Japanese young lady tries to speak English only

[Buntaro]

For those of you who work as English teachers, this may be of interest to you.

This Japanese young lady walks around Asakusa's Sensoji Temple (in Tokyo), trying to speak English only. She does a great job, saying what she can, and struggling with vocabulary she doesn't know. She says she is only speaking at the middle-school level, which I find fascinating. (If all Japanese middle-school students could speak English this well, that would be great!) One of the biggest challenges we English conversation teachers face is that the students are deathly afraid of making mistakes. This girl is a great example of just speaking extemporaneously, not worrying at all about making mistakes, just using the limited English she has. What a great example!

(Do Japanese middle school students really know this much English vocabulary?)

 

[johnnyG]

Well, there's a disconnect between the level of English the middle/high-schoolers actually have (and may show to or use with others during interactions), and what's in the curriculum/books. Especially at the high school level, if a student could even learn about 80% of what's in it (and if 80% of students could learn 80% of it...!), impressions of English ability in Japan would radically different.

"...the students are deathly afraid of making mistakes"

As you likely know, that's one of many affective filters--and this young woman shows what it's like to speak/use English without the most obstructive of those. I don't think her English is especially good (apologies!), but the difference here is that she's using what she has so openly and without reservation.

 

[Ukigumo]

Very interesting and her English language ability reminded me a little of 'Genie' and her language acquisition. I could pretty much understand what this brave young lady was trying to say despite her lack of grammar. I think she could cope with a visit to the UK.

I've never seen a Japanese person perspiring (outside of a Kendo dojo)!

 

[J-popsy]

Yes, her willingness to try is admirable.
On the subject of English teaching, this video is rather amusing, especially the first lesson part where the girls are trying to explain a situation involving a given word. It always raises my spirits.

 

[Ukigumo]

I'm afraid the infantilised, high pitched voices only allowed me to get 54 seconds into the video before turning off for fear of damaging my hearing!

 

[Buntaro]

I have a couple of questions about how gaijin teachers teach English in middle/high schools in Japan. Do gaijin teachers give grades? Does everyone automatically pass? I have heard such students are never given a failing grade in a class — is this true?

 

[Grandpa Frank]

I always wish we had an emoji for when someone posts a question .

 

[mdchachi]

I have a couple of questions about how gaijin teachers teach English in middle/high schools in Japan. Do gaijin teachers give grades? Does everyone automatically pass? I have heard such students are never given a failing grade in a class — is this true?

Do gaijin teachers exist? I always thought the gaijin were relegated to ALT status.

 

[thomas]

I have a couple of questions about how gaijin teachers teach English in middle/high schools in Japan. Do gaijin teachers give grades? Does everyone automatically pass? I have heard such students are never given a failing grade in a class — is this true?

Assistant Language Teachers do not give grades. They assist JTEs (Japanese Teachers of English). I have never heard of a student failing in Japan.

While Japanese students generally have high graduation rates, some do fail or struggle academically, and a notable number experience challenges like absenteeism or falling behind. While the overall dropout rate in upper secondary schools is low (around 2%), a significant number of students struggle with on-time graduation from university, with about 10% dropping out and 20% falling behind schedule.

Source

 

[Buntaro]

Hey Thomas, you got me wondering: Do all college students also pass all classes? I have heard that, once a student passes the very difficult college entrance exam, college classes are pretty easy.

 

[mdchachi]

According to this, approximately 10% of Japanese university students drop out before graduation.

 

[johnnyG]

According to this, approximately 10% of Japanese university students drop out before graduation.

That sounds ballpark correct, more or less, depending on the school, how it ranks, and the 'quality' of its students. Where I worked the advisor was first in line (in preventing this from happening), then the issue went to the 教務委員会/academic affairs committee (who might ask the advisor to try again, perhaps with the 教務委員長 on the side), then it got rubber stamped by the faculty meeting/教授会. There was always a brief reason listed, and the advisor might talk during a meeting about the counseling that they had tried (how they had tried to keep a paying student on the rolls), something about the student's situation, etc. But by this time it was a done deal.

A student could withdraw temporarily, for a term or a year or more (休学), or withdraw completely (退学). By far the most common reason listed for either was 進路変更, or that the student had changed their plans/goals, a catchall category. Kind of like 'other' in the scheme of things.

One way to try to 'save' a student was to suggest a different department. Eg, where I worked, students who weren't suited for the pharmacy course (a six-year course, heavy on sciences, with a hard national exam on it all to get final certification), could be offered a place in the liberal arts department (a general/typical four year course with no sciences). Some did change, and were generally given generous credits for courses already completed, then would later graduate from that department as normal. (転学)

 

[Petaris]

This Japanese young lady walks around Asakusa's Sensoji Temple (in Tokyo), trying to speak English only. She does a great job, saying what she can, and struggling with vocabulary she doesn't know. She says she is only speaking at the middle-school level, which I find fascinating. (If all Japanese middle-school students could speak English this well, that would be great!) One of the biggest challenges we English conversation teachers face is that the students are deathly afraid of making mistakes. This girl is a great example of just speaking extemporaneously, not worrying at all about making mistakes, just using the limited English she has. What a great example!

It is good to see her trying an practicing though I wonder if part of the reason why she was able to avoid the fear of making mistakes is that she wasn't talking to anyone in person or live on video. It was all just recorded and she knew she could edit out anything she wanted to before posting it. I'm not trying to detract from her effort, just wondering if those circumstances made it easier.
I thought she was kind of adorable marching on through her effort.

 

[Buntaro]

Petaris,

She works as a rickshaw driver (!) in Asakusa, so I imagine a lot of her customers are foreigners. She is trying to get to where she can talk freely with her customers in English. She may be only doing a practice solo now, but I am sure she will be chatting with her customers in English very soon. Her boldness is serving her quite welll.

She also has videos of herself driving her rickshaw, which you might like to see.

 

[Buntaro]

Hi everyone,

Did you know the word rickshaw comes from Japanese? The Japanese word is 人力車 (jinrikisha) ("human-powered vehicle"). Somehow, along the way, the first part, "jin," got dropped and we just say "rickshaw" in English.