A fervor for education in English without a national strategy is a recipe for the decline of Japanese. If everyone tries to speak English, the richness of Japanese could be reduced to a local language in which no intellectual conversations take place.
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Novelist Minae Mizumura, who recently caused a stir with her essay “When the Japanese language goes extinct,” expressing concerns about the rush for English and a Western education. (AFP)
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ben4short
More nationalistic nonsense as further proof that an "intellectual Japanese" is, indeed, as good an oxymoron as you'll find. To wit:
a) "A frevor for education in English..."
Fervor, Ms. Mizumura? How about "a fashionable hobby" instead? Haven't you figured out by now that the Japanese are not at all serious about learning English because. . . sound the trumpets . . . it is fundamentally un-Japanese to be proficient in any language other than Nihongo, and the raison d'etre of every Japanese is simply to be Japanese;
b)"...a local language in which no intellectual conversations take place."
Hmmm, strike two.
No intellectual conversations take place in Japanese even now, not because of the language but because of the speakers.
c) "a national strategy"? Wow, scary stuff. Like legislation outlawing the use of more than, say, one hundred English words a day, or some such nonsense? And a cadre of Language Police? Will violators will have their tongues cut out?
The Talibanization of Japanese?
Nice touch for a so-called intellectual.
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Pukey2
The Japanese language will only go extinct because Jp women are not having enough babies and the people will not allow migrants in. Blaming it on English and using this fearmongering as an excuse not to teach English is BS.
Sure, if you don't want to teach English, then that's your perogative. Nobody should be forced to do something like that. But don't blame anyone else when this country falls deeper into the sewers, and countries like China surpass you (the Chinese have no qualms about learning in general, and know that English is useful).
And as for English affecting a child's Japanese - well why all these gairaigo loanwords in Japanese. You're doing it yourself. And look at countries like India, Switzerland, Singapore. Polylinguism(?) is nothing special to many of the educated from those countries. Hell, even most educated people from HK and China are bilingual at least. And for them, it's no big deal.
And if Japanese education means expecting to get a college degree without attending classes or memorizing encyclopedias to get through high school, then give me western education anyday.
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shinjukuboy
Remember that after the Meiji restoration Japan's first Minister of Education, Mori Arinori, wanted to do away with Japanese and adopt English as the national language as one step towards modernization (Japan needed a modern language). Look what happened. Oh, yes, he was assassinated by a nationalist.
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stirfry
what's he worried about ? no intellectual conversations take place NOW
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neverknow2
Yes that's true. It's hot isn't it? Long time no see. My work is so busy. I'm hungry. It's delicious.
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LFRAgain
LOL! Great quote!
Quick! Someone had better let the Europeans know their mother tongues are on the verge of extinction! GYAAAAAA!!
This is the same tripe that comes out of the nationlist faction over at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, and Tomfoolery. It's one of the reasons elementary school English education has taken so long to develop in the first place, primarily because of the ministry is populated with idiots who possess a worldview that mirrors that of this so-called novelist.
Ahhh, the irony of this woman using the word "intellectual" in the same sentence with this half-baked supposition is rich beyond contemplation.
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Blue_Tiger
Interesting that Koreans -- who are aggressively teaching their children English starting in Elementary school -- still speak Korean in Korea, and only happen to speak English either (A.) Outside of Korea (and still speak Korean when they are among themselves in other countries), or (B.) when they are around a Western Foreigner (whether that Western Foreigner speaks English or not). What is further interesting is how Koreans are quickly becoming more bilingual (and multi-lingual, for that fact) over and above the Japanese, further integrating South Korea into the International Stage. Japan could learn a lesson from Korea and their English Education....
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LFRAgain
Well, actually, maybe not so much. Korea ranks pretty low in international TOEIC scores, not too far from where Japan ranks, if I remember correctly.
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