I wish you did not make this video. Your points are well-taken, and nothing is wrong with your argument. Those three people are painfully trying to be pedantic to a laughing point. They are young, but they think they have seen the whole world and captured crystallized generalization. So let the fools to be fools. Seems like there are too many outrageous Holy Grails. Chika, you will never be an honorable caucasian, so stop doing the hand gestures unless you have been going to AA meetings. IU-Connect, in short, you are saying Come hither and shag with me. That'll solve your issues with speaking English. Guys only, right? bobbyjudo, you look just fabulous, girlfriend! Why don't you try repeat reading The Tale of Genji? Too heterosexual for you? Oh, don't say that. Girls are crying.
Hi. I'm a Japanese living in U.S. Thanks for the excellent rebuttal video about "Why Japanese people can't speak English." I enjoyed this video, and I was impressed whith your insight about Japanese cultures and people. I agree most of your opinions, but there is one thing I want to add. Japanese people don't need to use English not only for getting high paid jobs but characteristic of Japanese language(Nihongo) as well. Nihongo is flexible and acquisitive of soaking up foreign languages, thoughts, ideas, conceptions, etc. When foreign words are introduced, the Nihongo counterparts of the foreign words are made in the blink of an eye. The words are no longer "foreign", it became Niongo words. Same thing happens to thoughts, ideas and conceptions. Because Nihongo explains and interprets foreign thoughts, Japanese people do not need to use foreign languages to know and to understand foreign thoughts. That is the primary reasons why Japanese people don't need to use English.
To your first point I slightly agree. As a native English speaker, learning Japanese is hard as hell because of how fundamentally different the languages are. But as a counterpoint, Koreans seem to be able to learn English without as much difficulty, even though Korean and Japanese are very similar. The verb goes at the end, they have particles, lots of vocabulary is derived from Chinese, etc. Japanese people and Koreans even seem to be able to easily acquire each other’s language for this reason. I was able to learn quite a lot of Korean in just 2 months since I had a background in Japanese. It’s kind of like how English and Spanish are very similar. So, why do more Koreans speak English? One reason might be because Korean has more vowels and consonants in common with English, but I don’t think that alone would account for the difference. I agree more with your second point. Japan is a homogenous island, so Japanese people can get through the day without any English. There aren’t that many foreigners there. In countries like Singapore which are more multicultural, they can use English as a common language to communicate. In Seoul, there is an international district called Itaewon with foreigners from all over the world, where English is probably used quite often. There is no equivalent in Japan, AFAIK. It’s a complex topic, and I don’t think the answer is as simple as “this is wrong and this is right.” There are bits of truth and influence all over the place. (Also, I don’t know why KZbin recommended me this video but here I am)
I’m Japanese American. I totally agree with what you’re saying. Japan is well developed enough to a point where English isn’t something you must have as a skill. If you can speak it, you’ll have a better life but even without it you’re not left behind at all.
I think, Because we don't need to speak English for daily life. It's no problem I think, but If we need speak english in case and we should do study English right? I agree with Helix はい😊
I totally agree with you. I have been living in U.S. more than seven years now but I am still struggling in English.BTW I was cracking up that you are so straight talker and kept saying "ビンボー". True that!! I really enjoyed your video. Thank you!!
@TakumaNakamura-db7tn5 жыл бұрын
He may have misunderstood the point of Bilingirl Chika’s idea... She mentioned the historical background just as ONE reason of a lack of Japanese English fluency. I guess all of these KZbinrs’ ideas are all right. I think the reason is not as simple as one in other countries might think. The reason is way complex.
His opinion is concise and very accurate. I support him.It's good to know him now. I want to say in the future that I understand English thanks to him. ※Translated on google
@user-br2fo9lx3z4 жыл бұрын
こういう先生から英語を勉強したかったです☺️👏
@beckyruri92954 жыл бұрын
You are exactly the smart and brave one who tells the truth of this!
I totally agree with him because I am experiencing/feeling disadvantages to learn another language as a Japanese every day. I am learning Spanish with some classmates who are from Europe. They are getting Spanish very rapidly but I am struggling.... Spanish is one of European languages therefore many common features with their mother languages, grammar, syntax etc. but Japanese has only one, vowels, that’s all!
I agree with you that lack of necessity is one big cause of difficulty Japanese people have hard times learning English. That is a big part. Grammatical structure is another one, Irregularities of time of verb, plural of noun as well. Those are hard, but containable problems as many of Japanese are good at memorization. What I think most difficult for language learners is pronunciation, especially vowels. Consonant, if you understand how to rezonate, shape and location of lingual parts, it becomes a matter of memorization. But vowels, neurological differences in the brain that we developed when we were baby determines what sound we can recognize as meaningful code. At least to me, that is the hardest part.
Hi Twisted Helix - I enjoyed your video and your analysis and agree with you. Having lived in Japan for 27 years now, I have found what I think to be a good expression for this problem. I think there is a phrase that you are looking for - 切羽つまる In the case of the average Japanese learner of English, there is no NEED for them to learn it. I have worked with people from places like Thailand, Mexico and Indonesia and for them, being able to communicate in English opens up a whole new level of socioeconomic possibilities - it is life transforming in many cases. By the way, check out the origins of the expression 切羽つまる...pretty cool! You can see the Kanji has the element of a katana...check it out.
@Yupaysama5 жыл бұрын
I think you're ABSOLUTELY right. Of course, there are other reasons, but the two reasons you mentioned are right. If you let me add one, as it is often said, we tend to stick to speaking PERFECT English. Since childhood, we take many tests and are told "Correct or not". I can communicate with foreigners, but it's because I don't care about the details of my English. (As you can see, I'm sure I made some mistakes in this comment.) When I start thinking about grammar or details, I mean PERFECT English, I start speaking slower and slower.
@okinanokyoh87005 жыл бұрын
Twisted Helix, your opinion is the same as what I thought from before! The reason why Japanese can not speak English well is we Japanese don’t need to speak English in our daily life and are not forced to speak it also by law.
To begin with, most of Japanese people want to be a good English speaker regardless of how necessary speaking English is in Japan. Also, you mentioned that the grammar of English is completely opposite to that of Japanese, but regarding grammar, people take enough lessons in English in compulsory education. Personally I believe that lacking of practical experience is the primal cause, because, as you said, repetition is vital to learn a foreign language. But, Japanese people are perfectionist, and they don't actively have a chance to use English because they don't have confidence in their English. There is a kind of saying ” I don't have any clothes to go buy clothes" in Japan, which means they want to look better without exposing their nakedness. まず英語を話す必要性とか関係なく、できるものなら話せるようになりたいという日本人がほとんどだと思う。 そして英語と日本語の仕組みが全く異なっていたとしても、文法面に関しては義務教育で十分カバーできている。 だからやっぱり話す機会(実践経験)が少ないというのが一番の原因だと思う。なぜなら学習に必要な反復作業の要だから。 そして厄介なのが日本人の性質で、英語に自信がないから英語を話す機会を設けないという、いわゆる「服を買いに行く服がない」状態が経験不足を助長している。