How good are the Japanese at speaking English?

[thestonedkoala 0]

Theres this image that lots can speak English. Is that reality or not?

 

If I go to Morioka, will I be able to get by in English?

[kou 0]

I am not so good but try to learn, I go Nova eikaiwa school now. がんばります！

[amandanism 0]

to be honest, even in tokyo i find it hard to get by in english. i dont speak a word of japanese. the only think i do know, is how to read some kanji, because its similar to the characters in chinese. some stuff you are going to need someone who speaks japanese with you, i hear buying cars, renting homes, opening bank accounts and such are virtually impossible if you dont speak japanese. you can get by speaking english doing everyday activities but you might find it a bit hard to start with.

[Ocean11 0]

Most people who come to Japan don't speak any Japanese at first, and a lot don't learn much when they're here either. They must get by somehow...

[mumbojumbo 0]

They get by - thats it. They are usually the ones with no Japanese friends, almost not living in Japan but in some gaijin-exclusive building/area --- missing out on most of the experience of living in Japan.

[base40 0]

Out of the city - not good at all.

[Stefan 0]

They can read it no problem. And some know how to speak it, it's the pronounciation where comm. breaks down.... Learn some basic phrases befor you come, it'll help and give you a head start.

[Stefan 0]

I hate relying on Japanese persons to speak English, I feel really ignorant (probably because I am). How long does it take to get conversational ? I mean I am having weekly lessons, on basic phrases....

[fukdane 2]

"They can read it no problem"

 

 

You are living in Osaka. That may be true, although I doubt it. But in the countryside certainly while some people CAN read English and some people CAN speak English, they are the minority. And there are different levels of understanding right - lots of Japanese think they can understand English when their actual understanding is very poor....

[oblivion 5]

It vaires so much, but even in the cities at times you can have problems. Come with a positive attitude though and you will surely be ok.

[slow 0]

Try to learn Japanese greetings before flying.

If you speak a little Japanese, then Japanese people become more friendly to you. Everywhere in Japan it's same.

Even if we can't speak good English, we try to help you!

 

[pizzaface 0]

Definitely making the effort makes a difference.

[enderzero 0]

If you are interested in learning Japanese while you are in Japan I would recommend taking some basic classes before you come. Also a very good idea to learn the kana. I would start with Katakana because it will do you a lot of good to be able to sound out the words on the signs that are mainly English words translated to Japanese phonetics.

[Markie 0]

I still remember the times in Japan when Enderzero and I were trying to work out the meaning of signs in Japanese. I didn't know hiragana but he did, we both sort of knew katakana and I was better with the kanji because of my knowledge of Chinese. So we sort of worked things out.

However, now that I've progressed from only knowing Katakana to Hiragana as well, I find that Hiragana is more useful to learn first because all the basic Japanese phrases you learn as a beginner are all in hiragana (and some Kanji) even though Katakana is easier to learn and easier to identify with because a lot of it is based on English words.

[enderzero 0]

I learned Hiragana first and think it is easier...but far less useful if you are trying to get around in Japan and don't speak much Japanese.

[snowboard_freak 0]

When i did Japanese at school i found Hiragana a lot easier to learn than Katakana. But that may be because we used Hiragana more. We read more of it.

[Will Lee 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by the stoned koala:
Theres this image that lots can speak English. Is that reality or not?

No. Althogh many of them tend to think so.

If I go to Morioka, will I be able to get by in English?

NO! You won't get very far at all. At least try to have a fairly good understanding of katagana. This will make your life in Japan SO MUCH easier!

[Markie 0]

 Quote:

Originally posted by enderzero:
I learned Hiragana first and think it is easier...but far less useful if you are trying to get around in Japan and don't speak much Japanese.

Won't argue with Enderzero on this one. He's "been there and tried that" so he's the expert here, speaking from first hand experience!

[sachiko 0]

Many of us did not learn to speaking English, only grammar and for test. Its a shameI think

[zebedee 1]

Is the education of English gradually changing in Japan with all the AETs around then - Japanese being taught more to actually speak?

[Ocean11 0]

 

Unfortunately, English doesn't just 'rub off' which seems to be the 'pedagogical theory' behind the JET program.