Japanese Tourists Having Problems With English

Above, a closed-up NOVA school facility.

We're in a new month and a new season.  This year has really flown by.

An article at Japan Today caught my attention.  It is about Japanese tourists trying to function in foreign countries with limited English abilities.

It starts with:

TOKYO —While living in Japan and working as an assistant English teacher, I’ve lost track of how many times Japanese people have asked me why most people in Japan can’t speak English. Due to compulsory education requirements, every Japanese citizen must take 6 years of English language courses. What’s more, starting from the 2011 school year, elementary school fifth and sixth graders are also required to have an English class once a week. Some school districts even offer English classes for kindergarteners and elementary school students in grades first through fourth. 

But even after spending half or more of their adolescent years studying the English language, many Japanese struggle to carry out an everyday conversation in English. This isn’t just a casual observation by Japanese citizens, either. Japanese students have among the lowest English TOEFL scores in Asia. 

So when Japanese tourists want to take a trip abroad, many are unequipped with the practical language tools necessary to go about daily life in English.

What I find interesting about this is that in my travels to Japan, I have found that the Japanese are curious about foreigners in their country, especially Americans, and are willing and eager to try to have a conversation.  I generally get approached by older Japanese men and young Japanese women.  One time, I was in the bar at T.G.I. Friday's in Roppongi and several of the waitresses came over to me to chat.

I have been aware of the Japanese education program of having to take six years of English language courses.  This is, no doubt, why they want to chat and try out their English skills.

I wonder if the language problems they are having in traveling to America or other English-speaking countries are due to the problems with the ESL (English as a second language) or eikaiwa schools.  A number of them turned out to be mills who are out to take the student's money and just get them through a skimpy program (if at all).  Several ESL schools went belly-up or filed bankruptcy over the past ten years (NOVA is a big example) due to bad management or crooked administrators and owners.  Many foreign instructors have been left high and dry when their employers shuttered their doors.

To read the full article, go here.