Commuting in the train, the lady on my left is reading a book in Hangul, the old man on my right Arbic; another young man listening rap in English (audible from his earphone!)
This is something unimaginable 20 years ago. Anybody reading a book in foreign languages or speaking foreign languages will cause a lot of attentions. There were simply too few of gaijin then.
While most of Japanese are still saying that they are not good at English, and most of them start shaking once spoken to in English, most of Japanese actually know a lot more of English words than people in, say China. The only fundamental problem is that Japanese has too little phonetic sounds, resulting poor hearing and prunciation.
What makes things worse is their education system. Most of their studies are solely for the purpose of exam. Once the exams are over, things learned are quickly forgotten. English language is not an exception.
While most of Japanese are still saying that they are not good at English, and most of them start shaking once spoken to in English, most of Japanese actually know a lot more of English words than people in, say China. The only fundamental problem is that Japanese has too little phonetic sounds, resulting poor hearing and prunciation.
What makes things worse is their education system. Most of their studies are solely for the purpose of exam. Once the exams are over, things learned are quickly forgotten. English language is not an exception.
No comments:
Post a Comment