Mar Yan

Category: America

  • Why most Japanese people don’t speak English well?

    Why most Japanese people don’t speak English well?

    You might be surprised and ask yourself this question when you visit Japan for the first time.

    Having lived in Japan for many years now, I would like to share my thoughts on this matter. There are many reasons why Japanese people don’t speak English well.

    1. Japanese Sense of Nationalism

    First of all, I observed that Japanese people are very nationalistic. They love everything about their country and they are very proud to be Japanese. I am sure I am not the only English teacher here who encountered a student who resists learning English and says ‘Why do we have to speak English? We are Japanese!’ or ‘This is Japan! Speak Japanese!’

    2. Music Culture

    Learning English songs is one way to speak English fast. We learn phrases and new words through the lyrics. It helps us memorize lines and learn pronunciation naturally.

    While we in the Philippines are very familiar with English songs and foreign singers as the influence of American music is strong, Japanese have their own strong music trend and popular bands and singers. I was surprised that nobody knew Bruno Mars or his song ‘Count on Me’ among my students, young and adults as well. When I played ‘Always’ by Jon Bon Jovi, it was their first time to hear it. Or maybe my choice of music is just bad. Well, I just played the songs I like and I thought everyone knows it. Well, not in Japan.

    The influence of Korean artists, the K-pop groups is stronger than American music in Japan. I remember the phrase ‘Korean invasion ‘ that we used when we went crazy over Korean dramas in the Philippines. I was one of those who watched Jewel in the Palace, Full House, and many other Korean dramas. In Japan, it’s not Korean dramas but K-pop singers. This makes some Japanese especially the younger generation, interested in learning Korean rather than English.

    3. Shy Culture

    Learning a language is learning a culture. Most Americans and foreigners in general, are assertive and expressive people. They speak their minds and are not afraid to voice their opinions, using language as a tool. On the other hand, most Japanese are rather reserved and shy. They keep their opinions to themselves. They rather follow and listen than question. Very passive. While we were trained to orally participate in class in my elementary and high school years, I observed that it’s not very much the practice in Japan. Teachers mostly dominate the classes thru lecture method and employees seldom raise questions during meetings.

    4. Perfect English Concept

    “If you can’t speak English right, better not speak at all.” I’ve heard this line many times already. Even in my country. Many Japanese and second language learners are afraid to make grammatical mistakes when using English. Being looked down awaits to those who dare to. “It’s embarrassing.” In this case, many prefer to say nothing. Closed lips. Mum. Sshhh.

    5. English is taught mainly in Japanese

    Whether it is in elementary, junior high school, senior high school or university level, do not be surprised if one day you observe an English class, fully taught in Japanese. The books are in Japanese, discussions in Japanese, tests are in Japanese, what else is left? Greetings? That, too, is surely in Japanese. “Kirits! Rei! Onengaishimasu.” If there are institutions that use English, it’s very few and it’s not all English. Maybe 70-30, with Japanese as majority.

    6. English Teachers Don’t Speak English

    Not once, not twice but many times, I encounter a Japanese English teacher who blatantly (sometimes proudly) admit they can’t speak English. Yes. You read it right. I was so surprised the first time I heard it. Of course not all Japanese English teachers are proud non-English speakers. Most of them can actually speak (they studied it in the university ) but won’t. It goes back to the sense of nationalism and the perfect English concept. Why speak English when they are all Japanese and they are in Japan? English Department Teachers meetings are, of course, conducted in….Japanese.

    7. The Need to Speak English

    In the Philippines, there is a need to learn and speak English. Elementary and high school subjects like Mathematics, Science and English are taught in all English. In the university, all subjects except Filipino are taught in English. If you apply for a job, you have to have good English communication skills to have an edge and land a decent job. Many Filipinos go abroad to work, in which the universal language, which is English, is used.

    On the other hand, in Japan, all subjects are taught in Japanese. If they master the Japanese honorific language which is used in the business world, that is sufficient enough. Only recently that companies want employees with English speaking skills. Most Japanese are not interested in working abroad. Not even go visit English speaking countries. Some of my students in a little bit challenging junior high school told me why they don’t like English. They love Japan. They live and work in Japan. They listen to Japanese songs, watch Japanese dramas and movies. Why do they need English? Not even interested in having foreign friends/boyfriends/girlfriends. If there are those who are very interested in English, and have all the reasons to learn the language, only a few.

    These are only my opinions and observations based on my own experience in staying and living in Japan for some time now. If you have your own, don’t hesitate to share.

    To my Japanese friends and other ESL learners, who wants to speak English, I have some tips for you.

    1. Don’t just study but speak it. Just like driving, you have classes to learn the basics, but you will never know how to drive if you don’t get into the car and actually drive it. English (and any language you are learning) is the same. Speak it to learn it.

    2. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Even the native speakers commit mistakes. Ask yourself: Do I speak my mother language the proper way? Oftentimes no. We don’t. Language is a tool. It is used to communicate. To connect. What’s a small mistake will do but make you learn and become better. It is the mistake that we remember and learn to not make it wrong again.

    3. Accept that we are not perfect. If we don’t speak English perfectly, that means we speak another language, not just English. We are bilingual or multilingual. Take pride of that gift.

    4. Discover your interest in the foreign culture. Most often than not, the reason why we want to learn a language is our interest to learn the culture. It might be music, food, religion or tourism. Before, I had no interest in learning Spanish but when I discovered we have many similar words, that’s when I got so interested in the language. I also fell in love with Latin telenovelas and music. I love Thalia!!! As for my interest in Japanese, I love how interesting Japanese people are, their discipline, their politeness. And the beauty of Japan never ceases to amaze me.

    Speaking a foreign language or not being able to is not what’s the most important point. What matters most is our understanding and openness why some people do speak and some people don’t. No hate. No judgement. Just realities we have to face when we step into a new culture.

    Wisteria Gardens in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan
  • Our Experience of a Cancelled Flight

    Our Experience of a Cancelled Flight

    The Long Awaited Day

    The 21st of July. We, the sleepyheads, specially my dear husband, miraculously woke up before our alarm. Our long awaited  summer vacation will start today. We’ll be flying to his homeland, the so-called land of the free, the USA. We’ll be out for a while in the land of the rising sun, Japan.

    We got up early to prepare for a looong flight. The flight would be 19 hours and 30 minutes, well, shorter than the flight we had last year, and so far, the shortest we got. We didn’t want to do multiple and long lay-overs, never again.

    Our flight have two stops. One at Narita, Tokyo and one at Los Angeles, California. Our flight to Narita was not until 1:35 in the afternoon but we decided to get to the airport early to avoid the cramming and stress we usually get in traveling. By the way, we live in Fukuoka, southwestern part of Japan. About an hour and a half to Tokyo.

    Everything was fine going to Narita. The flight was on time and the teller didn’t ask me unnecessary questions regarding my documents like the last time we flew to the US. It was smooth until we landed in Narita.

    The bad news

    We looked for our connecting flight to Los Angeles upon landing in Narita. We only had like two hours lay-over, just enough time to check-in and go through immigration. But to our dismay, our flight was cancelled due to maintenance.
    We were directed to the Customer Assistance Counter where a lady in her late 40’s or early 50’s told us after making several clicks on her computer and phone calls to who knows who that the best that she could find is a flight later that evening which will take us to Honolulu where there is a 12-hour lay-over and then from there a connecting flight to Phoenix and finally to Salt Lake. Upon hearing that, my usually friendly and jolly husband raised his voice to disagreement. He insisted to get a better offer since we, in the first place,  chose this flight because we did not want to go through the hassle of multiple and long lay-over flights. The lady, then told us to wait again, this time it was longer. I don’t like waiting at all. It was exhausting.

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    ​Finally, after almost an hour, the lady offered us a better deal. We could stay in Tokyo for a night with free hotel accommodation and get on the flight the next day, or if not, accept the first offer (the long lay-over in Honolulu). Although, I kind of wanted to go to Honolulu, too, since I’ve never been there before, but I just hate long travels and the thought of getting on and off several planes made me sick already. Finally, the lady made all the necessary arrangements for our changed flight and free hotel accommodation.

    We were almost settled but then we realized we don’t have a change of clothing with us since our luggage has already been checked in and we’re not going to get until we arrive in the US.

    But, thanks to UNIQLO we could get reasonably unexpensive decent-enough clothing to survive until the next day.

    The complementary hotel accommodation 

    The shuttle bus  came on time and took us to the hotel.

    While inside the bus we saw a poster of a restaurant offering buffet. We got excited for a moment there but we quickly dismissed the idea of us getting into a nice hotel, the more of having a buffet dinner and breakfast. For sure we’re going to get a less than average accommodation and more or less a piece of bread or cereal and a cup of drink for our meals.


    After about 20 minutes, we arrived at our hotel and we were happy to see that it’s more than what we expected.

    It’s quite big, the lobby is nice, and receptionists are friendly and quick.

    We were even more happy when we opened our room and saw that we got three beds, one for each of us.

    The best part of our cancelled flight is the buffet dinner and breakfast included in our hotel accommodation.  The restaurant was spacious and well-lighted and clean. the waiters and waitresses were pleasant and attentive. The food was great. There was steak, meat dishes, salads, fruits, desserts, ice cream, drink bar, and the best part was the winter crabs for dinner buffet. We ate crabs that night like we never had before. And the breakfast was equally fulfilling.


    We left that hotel and headed to the airport the next day with the new perspective about cancelled flights. Not all cancelled flights are bad after all. Sometimes it’s just another opportunity to experience a new place.