivation to learn. If language learning is merely for self-actualization, it might be ignored.

Personally, I need Japanese for money and dating (one of the higher needs).
johnshiomi at 12:32 AM JST - 6th July

I think some people misunderstand the question "Why don't Japanese speak English better than they do?" I take it to mean "Why aren't Japanese people so good at speaking English?" I have been an English teacher here for over 10 years and I know a number of Japanese who speak English excellently. In general, I find that these people first of all (1) have studied quiet extensive in school (2) are extremely interested in English and speaking to foreigners (3) are usually quiet open and not shy. I think many Japanese people are not as good as they can be because they are shy, lack self confidence, and frankly just don't have the chance to speak English here in Japan on a regular basis. I think it may also have something to do with Japanese culture too like some others have mentioned. Japanese people do spend lots of money and many years studying English but I never think it's a waste of money or time. There are good teachers and there are bad teachers but ultimately learning is up to the students. It's a choice. You can complain about the teacher or decide to find a new one. You can just learn English in class or decide to study more outside of class and really start improving. Everything is always a choice.
dr_jones at 11:53 AM JST - 6th July

Because EVERYTHING is well prepared in Japanese for them! For example look at the Software industry ... a new product is made and it is in English for every country, except for Japan, they also get a localization in Japanese ... because nobody would buy the product here if it was in English. For Japan EVERY thing needs to be translated into Japanese or it fails on the Japanese market. While this is not the first reason, it adds to the situation.
Patto at 01:33 PM JST - 6th July

I think the situation has worked out very well from the government's point of view. Students are kept too busy to develop an independent point of view and they develop an aversion to education by the time they reach college age because they have been forced to memorize so much nonsense. Most of them goof around for four years rather than study in college (who can blame them?), then they become part of a docile work force. Japan has avoided a major brain drain and they keep most of the capital within the country in savings accounts with multi-digit interest rates (0.00...) because few people understand English well enough to take their money and business abroad.
rajakumar at 07:39 PM JST - 6th July

Japanese do not want to do so. If all japan spoke english well,all technoloy secrets, in japan will be known by all english speaking world.

Japan with more english speakers, would mean less following ,for japanese culture in future.
Betting at 10:28 PM JST - 6th July

"If all japan spoke english well,all technoloy secrets, in japan will be known by all english speaking world".

And with an attitude like that, it's no wonder that cultural barriers will always exist (unfortunately).
gerryinengland at 10:47 PM JST - 6th July

I am certain that the Japanese people speak much better English than the English people speak Japanese.
Muelleimer at 11:53 PM JST - 6th July

Japanese can't speak English well because they are not interested (!!) in communicating with foreigners. The Japanese who are interested in communicating usually speak English well enough. They should better learn it, just two examples: there is a company who prefers to give its contract to Korea, Taiwan and other countries where more people speak better English and there is another company who let do the product support in Japan by Chinese living in Japan because they speak Japanese and English.

And, please, don't tell stories that many Japanese can speak Mandarin. BS ! Japanese have problems with every foreign language not just English.
rajakumar at 11:56 PM JST - 6th July

Betting-Cultural barriers will always exist. As long people just speak one language only in one culture.

Only languages and languages knowhow, has been able break barriers between cultures,languages and race. Look at conflicts in middle east, there could better unity if all parties in conflict spoke arabic/english in iraq.

Technology and national secrets are closely guarded via languages, be it german,japan or others.If you knew other languages, we could know more secrets of foreign cultures.

Unity among languages is not easy, watch how things go in olympic games 2008 in beijing with 200 over national cultures at beijing.

Cultural barriers could be made better via a bridging language. Best and most used bridging language is english.

Most cultures and languages have a superiority complex, like in german language they have saying like uber allas which above all the rest. Learning 5 languages, you would not believe the prejudice each language has over each other.

Cultural barriers,racial prejudice,foreign culture suspicions and many other problems still exist in many parts of multilingual world we live in.We hope future generations will work more to unite the different cultures and languages.
lipscombe at 09:57 AM JST - 8th July

I have been an English teacher here for over 10 years and I know a number of Japanese who speak English excellently. In general, I find that these people first of all (1) have studied quiet extensive in school (2) are extremely interested in English and speaking to foreigners (3) are usually quiet open and not shy.

hmm that's quiet true. 10 long years eh?