Job Discussion Forums

[Mark]

Wow, a lot of stuff on this topic. I'm not sure what to make of it all.

First, the Japanese attitude to English. If Japanese want to learn English, they can. If they don't, they don't. Most people don't need to speak English and therefore don't. Most people I know back home can't speak a foreign language. There are tremendous advantages to becoming multilingual, but there are great advantages to a host of other things that most people never do. Most Japanese have never spoken to a foreign person. When that's the case, there's not a whole lot of motivation to learn a foreign language. As for interest in other cultures, how many people do you know who watch foreign films? Most people I've met back home can't be bothered with reading subtitles.

As for the colonization, neo-colonial thing, I think it's off the mark. English countries are not exporting culture, other countries are importing and choosing it. That's their choice. Nobody forces anybody to watch Hollywood movies, they go of their own choice. Having a language of global communication is not cultural imperialism, it's just practical. People need to be able to talk to each other, and it's a lot easier if everyone has a common language.

[Lister100]

As you usual Mark we're coming at this from different directions. That's good though, keeps things interesting.

How many people back home do you know that are in desperate need of having a conversation with someone in Japan or any other foreign country right now? Knowledge has its value to be sure but who's to say your not better off learning to play the guitar. Chances are you'll have more opportunities to use it and talk about it than you will a foreign language(provided you're staying in your country or not planning a career in applied linguistics).

If we're talking about business, there are always people that can fill the role of translator using the respective languages of the countries doing business instead of having one foreign language that neither country is native to. If Japanese people show up to a meeting with Germans speaking English you can bet it will not make the best impression. That's why you see people still learning foreign languages other than English.

English is number one, there's no denying it, and is it spreads the English culture spreads with it. The need for English to do business with large English markets in our increasingly globalized economy is in many cases not optional. Korea is maybe the best example of this as the acceptance into university is heavily weighted in English ability. These people are not all learning because they want to. As for the Hollywood angle, its hard for me criticize something I like so much, but it is an opiate that replaces the traditional entertainment industries of other societies. It brings with it the countless underlying socio/political messages that promote western anglo-saxon (and to some extent Judaic) dominance.

People make a big fuss about subliminal messages in music, but the same is true in every other form of artistic expression. Just because you like it doesn't mean its good for you. In the world of free democratic ideals, limiting one's dose of a bad thing is considered politically incorrect. The struggle to put somebody in that position of authority which regulates has failed many times over leaving us to trust in chaos.

Its not my society that's being taken over by western culture so why should I care? You can bet that the moment somebody starts saying Americans have to learn Chinese as a second language, to get into univesity and the higher paying jobs, there is going to be a massive outcry. Maybe that day will never come?

Many of the missionaries that went around doing the lords work in past centuries did not view their efforts as colonial. They sincerely believed that what they we're doing was saving souls and making the world a better place. Ask an English teacher now what he is doing and he will tell you his work is making the world a better place. Providing universal communication to a world that desires it. Time will tell how the world will really see this work.

[Nagoyaguy]

[JimDunlop2]

I had to teach some "Save gay unborn whales for Jesus" classes at an elementary school last year. The teachers who organized my visits were social studies teachers so they figured I could teach the kids all about world peace, terorrism and 9/11, the war in Iraq, rights of the handicapped, the environment, etc... etc.... They didn't really care whether I taught them anything about the English language or not. I guess they must've been reading those studies that say teaching English in elementary schools doesn't make a difference...

I thought I did a pretty good job of it (thanks to the various U.N. websites among others).... As well as a pretty good Eng-Jpn translator....

/threadjack

[Nagoyaguy]

[guest of Japan]