Comments by "" (@MayaTheDecemberGirl) on "Why 95% of Japanese can't speak English" video.

I personally cannot understand why some people, especially younger generations nowadays, are not more interested in learning foreign languages. It's a real pleasure to know other languages. I know two foreign languages, namely English and German (German more passively, as I don't use it in my professional life, mostly I like to read books in German, just for fun). At school, I had also some French and later also some Latin. But if I find more time, I'd like to learn some more foreign languages. So in this video, there should be also another question - if they can speak any other foreign language. But if they are in fact taught English for many years at schools, they should know it at a communicative level.
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Oh, You've heard about Esperanto. Great. I even wrote a few minutes ago in response to some other comment about Esperanto. You know it was created by Ludwik Zamenhof, who was a Polish doctor?
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@kpt002 Totally agree. Thinking like this in the first comment would mean that even every tourist or for instance someone participating in some short-time exchange or collaboration programme would have to learn how to speak fluently and write in a language of a country he's going to visit. That would make any contact with the other people completely impossible. How someone can think like this? And for sure, learning foreign languages broadens one's horizons.
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Not only business language - it's also a language of the academic community. So You need ut to be able to read any recognized scientific journals (in any field of knowledge), publications, to be able to take part in significant international scientific conferences etc. So te be able what's the current development in the world in most of the fields of science and knowledge. I just cannot imagine doing my Ph.D. without knowing English at a very good level. So if you want any academic career at all, you also have to know it.
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German grammar is much more difficult than English. With all these Artikel or Rektion des Verbs, and so on. So to start with German would not make it easier for them at all.
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@anewmindsetforeveryone The words are not really so similar. I know, because I've learned both of the languages, English and German, and I like both. By games You can learn for sure some vocabulary, and so on. Agree that games may be sth good to start with. I started to learn English when I was 8 years old, and it was indeed much easier as a child. I see the difference in the way of learning - because learning German I started later, when I was not a kid anymore. But if someone wants to learn at the higher level, for proffesional purposes, You have to also learn all the grammar. And for sure, German grammar is more complicated than English. That's why I believe it's easier to start with English. But of course, if someone has time, it's best to learn more languages at the same time, and the best in the childhood.
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Well, and I don't think that if they have problems to learn English, they wouldn't have problems with other European languages. Learning any language requires determination and real interest.
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@anewmindsetforeveryone Mine was also a comment, and I think that polite - just to exchange opinions about learning these two languages. I'm not rude to anyone.
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One of the girls in the video - she was able to speak English. But she seemed so stressed and nervous, while speaking. So it's probably not always, in case of some of the Japanese, an issue that they don't know or understand English, but sometimes maybe it's about not having opportunities to speak and not being confident enough. But it's always better to try to speak a language. even if making mistakes, than not to do it.
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I've also learned some Latin in my secondary school. I still remember some sentences from Latin readings, like for instance "Rosa pulchra est". Or a piece from Gaius Julius Caesar commentaries on the Gallic War. And later, I had to learn also some Latin legal maxims. Knowing some Latin makes it easier to learn some other languages, in particular Italian.
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Actually, in Polish there are loanwords from various languages, not only German, but also many from French, Czech, English, and some others as well. A lot also from Latin. The main reason is that in the history of Poland, for instance during Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and also later, different cultures have been influencing each other and mixing with each other.
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I've also learned German. And like You, I don't have now real life situations to practice it. I don't also usually use it for proffesional purposes. So in order not to forget and to practice German, I do read books in this language (I like reading in German), or watch some films, or listen to some German music on streaming platforms.
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@user-fk4bo9vt4g It's not a shame. German grammar is indeed not easy. And in public schools, it's often taught like in this video - English in Japan.
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@neffyg35 Also in any academic career. And also to be able to read any global, recognized journals, publications, to be able to take part in any significant international conference etc. I cannot imagine for instance doing my Ph.D. without knowing English at a very good level.
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Also the most widely acknowledged language of the academic community, at all of the global and most of the regional important conferences, of international scientific journals, of publications, of international scientific committees and organizations and so on - is English. So if someone wants to have current knowledge about word's development in many fields, like for instance medicine and many, many others, or to do anything relating to academic career, he should know English. And it's not new at all that people want to be able to communicate (not only while meeting face to face, but also by reading for instance scientific or other works, diplomatic correspondence etc.) across boundaries in one language - now it's English. In the past it was for instance Latin. Later, in Europe it was French, as most of the elites, like in XVII or XVIIIth century, were learning this. And before English became so widely spoken across the world, there was even a special, artificially created in the second half of the XIXth century, language - with a purpose to enable people from different nations to be able to communicate in just one language, instead of having to learn many of them - this artificially created auxiliary language was called Esperanto (You can read about it in English in Internet, also in Wikipedia). The creator of Esperanto was Ludwik Zamenhof. And I just cannot imagine that nowadays someone doesn't want to learn any foreign languages at all - it also broadens one's horizons. For me for instance it's a pleasure to able to read books in foreign languages. And I would feel myself disabled not being able to talk to people from other countries at all. It's also important when someone wants to see something outside just their own country (which great majority of people do).
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And also English alphabet is really easy, for vast majority of people, not like other alphabets or writing systems.
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@yo2trader539 But an idiot would not be able to learn a foreign language (not only English). And when You learn foreign languages, it broadens one's horizons, as someone usually is finding more about other people, other countries, other cultures. And also mastering their own mother tounge is not so obvious for everyone - in every nation there are people who don't use much more of the words, like only general one, without many professional words or without more sophisticated words, depending on someone education.
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