Japan Times
Readers in Council
February 20, 2000
There is much discussion about improving the English-language skills of Japanese students through such measures as increasing English instruction in schools or increasing the number of native English-speaking instructors in the classrooms. None of these incremental measures will dramatically improve English-language comprehension and communication ability among the Japanese for the simple reason that, outside the classroom, most Japanese students do not use English. Most Japanese do not come into constant contact with English speakers in their daily lives nor do most Japanese have to use English for their livelihood.
As a Japanese who was raised in the United States, and having returned to Japan as a teenager, whereupon I had to learn Japanese from scratch, I can say from my own experience that if there is any way of gaining fluency in a foreign language, it is from everyday practice and usage.
If the Japanese are serious about wanting to learn English to the point where they can effectively communicate in the language, drastic measures will have to be introduced, including making all education beyond the compulsory level taught in English, as in the case in Singapore. This would mean that Japanese language would be spoken at home, and English would be the official language of higher education. Only in such a situation will Japanese students have the opportunity and need to use English on a daily and constant basis.
If it is not possible for the Ministry of Education to undertake such a measure, the next best thing would be for the Ministry to actively encourage the best and the brightest Japanese high school students to apply and study at top universities in the U.S., Britain, and other places where English is the main language. Through such a measure, the Ministry will not only improve its chances of creating a large pool of Japanese who can communicate in English, but also create some internationally minded Japanese citizens in the process as well.
KO UNOKI
Fujisawa, Kanagawa
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