Comments by "Jordan, inside-outsider in Japan" (@Jordan-inJapan) on "Why 95% of Japanese can't speak English" video.

I’ve been an English teacher in Japan for over 20 years, and taught at various levels of the public (and private) education system. While there certainly are points about the system that are less than ideal, I think the main reason most Japanese people never become fluent in English is cultural. (I’m actually working on a video on this topic now!) Basically, people are taught implicitly from a young age not to express their opinions and feelings (especially if they are negative) in front of others. As well, they really don’t like making mistakes, and have a tendency to not say anything in class unless they are completely sure it’s correct. Add that to a cultural myth that there is something biologically different about Japanese people that prevents them from learning foreign languages (a lot of people here actually seem to believe this) and your have a huge barrier against gaining fluency in any foreign language, not just English. Some people manage to break the barrier, but not many.
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@LittleLulubee It’s not something that gets mentioned too much in public, but quite a few people have said that to me when we were taking about the topic in private.
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@erickmiranda3600 Yeah, I do think it’s one of the more challenging languages to master…especially if your native language is something with a totally different structure like Japanese. But I think as long as they put the time in, most people can eventually achieve ‘communicative competence’. (Being a perfectionist doesn’t help in this case.)
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@southcoastinventors6583 yyyyyess sometimes. But in face-face-situations they’re more likely to say “nihongo jozu!” (Your Japanese is very good!)… but in a way that means the opposite. 😅
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@almaltiempobuenacara1783 well… I know your feeling (from personal experience) but for Japanese students, they seem to be equally shy about speaking in front of each other. Or even writing, like when they have a short composition assignment.
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@almaltiempobuenacara1783 I’m sorry to hear that. People are jerks sometimes. 😔
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