Instead of just having vocabulary, learning more communication!
In English conversation class we had a foreign teacher.
In normal class we had a Japanese teacher.
Hey guys this is Cathy Cat. "Do you speak English?" and
What was your English class like? That's a question we're gonna ask Japanese people.
Hopefully we can find out why a couple of them don't like English.
Let's go and Ask Japanese.
Can you speak English well?
I hate it. I can't do it.
- I hate it. - Not at all.
No... uh... no.
I can't speak it at all.
I hate it.
I like it but I can't do it.
I can't speak it at all.
Me too, not a chance.
I can't do it at all. I haven't used it for years.
I don't speak it. No chance.
Why is that so?
It's so difficult.
- I don't get it. - It's so difficult.
I can't do English as a whole.
Verbs are so difficult.
Listening to English words and the meaning of words...
Some words have the same sound but different meanings...
understanding that is difficult.
Pronunciation is tough.
I don't get the words.
Talking is hard.
She is studying it at an international course at university.
- I put you on the spot there. - I am flustered.
- So you are studying it right now. - Yes.
How were you English classes in school?
We watched a movie and tried to solve questions afterwards.
We learn to listen to the lyrics in music.
In middle school and English teacher came to teach us.
- By English teacher, do you mean a foreigner? - Yes.
- Like an ALT (assistant language teacher) - Yes.
The international teacher got angry at me in English
and I didn't understand what they were saying.
We had to read the English in the textbook and translate it.
We had to look the words up ourselves.
And then present our results.
Was it just reading and writing?
Yeah like that.
Was there communication?
If you selected a conversational class, yes.
In our school program we have the chance for an exchange abroad.
Interested people could select that option.
Were your teachers mainly from Japan or...?
I haven't seen a foreign teacher.
For English conversation class we have a foreign teacher...
for all other English classes we have Japanese teachers.
What was fun in English class?
English games! We had an English puzzle game on the Pc.
The English class' puzzle game.
And receiving gifts there.
The English quiz was fun.
Do you have many games in Japanese classes?
In normal class we don't have any games.
- Is that a bit rare? - Rare indeed.
Was English conversation encouraged in class?
We barely spoke.
If there was no English conversation, what did you do?
Stuff like grammar.
And remembering words.
- Does this mean more written? - So much writing.
It was a lot of fun.
You had fun? What was good?
Trying out pronunciations. And playing games and such.
We could collect points.
If we managed to achieve something, we got certain points.
Our teacher had a lot of ideas and he even gave us stickers and such.
In class you learned how to pronounce words for communication? - Yes.
We also tried reading English aloud to the person next to us.
Did this give the English class an overall positive image?
Yeah English class was fun!
Do you think that helped you in improving your English?
I didn't do anything at home, just in class.
So I didn't progress much.
The classes were a lot of fun but...
but after that I had no reason to use it.
So I forgot it all quickly.
There are many Japanese people who are not confident in their English...
Personally, why do you think that is?
You don't get much contact with the language.
If I had more contact with international people, I might get more interested.
Ｉ have something like a streotype image that
I personally...
Are you ok?
I personally don't make an effort to have more contact with English.
So I don't get much exposure.
- You don't meet foreigners on average. - Yeah that's right.
But we would like to get in touch more.
But there is barely a chance.
There wasn't much conversation in class. That's why I can't talk it now, I think.
We don't have much of a chance to get in touch with English on daily base.
And in class every single one doesn't have much of a chance to speak it.
I don't know much about the meaning of words.
When speaking with a foreigner, and there is an important word you don't know
even if you know the grammar, you lose track of the conversation.
You can't follow the conversation anymore? - Yes.
Did an English teacher visit you in primary school sometimes?
In primary school we had an English teacher to teach us.
We sometimes had English lessons in primary and middle school.
What was more interesting for you?
Having a teacher to play games or a class that was focused on studying the language?
I personally preferred the primary, middle school games approach to English.
High school was too stiff. The style before that was much more fun.
What part of English class was good and what should be improved?
They should make it easier to understand.
I want more international teachers to come.
Taking your English class at university now, is it any different from school?
We are doing less reading and writing only.
The class focuses mainly on speaking.
I struggle following that though. I can't speak it at all.
Do you speak inside your middle or high school English class?
Not really.
You write, learn grammar and words but...
So suddenly getting ask to speak English in university.. I can't do it.
- You didn't have a chance to speak English up until now? - No.
What were you doing during class then?
We remembered words...
The English class was held in Japanese too.
A Japanese teacher would speak Japanese all the time.
So even in class you didn't get much exposure to English.
Yeah like that.
Seriously?!
Well that makes it hard to speak English then.
Exactly.
They need to change the curriculum.
If you could make your own English class now, what would you like in it?
Instead of sticking so much with words, conversation would be great.
I think we should have more contact with English from a younger age.
I think they should start using more international teachers from middle school.
Those were all the questions! Thanks!
So English education is different in every school.
It varies and the teachers show different types of effort for
the lessons. Some play a lot of games, some invite other teachers
like English native speakers to come into the classroom and teach
While others just stick with Japanese and teach the grammar
in Japanese and the vocabulary and just pretty much have the whole class
in Japanese.
That happened to me the first time I came to a high school
it was a school exchange. I thought it was English class and the teacher
kept speaking in Japanese and I asked the student next to me
"Hey when does the English class start?" and he said
"Well that is the English class."
It was held completely in Japanese and that was high school 2nd year.
It's surprising that some of the teachers don't feel confident
to actually speak English in the classroom.
Most of them stick with Japanese because they feel confident doing that.
Also there seems to be less communication less to that.
Because the teacher doesn't speak English, so the kids don't really get
encouraged to speak English in the classroom as well.
That leads to less communication and the kids are less exposed
to the English language in general.
That seems to be one of the minus points and maybe one of the reason.
But then again, some had brilliant teachers but then they didn't study at home.
Had no chance to use it and didn't keep it up.
So what are your tips of studying English and if you are an English native
what are your tips of learning a different language and how well do you speak
another language?
Curious about that! Let us know!
And I'll ...
catch you here soon...
....for another video....
on Ask Japanese! Bye!