English Education and Usage in Japanese Society

Picture from October 22, 2018. Location: Iidabashi

Japan is a country with one language, but that does not mean that English is not used. However, oftentimes, one can encounter things like this. I would presume the "dragstore" is not somewhere you can encounter drag queens. Why is this sort of mistake so common?

One thing could be the level of English education here in Japan. Despite the inevitable globalization occurring in the world, Japan still manages to get by without the best English skills. While people in other countries such as the Philippines, India, Germany, and more have, on average, good English skills, Japan still lags behind. That is not due to a dislike of the language—in fact, the usage of English is incredible for a country whose national language does not include English. Train stations have English, shirts have English, and even Japanese songs have English in them. English is seen as something "cool" and generally good. Yet the education system for English is not good. 

Teachers of English in Japan can't always speak the language. One would think the absolute minimum requirement would be speaking English, but unfortunately, many simply cannot properly speak the language. Despite attempts to increase English education (from lower and lower grades), the general levels of English have not gone up much. Despite this, the usage of English and waseigo is incredibly common. Seeing strings of text in katakana is not uncommon either. Most people can read the English alphabet, which is certainly better than nothing. 

However, English education here is simply not done well—though this is not unique to Japan. Grammar is put first, and classes are very structured. Learning English is generally not for conversation but for passing tests. There seems to be a paradox of the admittance of the importance of English yet also asserting that it is not important enough to be taught better.

This system is not likely to change any time soon, and it certainly doesn't help that there are so many English words turned into Japanese that even I (as a bilingual) have trouble with as I switch between the languages. Despite my fluency, I find myself using Japanese English. This makes the process even harder and adds a feeling of "why do I even have to learn English if I'm already using it?" Given the "traditional" side of Japan, perhaps there is a feeling of pride in speaking Japanese and not English—many have little interest in learning English. However, there is no doubt that better education in English would certainly change Japan drastically. 

There is a myriad of problems in the English education system here, but hopefully, it will improve with time. I have had the privilege of working with some incredibly dedicated Japanese learners of English, and it is simply unfair that their years of study at school simply did not help them as much as they should have. This is not unique to Japan, certainly, but that does not negate the fact that it has to improve—it simply is not fair to those going through these classes.

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