This post is a transcript of my YouTube video about the difficulties Japanese people have learning English.
Why is English so hard for Japanese people? Discover why many Japanese people struggle with English even after years of study.
In this video, we deep dive into the surprising cultural, educational, and social reasons behind Japan’s unique relationship with the English language.
Drawing from my own experience with Japanese English education and my current TOEFL studies, I explore 4 key reasons:
- School English for Exams: How Japan’s education system prioritizes grammar and reading over practical communication.
- English is Unnecessary in Daily Life: The minimal need for English in everyday Japanese society.
- Perfectionism: The cultural fear of making mistakes in spoken English.
- Inherent Difficulty: Why English is fundamentally challenging for Japanese speakers, and vice versa.
We also examine the perception of English in Japanese society, often viewed as a status symbol rather than a communication tool.
If you prefer watching, please check the videos below!
🎥 Watch on YouTube
English Learning in Schools
First, let’s look at English from the perspective of Japanese education.
When I was a student, English classes officially began in junior high, so I had a total of six years: three years in junior high and three years in high school.
English was also a required first foreign language for the first two years of university, making it a total of eight years of classes.
Currently, English studies are reportedly introduced as a subject starting from the upper grades of elementary school, so it seems that students are beginning their English learning even earlier than when I was a student.
In Japan, English is also one of the most important subjects. It’s required for high school and university entrance exams, so many students who hope to advance to higher education study English diligently.
For these reasons, most japanese people study English in school for at least several years during compulsory education. Furthermore, many university students experience at least six years of English classes in school, plus self-study for entrance exams.
Reasons for the Struggle
Despite spending so much time learning English, why do so many Japanese people still have a sense of inadequacy toward it, and why can’t many even hold simple conversations in English?
Let’s consider the reasons.
Reason 1: School English is for Exams
First, one major reason is the lack of opportunities of practical use of English in Japanese English education.
I personally took English classes for about eight years, from junior high through university, but even then, I could barely speak or listen to English.
Things might have changed now, but when I was a student, school English mainly focused on grammar and reading comprehension of long passages. There were hardly any listening or speaking classes.
Because of this, the English questions on high school and university entrance exams were also mostly grammar problems and reading comprehension questions. There was no need to study listening or speaking for exams.
Listening tests did exist, but in most cases, they didn’t have a very significant weighting.
As a result, many diligent people from school English classes find themselves in a state where they can read English but can’t speak or listen to it.
Reason 2: English is Simply Unnecessary in Daily Life
Secondly, once we leave the educational environment, the need for English significantly decreases. In Japan, if we’re working and living normally, English is hardly used at all.
Of course, some people use it for career advancement or work, but they are a very limited percentage of the overall Japanese population.
Even today, with increasing opportunities to interact with foreigners in Japan and the growing need to look overseas due to Japan’s sluggish economy, English remains largely unnecessary for most Japanese people in their daily lives.
Therefore, because there are almost no opportunities to practice English in both school and daily life in Japan, it’s natural that many people can’t speak English or have a sense of inadequacy towards it.
Reason 3: Perfectionism
Furthermore, even if they do get opportunities to practice, many might not proactively speak English. In Japan, when people imagine someone who can speak English, they tend to picture someone who is fluent, almost like a native speaker, with no difficulties.
This might be heavily influenced by elite characters in dramas and manga.
I often feel that many people are afraid of speaking broken English or making grammatical mistakes, which prevents them from practicing much.
Reason 4: English is Inherently Difficult for Japanese Speakers, and Vice Versa
As a final reason, English is fundamentally a difficult language for Japanese speakers.
Looking at various sources (e.g., https://dila.co.jp/business/policy/), English is a relatively difficult language for Japanese people to acquire, requiring thousands of hours of study.
This suggests that school education alone is far from sufficient; continued learning is necessary for acquisition.
The same might be true for English speakers finding Japanese difficult and time-consuming to acquire.
Personally, I’m currently studying English for TOEFL, and I’m really struggling. I find it hard to improve my listening skills, and I’m also having a lot of trouble with pronunciation.
English in Society
So far, we’ve considered why Japanese people struggle with English. Next, let’s look at the perception and positioning of English in Japanese society. As mentioned above, there are very few situations in Japanese society that require English, and most ordinary people live a life unrelated to English.
Among those who do need English are people working with overseas companies or in foreign-affiliated companies, often in relatively high-paying jobs with some connection to overseas. In such a situation, people who can speak English are generally regarded as highly capable. Many Japanese people seem to have a certain longing for English, viewing it as a status symbol.
Even if English isn’t used in one’s daily life, people might want to learn it or become proficient for the reasons mentioned above. However, due to the difficulty of English acquisition for Japanese speakers, it’s not uncommon for them to quit without much progress.
Conclusion
In this video, I mainly explained why Japanese people struggle with English, and what the perception and status of English speakers are in Japanese society.
Personally, I still think Japanese people tend to struggle with English. However, perhaps it’s because I’ve started learning English myself, but I also have the impression that the number of people who are proficient in English has increased recently.
Closing
Thank you for reading my article today. I hope you found the information helpful.
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