What's so difficult about speaking English!?
We are shy so we can't really speak much
It's difficult.
We tend to try to avoid the situation.
I want to be able to speak English!
Hi guys this is Cathy Cat!
Today we'll go and Ask Japanese about the English language.
So, let's find out a couple of things!
Can you speak English?
I love English movies, but I cannot speak it well.
I want to be able to speak English!
I can speak a tiny bit of English...
-I can't speak English. -I can understand some.
I really can't!
Not at all?
-I can't speak English. -I understand a few words.
How was learning English at school?
I learned how to say hello.
But I can't use it.
I haven't been able to use it and can only say "Hello"
and anything that comes out in the class are Japanese words only.
Was that really an English class?
I really can't deal well with the grammar.
This is a "to be verb" and you need to add it to that word over there...
that kind of sentence structure is really difficult for me.
I enjoyed listening to English
and trying to make conversation with our foreign teacher.
But when taking notes, I realized just how different our languages are.
Like the sentence structure.
That made learning English quite hard.
I know the words but I can not make a sentence.
I didn't like that part.
What's so hard about the English language?
It's the right opposite of Japanese.
I found that quite difficult.
The pronunciation and also listening to English is quite difficult.
I don't get slang at all.
I can't understand it! With western music, some girls can sing along but...
no matter how many times I listen , I don't understand the meaning.
A word that I learned recently is the word for "pear" in English.
-Pear? -Yes as in the fruit!
PEAR!
Why do you think some Japanese find speaking English so hard?
-Maybe it's a motivation problem. -Motivation!
We don't really have an environment in which we can use our knowledge.
We don't get so many foreigners in schools...
We don't really get many opportunities for a cultural exchange.
From childhood onwards, we don't get much exposed to English.
Our tongues are too small that's why we can't speak English!
We are shy so we won't really speak much in the first place.
It's really difficult.
Well, we speak Japanese on a daily basis, right!?
But when then switching to a completely different language,
it becomes apparent how difficult it is to make conversation.
I personally think it is quite difficult.
I think if you really want to tell things, you will communicate them somehow.
But if it is too difficult to make conversation,
I can see why some people would avoid it.
Even knowing English words, my brain is all in Japanese.
I first need to turn what I want to say in my brain into English and then say it.
I can't do that process well enough.
Even though I want to communicate things, it's quite annoying when I can't.
I think Japanese have this scare toward foreign language. Maybe a prejudice.
That makes it harder to push yourself to learn English more.
I think the problem lies somewhere there.
So you kept asking us
why so many Japanese girls don't know how to speak English.
They gave you a couple of reasons.
Most of them being that the grammar is really difficult.
or that they don't really have a chance to speak it,
or that the pronunciation is quite hard for them.
Now how about you? How did you learn English?
Or how is your connection to Japanese? Leave us a message in the box below!
Thank you for watching and bye! See you!