Comments by "Yo2" (@yo2trader539) on "Why 95% of Japanese can't speak English" video.

  1. Most of the population has no need for it.
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  2. That's why Europe is no longer European.
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  3. Language is culture. It is the logic of society. And Anglos, Saxons, Danes, or Normans/Norsemans who migrated, invaded, or ruled over England and created "English" were your distant Germanic-speaking cousins (or Latin-speaking Vikings). The Scandinavian Vikings during Danelaw had mutual-intelligibility with Old English speaking Anglo-Saxons up to 1,000 years ago. So for a Swede, learning English is like learning a dialect. It's why the famous Swedish lady who used to be on NHK is highly respected and appreciated. We understand how fundamentally different the two languages are, yet she managed to master Japanese language and culture. From what we've witnessed, ethnic Korean, Mongolian, and Turkic-speakers from China are able to obtain near-native fluency in 2-3 years, because they instinctively understand SOV grammar and know most of the KANJI used in Japanese. And the Slavic/Russian natives speak very classy and elegant Japanese, due to phonetic overlap and excellent linguistic training. But Germanic language speakers tend to struggle the most in terms of grammar, phonetics, and expressions. It's also why most Japanese will never be able to master Germanic languages. Basically, there is no overlap of anything. No overlap in grammar, phonetics, or cognates. (US State Department classifies Japanese as Category 5, or the most difficult to learn for a native English speaker. Conversely Germanic-Nordic languages are Category 1, or the easiest to obtain fluency. The opposite is true as well.)
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  4. I'm under the strong suspicion that Japanese tend to share a very different view. The language barrier is as strong as a natural geographic barrier. It helps to keep out people who cannot learn Japanese and adapt to Japan.
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  5.  @kuznecoffjames  Where do you think the Anglos and Saxons migrated from? "Old English" is old German. But I never understood why the English/British didn't differentiate the Dutch from Deutch. Perhaps they were perceived as the same from the English/British? (I used to think that "Pennsylvanian Dutch" was really Dutch.)
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  6. I think it's the tourism/hospitality industry catering to foreign tourists. I have no need for English in my daily life and have no encounter with tourists either.
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  7. If you want to speak English, you can always go to England.
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  8. Japan only offers permanent visa to those who are fluent in Japanese. It won't change.
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  9.  @runhigh123  That's so true. The ethnic Koreans, Mongols, and Turkic speakers from China are able to reach near-native fluency in 2 to 3 years. It's because of grammatically similarity and that they already know most of the KANJI used in Japan. Common grammar structure makes it easier for Mongols, Koreans, Turkic-speakers from Central Asia, Tibetan-Burmese, and even Hungarians. In terms of Europeans, I'm often surprised by how well the Slavic speakers are able to speak Japanese. They may sound rather drunk when they pronounce English vowels with a Slavic twist, but they sound very clean, classy and elegant when they pronounce Japanese. I've heard that some of the Russian universities actually have language programs that teach Japanese language in Japanese.
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  10. Since the 17th century, Japan had dedicated Dutch linguists/translators throughout the Edo Period, mostly for international commerce as well as to translate imported Dutch/European books into Japanese and study them. They were known as RANGAKUSHA (蘭学者), and the most famous scholar was FUKUZAWA Yukichi, the founder of KEIO University. When they needed to translate English documents into Japanese after the MEIJI restoration in mid-19th century, it was fairly easy for them to switch over. They viewed English as a corrupted dialect of Dutch.
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  11. I took German in highschool and Chinese in university as 第2外国語 or a mandatory Second-Foreign Language. Frankly, if you have no need or interest, it's just an unnecessary burden.
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  12. There are 101,000 Japanese expats living in China. When I was in college, I think about 1/3 of my department took Chinese as a second-foreign language (第2外国語). Most weren't into foreign languages but we thought Chinese would be easiest because of the KANJI. We couldn't have been more wrong. As for countries, 410,000 Japanese nationals live in the US, which is the largest. Third largest Japanese expat community is in Australia with 99,000, followed by Canada 75,000, Thailand 72,000, UK 65,000, Brazil 47,000, South Korea 42,000, Germany 42,000, France 36,000, Singapore 32,000, and Taiwan 21,000.
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  13. Language ability has nothing to do with intelligence. Even an idiot can speak his/her native tongue.
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  14. Old English is corrupted Old German. Vikings from the Danelaw period (who spoke Northern Germanic) were still able to communicate with Old English Anglo-Saxons. They were same languages that diverged, particularly after Norman Conquest when French/Latin vocabulary was heavily introduced. Most Germanic languages are defined as Category 1 in language difficulty, or easiest to learn for a native-English speaker in the State Department classification, while Japanese is Category 5. The reverse holds true too.
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