Chapter 35. [Why Japanese People Can’t Learn English?]

A true story in India.

– I needed a language to study a language.

Exactly this is the need.

However, there is still no reason to use English with this alone.

“The reason they choose English is there was a problem when they wanted to make a textbook in an Indian language. It is…”

I check the comments section. People made various predictions.

The correct answer is――.

“Because [there was not enough vocabulary]. I could say [their vocabulary was too different]. They tried to make a textbook according to international standards, but there were too few corresponding words to translate properly.”

For example, there are too many words in English that Indian languages do not.

Not that it’s impossible, but it would be too redundant to describe a single word.

No one wants to explain an apple every time as a sweet and sour food with red skin, a white inside, and a black seed in the middle.

Of course, this is an exaggeration.

“Then they decided to use the English textbook, and conversely, they had to learn English itself first. And so English became the semi-official language of India.”

Of course, not everyone learns from English textbooks.

The above is particularly pronounced in non-Hindi speaking and urban areas, while Hindi-speaking areas are studying as they are.

Even in that tribal sense, English is truly neutral.

Many Indians now speak English as their first language.

“On the other hand, in the case of Japan, to put it bluntly, the Japanese language was too good.”

Probably the best of all natural languages.

Of course, I don’t mean “in all respects”, but…

“I don’t think there is any language better than Japanese when it comes to translation.

But that makes it ridiculously difficult to learn.”

>LOL

>I’m Japanese but I don’t understand Japanese.

>There are too many types of hiragana, katakana, and kanji.

“Japanese has a very wide range of expressions. We can almost express many words in many languages in Japanese. The number of translations is the largest in the world. It’s Japanese that has a lot of it it.”

Books translated from foreign languages into Japanese are the most numerous.

Literacy, culture, and population also play a role in this area, but even if you discount these factors, the Japanese language is still an anomaly.

“I think the main reason for this is, as I mentioned earlier, the use of three types of characters. I think the main reason for this is that they use three kinds of characters together, phonograms and ideograms. That’s why they are so good at creating new words.”

Hiragana and katakana, letters and pronunciation are equal.

Kanji, characters themselves have meanings.

Because we use them together, we have a wide range of acceptance. We can incoporate newwords into Japanese.

“That’s why we didn’t even have to use English as it is. And here are the preliminaries.”

>Eh!?

>That wasn’t the point yet!?

>I was asking you in all seriousness. www

“Originally, we were talking about why Japanese people are not good at learning English, or foreign languages. So, Wait a minute. Drink some water.”

>I’m dumb. w

>This timing. www

>Gokuri…

I let out a sigh.

Hydration is important. That was written in the Kojiki.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry to keep you waiting. Let me repeat that. First, I believe that Japanese people have rather high language skills.”

>Is that so?

>I think that when you can use a language like Japanese,  a very difficult language.

>Kanji is very difficult. (Eng)

“That’s right! Learning Japanese is difficult! But not all of it is difficult. The difficulty is limited to “written characters”. The conversation is in the category of easy learning.”

>Seriously?

>That’s surprising

>My English-speaking friends said they can speak Japanese but can’t write it.

“For example, in the case of English, learning the pronunciation and the alphabet is the end. But in the case of Japanese, learning the pronunciation and hiragana and katakana is not the end. You need to learn kanji.”

In other words, kanji is a bonus.

Compared to learning the language of other countries, it is equivalent to memorizing one additional written character.

“Learning your native language already requires as much additional effort as being able to write in a foreign language. In other words, our inability to learn English is due to ‘resource allocation’. I think.”

Learning resources are limited.

Giving a bilingual education to a child may result in becoming “semi-lingual”.

The pattern is that we can’t speak both languages on their own.

“I think Japanese people have enough ability in writing. But I think we have over-allocated to this area. I think a lot of people can do more writing than listening in English, too.”

>If you say so. www

>Writing is still better.

>But isn’t that a matter of learning order?

“Indeed. In other countries, you start with speaking and move to write. Even babies do it. But I honestly doubt that if you did the same in Japan, you would learn to speak the same way.”

If you learn a foreign language as an adult. That thinking makes sense.

But if you are trying to get a child to do it…

“As I said earlier, Japanese people are more capable of writing. I think the idea is to let them learn from the lower hurdles first, to reduce the required resources.”

However, naturally excellent children are an exception.

What I said earlier was only in the context of Japan’s “no dropout” education system.

That is a measure to reduce the number of children who drop out due to a lack of resources.

I’ve said a lot of things, but I’ll summarize them. In Japan, Japanese is the native language, Kanji is the first foreign language, and English is almost a second foreign language. Isn’t it easy to understand why it’s so hard to learn English?”

That’s my opinion.

There were many different opinions in the chats. Consent, affirmation, rebuttal, pointing out, etc.

I looked at them for a while, and then I told them the most important thing.

“However, I am talking about ‘English School’ now. I think the only way to get a good score is to study. But if you want to be able to speak English – you have to take the plunge without fear.”

I remembered the last days of my previous life.

I remembered my last days in America.

“The rest is curiosity.”

If I hadn’t crossed the ocean for an international VTuber event back then, I wouldn’t be where I am today.

Looking back, that was the beginning of my being able to talk like this.

So, if you have a favorite VTuber, learn a foreign language! Or, if you have a guess, learn a foreign language and discover more guesses! Because there will come a time when you will need it!”

>LOL

>That’s the point after all, huh? wwww

>I’m relieved to hear that you’re the usual Iroha-chan.

I’m dying without knowing why because I didn’t understand a foreign language!

I don’t think I’ve ever heard words with such a real sense of reality.

Necessity, resources, not being afraid to fail, curiosity.

What is important? The discussion in the comments section continued to be long and heated.

＊　　＊　　＊

The next day.

As soon as I arrived at school, Mai called, “Iroha-chan!”

“Hmm, what’s wrong… Gohogoho. Ah~, I talked a little too much during yesterday’s stream~. My throat is hurt~.”

“That’s not the point!”

“Oh, come to think of it, that transfer student knew my true identity――”

“Aah, that girl is dangerous~~~~!?”

“Eh?”

I froze

It was the first time I saw Mai with something like greasy sweat floating on her face――.