In this column, I aim to give a plausible explanation for any question that possibly could have troubled you about Japan. Just like a good grammar explanation, they might not be the reason but they are all a reason. I aim to make them all usefully snappy and easy to remember, so you can put all gross generalisations down to that. May the teacher who has never made an inaccurate generalisation in class throw the first stone…
Comments and further questions gratefully accepted.
How can the same nation that has office workers who work 12 hour days and station masters who run up and down the platform in white gloves to make trains run on time produce such unmotivated language learners? For most people English is a hobby. In Birmingham, the only French lessons available twice a week were exam classes- and most Japanese see learning English like the English see learning French. The other factor is that some may be keener than they seem- the Japanese are as reluctant to draw attention by being too enthusiastic as they are about being ”the nail that stands up” out in any other way.
JapanExplained now has its own spinoff blog:
http://japanexplained.wordpress.com