Konnichiwa Minnasan! Hello All! Thanks for visiting to read about my adventures in rural Japan. I lived in Shimane prefecture from July of 2004 to July of 2009 as a member of the Jet Programme. Then I went back to Shimane from October 2010 to February 2016 to teach at a Japanese university. Now I teach history at a private high school where the Japanese students learn in English. Thanks for stopping by!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
日本の英語の習い方の問題 Problems with Japan's English Program
This one is for my students: 浜山中学生と大社中学生：
Do you agree with Koichi or disagree? Why?
Someone asked if I can summarize what Koichi is saying in English... Not really, but maybe if Koichi stumbles by and sees this he will leave a comment.
I remember when he made this video, haha. Basically, he's just complaining about the fact that Japanese kids have English class from elementary to high school, and yet many of them can't actually speak English. This is due, largely, to the fact that a lot of them actually have no interest in learning English, and are doing it because 1) it's the only choice for language and 2) because they all are tested on it. He also talks about Japanese English teachers having weird accents, how there isn't much focus on speaking, etc. I'll tell Ko to comment here if there's anything else he wants to add...
Unfortunately, the Japanese spoken by Kouichi is nothing much to shout about either. For the first time in my life did I manage to hear a Japanese person, abet American Japanese, murder the language so much until I was cringing with every word he spoke.
However, I do agree with what he said, that Japan's English is mainly an examination subject, and that the students were not taught to learn the language, but rather to just pass an exam.
3 comments:
Oh, I wish I could understand everything that he's saying. I can understand bits and pieces, but can't string it all together.
Are you able to summarize?
I remember when he made this video, haha. Basically, he's just complaining about the fact that Japanese kids have English class from elementary to high school, and yet many of them can't actually speak English. This is due, largely, to the fact that a lot of them actually have no interest in learning English, and are doing it because 1) it's the only choice for language and 2) because they all are tested on it. He also talks about Japanese English teachers having weird accents, how there isn't much focus on speaking, etc. I'll tell Ko to comment here if there's anything else he wants to add...
Unfortunately, the Japanese spoken by Kouichi is nothing much to shout about either. For the first time in my life did I manage to hear a Japanese person, abet American Japanese, murder the language so much until I was cringing with every word he spoke.
However, I do agree with what he said, that Japan's English is mainly an examination subject, and that the students were not taught to learn the language, but rather to just pass an exam.
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