1. Japanese 2. English Yes OR No OR Maybe?

[MMM]

Originally Posted by ozkai

Exactly...

I think people are worried that If Japanese peole can speak English, they will lose their Japanese which is simply ridiculous..

That tends to be the opinion from non Japanese.

Most Japanese I knew and know would love to be fluent in English, even if it was just for international vacations

Culturally it makes as much sense to make Spanish or French to be Japan's second "official language". Everyone in Japan speaks Japanese. Some speak another language. The majority of foreigners in Japan are Korean or Chinese, so it would make much more sense for Chinese or Korean to be Japan's "second language" over English. And that would make no sense at all.

[ozkai]

Originally Posted by MMM

Culturally it makes as much sense to make Spanish or French to be Japan's second "official language". Everyone in Japan speaks Japanese. Some speak another language. The majority of foreigners in Japan are Korean or Chinese, so it would make much more sense for Chinese or Korean to be Japan's "second language" over English. And that would make no sense at all.

Are you saying that English is not important in Spain and France?

I think the English thing in Japan is more of an international thing for travelling and business.

I used to teach mainly small childen in my later years in Japan and it was a huge want for JP Mum's.. Not sure why but I guess they thought international was Japan's future..

I also had a senior student who was in charge of the JR Railway concrete in the Kansai region and we spent many a lesson preparing his English speech for an International audience..

I think that's where the English comes in..

Japanese spent six years during my time learning to read and write, so why not speak.. They couldn't seem to understand and would often complain..

One thing for sure, I wish I could speak Japanese because what I knew, has slowly gone

[noodle]

Some people actually think it SHOULD be an official language? I don't even think English deserves to be a recognised language of Japan...

If the average Japanese persons' level of English is the issue here, I think the Japanese Government should invest in better methods of teaching English rather than this official language malarkey.

[ozkai]

Originally Posted by noodle

Some people actually think it SHOULD be an official language? I don't even think English deserves to be a recognised language of Japan...

If the average Japanese persons' level of English is the issue here, I think the Japanese Government should invest in better methods of teaching English rather than this official language malarkey.

I think it would need to be termed "official" for people to actually have the chance to learn how to speak.

What I have heard from japanese people over six years is complaining learning for six years but not being able to speak it.

It seems people want it but it won't happenn until the criteria to be a Japanese politician is dropped to over 30, instead of 60

[noodle]

Originally Posted by ozkai

I think it would need to be termed "official" for people to actually have the chance to learn how to speak.

What I have heard from japanese people over six years is complaining learning for six years but not being able to speak it.

That doesn't make any sense... In Algeria, French isn't even a recognised language, but the majority of people that are educated have an excellent level of French by the time they finish High School (age 18). Whereas Thamazight is a recognised language, but only Amazigh people speak it. Similar situation in Spain with Spanish and Catalan and many many other places/countries in the world.
It all comes down to the way the language is taught and how available it is (i.e. are there any programmes on tv that use English, is English music advertised a lot etc etc).

Not being able to speak a language after 6 years has nothing to do with a languages' status to a country. I put that down to people expecting something without putting in anything. You can't expect to learn a language in 6 years if you only ever study it for 2 hours a week during school terms.

[noneedforname]

Hi I'm new here. just wanted my opinion heard aswell.

I don't understand why some of you seem negative to the idea. I'm from Norway and over here we start learning english as soon as we start school (well almost). Is there really any downsides to this? I'm almost as fluent in english as I am in my native language. This removes language barriers and make us able to communicate with big parts of the world. Cannot see why some people wouldn't want this!

Now I didn't answer the poll because of the way it was formulated, it's not up to me; but i dont see why they wouldn't want to learn a language spoken by so many nations. Perhaps i feel this way because of my ignorance. but I'm not forcing anyone, so please dont slaughter me because of my opinions

[noodle]

noneedforname, as you obviously know, English isn't an official language of Norway. You yourself prove that all that is needed is a good educational system for a language to be taught properly! So, really, where is the need to make English an official language?!

[noneedforname]

Originally Posted by noodle

noneedforname, as you obviously know, English isn't an official language of Norway. You yourself prove that all that is needed is a good educational system for a language to be taught properly! So, really, where is the need to make English an official language?!

Looks like i kinda misinterpreted this entire thread.
I was not promoting english as an official language. I thought we were discussing if english should be mandatory in Japanese schools. My bad! You are correct sir.

EDIT: I'll read the thread more carefully next time.

[Aniki]

Originally Posted by ozkai

Exactly...

I think people are worried that If Japanese peole can speak English, they will lose their Japanese which is simply ridiculous..

That tends to be the opinion from non Japanese.

Most Japanese I knew and know would love to be fluent in English, even if it was just for international vacations

It's not ridiculous, it's quite serious, and I have history to back me up. If English was made a second official language, it be more commonly used by the young generation in their groups and with each generation the Japanese language would pushed aside due to the fact that English is easier and faster to learn than Japanese. The same thing right now is happening with Japanese culture the teenagers rather spend their time on Visual Kei and cosplaying, rather than tea ceremony and flower arranging. People prefer western influenced fashion and style over country's tradition, and because English is more beneficial in terms of worldwide communication, people will choose it then Japanese which is only used in Japan.

[YanBrassard]

Originally Posted by ozkai

Are you saying that English is not important in Spain and France?

Of course. The French president doesn't even speak English.

French forever