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.
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’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.
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 KZfaq recommended me this video but here I am)
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!!
The most important things are the input (listening), output (speaking), and why you want to learn English.
@haruqun_jp4 жыл бұрын
あなたの日本語は完璧だよ。よく理解できる。発音は毎日良くなっている。あなたはすごい。
@takayukikaji95065 жыл бұрын
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!
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 KZfaqrs’ ideas are all right. I think the reason is not as simple as one in other countries might think. The reason is way complex.
@kurtdavis72725 жыл бұрын
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.
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.
その背景には結局求められるレベルが高いからというのがあるんじゃないですか?日本人に取って英語を話せるスキルというのは支障なく会話がこなせるレベルという前提があるので「Hello!Yes!I can speak English!」と言ったところで何の意味も無いどころか出来ないくせに出来ると嘘を吐いたことになるだけですから。
@user-mj3bv8is4o4 жыл бұрын
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
Hi! I am glad to watch your video. I am always thinking why i can’t speak English. ①We Japanese don’t need English to live in our country now. But we will soon need English from near future. Globalism is need to same language in whole world. ②Worst things is education system. Teacher thinks it is important glamor rather than communication. Language is communication tool I think. English teacher don’t think communication is very important thing rather than glamor. Foolish. In school room our teacher think glamor is very important to pass the exam for university. ③We don’t speak English to need speak English because Japanese is too shy. If we can’t speak perfect English we think , I can’t speak English very well. I am 51 years old. But i study English two hours per day. I will speak English whole this year. I hope. Thank you for your video.
@coconutpineapple24895 жыл бұрын
He said you don't need to learn English, don't be American people. I agree with him. French people are proud that they can't speak English. Japanese people order food and drink in the US.We are not shy. I don't like advice like "don't be shy". That is not the answer. Bty u already speak(write) fluent English.
I was really impressed with this video clip. I can't agree with you more. Regarding the first reason you mentioned as a reason for the Japanese being not good at speaking English, many people don't understand the "difference" between English and Japanese. As for the second reason, many Japanese people think that we need to learn to speak English in this day and age, but if you ask me, that you think you need something is one thing, but that you really need something is another. Many, if not most, of the people in "Asia" whether it's Singapore or India, need English really to survive, but that is not the case with Japanese people. I'd like to add one more thing. You often say that Japanese people can't speak English, but the fact of the matter is that there are many Japanese who are good speakers of English;those who really need English, those who learn English very hard, those who really like English. The notion that Japanese people can't speak English despite they study English for 10 years (from Junior high, senior high through college) is a farce to me. I know many people who were born in Japan and were educated in Japan until the age of twenty-two or so, and yet, can speak English very well.
Correction:many people don't understand the "difference" between English and Japanese. ⇒ many people don't understand the " distance " between English and Japanese.
@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.
@user-it8ze3ly9u5 жыл бұрын
イギリス人の多くが日本語を話せない理由
@user-lv4cc9gf9f4 жыл бұрын
ヘリックスは僕の父よりも英語が上手い
@user-vc2po7de8b4 жыл бұрын
⁉︎
@user-hr5ug4lo4e4 жыл бұрын
多くの人間は日本語が話せない😄
@user-on3hv1sy8e5 жыл бұрын
結局、喋る機会なければ忘れる。日本人がそれだけ英語を必死に必要という社会じゃないからだよ。
@user-sv4wf6gg4k4 жыл бұрын
Hello, Twisted Helix. I almost agree with what you said. Japanese people can live without English. Especially, most of them don't have an opportunity related to foreign language after their graduation from school. Only people who use English in their work can master English language, in my opinion, and the others have been losing their knowledge about English. I think that Keeping learning is the most important for people in Japan too. Well, I have a question to you. You're in the UK now, and teached students English in Japan in the past, didn't you? Do you have any good ways to keep your Japanese in your mind?