How Many Japanese People Speak English

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Regardless of the Japanese government’s efforts to increase the number of foreign tourists to be a tourism-oriented country and to have been retaining compulsory English education for decades, Japanese people still have a reputation of being bad at English. The average TOEIC and TOEFL scores for Japanese are one of the worst among advanced nations. South Korea was also one of the worst in the past, but they are getting better and better these days. However, there are still some obstacles for many Japanese English learners to get over. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate FUTOSHI T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Since Japan is an island country, it has been...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Miliang Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Shangluo Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. I have decided to write a summative task on this subject because I have some experience and observations in the area. I have observed that many Japanese have extreme difficulty pronouncing many English words correctly. The pronunciation difficulties causes some Japanese people to be reluctant to speak English, due to embarrassment, which compounds the problem. I...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences If you ever find yourself driving in French Canada, you will be stopped by stop signs that say ‘arrêt’, which is stopped in French. Almost all drivers in North America would know that this means stop because it’s the same octagon red stop sign. In Japan it’s very different, stop signs are triangular with Japanese script on them but, beneath the Japanese, you can find English subtitles which read ‘stop’. In fact, if you travel anywhere in Japan, the majority of signs and announcements related to travel are offered in Japanese and English. English has been taught in Japanese schools since the American occupation after World War Two. However, according to an EF English Proficiency Index in 2017, Japanese English proficiency is 35th out of...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Anle Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Xianyang Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. If you ever find yourself driving in French Canada, you will be stopped by stop signs that say ‘arrêt’, which is stop in French. Almost all drivers in North America would know that this means stop because it’s the same octagon red stop sign. In Japan it’s very different, stop signs are triangular with Japanese script on them but, beneath the Japanese, you can...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Sanchahe Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Shangluo Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. In this task, I will be talking about my personal experience of teaching languages (both English and Spanish) to Japanese people, in Japan. Japanese is known to be a very difficult, challenging language, with 3 different alphabets and a very unique grammar structure. Besides the special characteristics that separates the Japanese language from other languages such...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Fenghuangcheng Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Shuozhou Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. English language is being spoken internationally. It unites people across the globe. Majority of the people around the globe knows a word or two. Non-English speaking country comes to an English speaking country to learn English. They come to America, Canada, Australia or UK. Countries like India, Singapore, Philippines, Pakistan, South Africa and Nigeria a...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences During my stay in Japan, Japanese people often told me how they can’t communicate in English despite studying the language for six or more years in school. In Japan, students in junior and senior high learn English grammar and vocabulary in compulsory formal English classes. English is also taught in elementary school as foreign language activities. Yet despite spending several hours in English classes, many Japanese people graduate high school with poor English communication skills. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Rachel M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. One of the issues that hinder the Japanese people’s ability to communicate in English is the English...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Chengwuxiannanluji Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Heze Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Learning English often has its challenges for students who have no other language that serves as a barrier, as a result, I can only assume it is doubly hard for students, of any age, who have a native language that’s sometimes extremely different in structure and usage. I am of the view that these problems can be dealt with if the teacher understands the...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Nanding Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Zibo Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Among the most glaring differences between Japanese and English is the writing system, unlike Japanese, English makes use of only two different Latin scripts, the uppercase script “ABCD” and the lowercase script “abcd” Japanese, however, makes use of three non-Latin scripts, these are as follows: Hiragana which is expressly used for native Japanese words,...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Anren Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Chengdu Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. I began learning the Japanese language when I was in middle school, around age twelve. Many of my peers thought it strange to decide to choose to learn a foreign language as a hobby; most of my peers at that age were interested in typical pre-teen things: going to the mall, visiting friends, going to local football and basketball games. Looking back, I think my choice...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Japanese is certainly one of the most interesting languages in the world thanks to its three types of writing (hiragana, katakana and kanji). This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Desiree I. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. After the outbreak of intercontinental travel (therefore with the appearance of commercialization and missionaries around the world) many terms of different languages, including English ones, also became part of the language of Japan. The main problem is that many sounds present in the English language are non-existent in the Japanese language; this means that the pronunciation of many terms has been adapted according to the language standards of...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Japan is an island nation and is a recognized homogenous society with a very small percentage of foreign permanent residence and more than half of the adult population lacks the necessary skills to speak English proficiently. Because of this, English as a Second Language is in high demand with young learners being a focus group in Japan. English is taught in the school environment during nearly all of a child’s primary education years, but this, unfortunately, doesn’t translate to a proficient English-speaking Japanese population. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Payton P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Children as young as nine months are presented with...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas So, you’ve just finished a delicious meal of sushi at your favorite sushi restaurant in Tokyo. The waitress comes by and leaves the check at your table, you place your money inside, hand it back, and she shortly returns with the receipt. You proceed to place a generous tip on the table to thank her for her wonderful service, and you show yourself out of the restraint, back to the busy streets of Tokyo. Can you spot something that you shouldn’t have done in this scenario? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Zachary B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Most Westerns won’t be able to, as this scenario is perfectible acceptable in the Western part of the world. However,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Japan is a country with a long history, deep tradition, and vibrant culture. Within this culture sits the Japanese language. At first, being a spoken language and then adopting the Chinese Writing System, Japanese has grown and changed into what it is today. If you look at all languages, most Western languages originate from a set family, such as Romance Languages (which became today’s Spanish, French, Italian, etc). But Japanese (as most Asian languages) was formed from entirely different roots. These fundamental differences mean that the method of learning these languages has a lot to do with memorization and repetitive practice of the Chinese symbols and the words they represent. Which means it is difficult to find any common ground between it...  [Read more]

Georgia Payne Destinations Alumni Experiences Moving to one of the largest cities in the world is quite a daunting task, particularly when you have to find your own accommodation using another language. On the JET Programme, ALTs (assistant language teachers) are, in every prefecture except Tokyo, provided with accommodation by the school and will likely inherit all of the necessary furniture and kitchen appliances that they need and only pay a small amount of rent. In Tokyo, the freedom of choosing your own apartment is an exciting prospect. No hand-me-down furniture from 30 years ago, no scary, mouldy tatami mats to deal with, only pure freedom of choice. This means, however, that you have to tackle this task all by yourself, but the good news is that you have a few different options...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I have taught in a Japanese high school for the past four years as an assistant language teacher, which gives me a particular insight into the problems and advantages of EFL in that area. This will naturally require some generalizations. Individuals have very different problems from one another, but broader shared issues do crop up. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate William L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. For context, I work in two Japanese high schools as an assistant language teacher in Toyama prefecture. I go to one school four days a week, which caters to students who can only study part-time. I also work at a farming school, where students have the opportunity...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences English is my first language, however, I studied Spanish throughout high school growing up in the Midwest and eventually received a Master’s degree in Spanish Literature. I learned to speak Spanish very well after becoming a high school Spanish teacher for eight years and then a principal for elementary and secondary schools for 26 more years speaking Spanish to new immigrant students and parents the whole time. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Rex P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. In reflecting on the title question I first asked myself how Spanish had influenced me over the years. The first obvious answer was that I became bilingual and began communicating...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Beiji Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Xianyang Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Japan is a country with a long history, deep tradition, and vibrant culture. Within this culture sits the Japanese language. At first, being a spoken language and then adopting the Chinese Writing System, Japanese has grown and changed into what it is today. If you look at all languages, most Western languages originate from a set family, such as Romance Languages...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Haozhuang Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Taiyuan Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. It is often said that both of Japanese students in school and adults are not possible to speak English or too reluctant to speak. They also have awareness of lack of their speaking abilities. Do they not have English classes in junior and high school? The answer for this is yes, they spend about 1.000 hours for English classes for 6 years. In spite of this fact,...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Dachaidan Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Haixi Mengguzu Zangzu Zizhizhou? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Problems for Learners in a Country of your Choice Despite being one of the world's most developed nations, Japan lacks English fluency. According to the Education Testing Service, which administers English proficiency exams, out of the 30 Asian countries that took TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) exams in 2015, Japan ranked fifth...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Niuquan Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Laiwu Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. The English language, which has been accepted as a universal language, is of great importance in terms of commercial, economic, socio-economic, academic, educational and cultural aspects. In order to be able to master this language, people have experience in their own country and abroad. One of the language learning systems which consists of various methods is group...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Many challenges come with teaching English in Japan that is unique and not innately obvious to some people. In addition to the more universal challenges of learning a new language, there are inherent cultural obstacles that English learners must overcome in Japan as well as several problems with the current course of study that is being taught. However, English teachers should do their best to work within the limits of the system to foster an interest and passion for language that lives on outside the classroom and beyond the school years of learners. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Issei E. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Japanese does not use the Roman...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Zhaidian Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Yuncheng Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. English is considered a global language. But what is a global language actually? Aren’t Chinese and Spanish global languages too? First there is no official definition of ‘global’ or ‘world’ language, but it is commonly agreed to refer to a language that is learned and spoken internationally. It is characterized not only by the number of its native and...  [Read more]

Amanda Stern Destinations Alumni Experiences Are you planning on teaching abroad, but worrying about how you can get involved in the community and leave a memorable impression on the locals? Language barriers may make this seem like a harrowing task, but fear not, the following is a list of a few jumping-off points for those planning to take the plunge into their new community. Celebrating multiculturalism in a community is a worldwide phenomenon, even for unassuming towns. In our rural port-town in Japan, we have multiple events throughout the year to promote understanding and celebrate the various cultures and people who have made Japan their home, temporarily or forever. These events included Filipino traditional dance classes, Malaysian food tasting, and cooking classes, as well as...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Ever since I was a little girl, education has been a huge part of my life. My mother was a teacher at the elementary school I attended and also taught me and my sisters Japanese after school in our home. I have always been inquisitive, constantly asking questions to my parents and teachers about topics I was interested in and about things I didn't quite understand. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kim S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I always enjoyed learning and loved the feeling of accomplishment when I received high scores on tests and other assignments. My favorite subjects were reading, writing, and spelling. Outside of school, you could always find me...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teaching English as a foreign language can be an intimidating task, especially for non-native English speaking teachers. This is true for many of my coworkers who are homeroom teachers at elementary schools in Japan. English has recently become a formal subject in elementary schools here and many homeroom teachers are intimidated by the sudden responsibility to teach a language they are not fluent in. Many feel that native speakers are better English teachers since native speakers have natural pronunciation and excellent command of the language. Co-teaching with a native speaker can put added pressure on homeroom teachers to speak perfect English in front of their students. Therefore many homeroom teachers feel uncomfortable with being in the spotlight...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Zhuanyaowan Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Yan'an Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. The native language -or L1-, is the language a person has been exposed to from birth. It can also be called the first language and it is usually referred to as the language one learned as a child. It is part of the cultural identity of a person. The second language -or L2-, is the language that is not the native language and it is learned later, usually as a...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences This essay will be a comparison of my personal experience teaching English in Barbados, a country whose main language is English versus teaching English in a rural area in Japan, a country whose main language is Japanese (not English). Firstly, I will briefly discuss the definitions of teaching. Secondly, I will summarize English education for young learners in each country. Finally, I will compare and contrasts my personal experience in both countries and the valuable lessons I have learned. To protect the anonymity of the schools, the specific areas and any other identifying information will be excluded from this essay. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Desriel G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Learning another language is one of the most powerful tools for connecting people around the world from different cultures. Opening an immeasurable amount of opportunities, learning English has many benefits including but not limited to expanding career options, exercising another part of the brain, and improving the ease of traveling to a foreign country. However, particularly for natives of Eastern countries, learning English may be very difficult due to the exoticism of sounds, writing, pronunciation, and structure. While Japan is unique in a sense, having a booming influence of Western culture after World War II, native Japanese learners face difficulties in learning English due to phonology differences, grammatical differences, and limited...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I have been teaching in Japan for over 12 years in three different locations ranging from the southernmost part of Hokkaido to the southern island of Kyushu, where I presently reside. The youngest students I have had were children not even two years of age, whereas my older students were in their seventies. This is a very common situation for those who teach here in Japan; a country where the English boom occurred not too long after they rebuilt their nation following the Second World War. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Andrew W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The Japanese are in love with western culture, especially that of the United States. Due to this, they...  [Read more]