Why 95% of Japanese can't speak English

TOKYO GUIDEBOOK
takashifromjapan.com/tokyocompleteguide

If you have any experience of teaching English in Japan, tell us why no many Japanese people are not fluent in English!

Shoutout to Nick for showing positive and reassuring body language and for speaking clearly and concise. I mean that is expected from a teacher but what I’m trying to point out is that if you plan to visit Japan and talk with locals, actions like these will make you more approachable/comfortable to talk with.

Watching you the last year and a half or so, I can tell your english speaking skill is getting way better Takashii! Keep it up

日本語と英語は大きくかけ離れている言語だし、日本は島国なので英語を喋らなくても生活する上で困らないから私みたいに英語が苦手な人が多いです。
発音があまりにも違うから、喋る時に海外の方に笑われるのでは、と心配になる人も多いですよ。
違う言語を学習して使ってみるのはとても勇気のいることです....。

I'm American and throughout all my years of schooling, the only language that was ever available in school was Spanish and they did eventually have an Italian class when I got to high school. I understand where the kids are coming from. I took Spanish for nearly 7 years and barely know it at all outside of the basic stuff. As it is in Japan where it's just a subject you're required to take, that's how it is here throughout middle school and high school. We were young and didn't understand the immense benefits of actually learning the language. 95% of us just did what we needed to at the time to pass the class. Spanish is widely spoken here, too, unlike English in Japan. Of course as an adult, I look back and really regret not taking all my years of Spanish seriously just as I'm sure a lot of these kids will feel as they get older.

I am Finnish and I just spent 3 months in Japan (around Osaka, Kyoto and in a small town in Wakayama pref.) and I surely became a silent person during these months, since I don't speak Japanese and 99,9% of the people I met did not speak English. I still had good time and experiences and I am definitely going to go back in the future, but be prepared for this! (I have travelled alone around Europe, in the Middle East and East Africa and was always able to find people who spoke English enough to have good coversations, but Japan and South Korea too, have been more difficult in this matter!) Anyway, I do love travelling in East Asia and definitely going back soon! ❤ (I am fluent in Finnish, English, Danish and Swedish, but no use for any of those languages this time.. 😅 )

I love how all of these people made an effort to speak when put on the spot. It's not easy. Great job guys!

I went to Hirosaki as a solo traveler a few years ago. And I didn't anyone could speak English there. But most people I met there were so kind and ready to help. We communicated in different languages. I am so impressed by their kindness.

Being from a country where it's practically mandatory to speak English if you want to be successful in most fields, it amazes me how Japanese people don't really have that necessity. This made me respect even more those who learn it, because it shows that they're truly interested in communicating with others. Kudos to all of you!

nice to see Nick in a video again.. everytime he appears he gives some good advices/thoughts

I was always bad at english in school because I felt like I was behind everyone else and hated my teachers because in my eyes they explained stuff poorly. Then I started watching live streams on Twitch in english and have improved a ton since then. First of all because it was a topic that interested me (gaming) and second of all I could just listen and learn at my own pace. I think it is almost impossible to learn a language if you don't put in time outside of school to learn it. Now that I am fluent in english I can watch a lot more content that was simply not possible before. For that reason alone I think it is worth learning english but obviously being able to communicate with a lot of people world wide is also a big plus.

You do some really fun videos. Thank you guys.

Makes me happy to see Japan’s younger generation open up to the rest of the world. All these kiddos that wanna travel and experience new places really made my day. I wish them all the best, and lots of success in their studies. 🤙🏽😁

I am one of those Japanese who can understand English as a language but struggle to speak it. Many Japanese seem to have a complex about Japanglish. I was one of them. However, as I traveled to various countries, that complex disappeared. I learned that Thai, Korean, Chinese, and Spanish people speak English with their own unique accents.


But I still add "sry my broken eng” at the end of the sentence lol

Bless that you do and have this YT channel otherwise i never qould have had this much insight into Japan and the peoples mindset 😊

I got many valuable insights from this video. Thanks a lot!

I’m Taiwanese and the situation here is similar, we understand English but cannot really speak it :(
I completely agree with Nick saying that schools teach English as a subject instead of a communication tool. It’s the same in Taiwan. I think when the education focuses too much on teaching the academics side of English, it actually hindered students ability to learn how to speak as we became way too afraid of making mistakes. I find it quite detrimental as speaking skills can be improved much faster when one is not afraid of making tons of mistakes!

btw thanks Takashii for always making interesting and insightful videos! I enjoy watching them a lot😆✨

I've been to Japan twice, once in 2014 and again in 2023. There were FAR more people able to communicate with me in english in 2023 compared to 2014 especially in Tokyo. With the exception of a few small restaurants we were generally able to communicate everywhere we went in Tokyo. In Kyoto things were a bit more difficult but was still better than I experienced in 2014 Tokyo.

The development of google translate and being able to translate a lot of the writing you see on the fly definitely helps now filling some of the gaps, as does UBER which wasn't available the first time I went which made getting around at night much easier without needing to communicate as much.

Thank you, good video.