July 11, 2002	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 29, 1423

TOKYO: Magazine titles such as “Hot Dog” and “Classy” and television commercials that screech “Love beer?” can give the impression that English is almost a second language in Japan.

But, as visitors soon discover, the love affair with the language is only surface deep.

Even though the majority of Japanese spend at least six years studying English at school, most are unable to speak it.

That, educational experts say, is because the state school system teaches the language as an intellectual exercise, focusing on multiple choice grammar questions, rather than communication.

And they fear the lack of English ability will leave Japan isolated, as the rest of Asia becomes increasingly cosmopolitan.

“In other Asian countries, the government is really backing English education, so that they will be international and be able to function in world affairs,” said American-born Ritsuko Nakata, a successful trainer of English teachers.

Young employees are only too aware of the disadvantage they face, often digging into their own pockets for private tuition in English, which they feel will bolster their employment prospects.

“English helps your career if you can speak it like a native, but what you learn at school won’t help you much,” said trading company worker, Naoki Arima, 29, who has been attending preparatory classes for an MBA in the United States.

BOTTOM OF THE CLASS: Results in the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) examination, a requirement for entry to American universities, seem to back up Arima’s lack of faith in the school system.

Despite its status as Asia’s largest economy, Japan is near the bottom of the class among Asian nations, well behind China and South Korea. Recently it was even outclassed by Afghanistan and communist North Korea.

A closer look at the use of English in magazines, posters and notices is revealing. Mistakes in written English are so common that there are websites devoted to phenomena such as the airline offering “Non stop frights”, or the helpful railway station sign that reads: “For restrooms go back toward your behind.”

Japan’s lack of success in teaching languages is a mystery, sometimes blamed on a culture that traditionally frowned on talkativeness, or on the lack of a perceived need for English.

“There are several problems. One is that most of the teachers of English at Japanese schools are not very competent,” said Gregory Clark, emeritus president of Tama University in Tokyo.

University entrance tests, which require a high level of English reading skills but no oral communication, are also partly to blame, he said.

“Finally, and this should be a familiar problem to Anglo-Saxons, Japan is a monolingual society. There is little incentive to learn other languages,” Clark said.

TOO MUCH SUCCESS: Unlike many of its Asian neighbours, Japan has never been colonized and operated a rigid policy of national seclusion for more than 200 years until the middle of the 19th century.

European languages have therefore remained unfamiliar, while minority languages such as Ainu have been all but stamped out.

Japan’s economic success is also blamed by some for the lack of drive in teaching languages in the state schools.

“The Japanese have just become too comfortable. Everything has been good for them after the war,” said teacher trainer Nakata.

“They have enjoyed success in a lot of things, industry-wise. Now they don’t realize that people are catching up and overtaking them,” she said.

The Education Ministry says English teaching in Japan has come a long way since the days when most school teachers were unable to converse in their specialist language.

Reforms in schools are under way, with introductory English being offered for the first time at some primary schools, while middle school students are being taught to communicate in English rather than being drilled only in grammar, officials say.

But change is slow and hampered by bureaucracy, said Nakata.

“Monbusho (the Education Ministry) is taking the right steps, but they need to go faster and get advice from people in the field,” she said.

Dissatisfaction with the public education system and increasing demand for business English has created a vast private tuition business in Japan.—Reuters