English education in Japan

English conversation schools are huge business

Japanese people's interest in learning English has always been very high. You see signs or ads for  "英会話学校・Eikaiwa-gakkō・English conversation school"  in/near every train stations, shopping malls, and business districts.

People take English conversation lessons just like they do piano lesson or cooking class. It's not always for the need to have the skill, but it's because "being able to speak English" is a respected status. Though the flip side of this means that the level of English ability in general is still quite low in Japan.

Brief history of English education in public schools in Japan

In 1850's when Japan opened its gate to the world beyond, Western goods and culture rushed in and the need to communicate in English arose as well, and it was introduced as a subject taught in schools including some elementary schools.

But this trend was interrupted by those who stressed the importance of mother language, and English as a school subject was put in the back burner for a while. After WWII, however, the needs for learning English grew again, and Junior high and high school systems included English as a mandatory subject.

Unfortunately, the English taught was purely academic and not for conversation or communication skills. English grammar and structure, memorizing words, translating into Japanese were the core of English subject, and they were taught by Japanese teachers who didn't speak English.

As globalization continues, the Japanese work force has to step up to compete in the international stage, and the need to acquire real communication skills became threateningly urgent.

Revolution of English education system

In 2011, English was officially introduced to a curriculum for public elementary schools, though it was only for 5th and 6th graders.

In 2020, major revision was announced by the Monbukagaku-shō/Monkashō・文部科学省・MEXT・(Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Japan),  to include "listening and speaking in English" in 3rd and 4th grade curriculum and "listening, speaking, reading, and writing in English" in 5th and 6th grade curriculum.

This was a big step forward, but still, it's only 35 hours per academic year for 3rd-4th graders, and 70 hours per academic year for 5th-6th graders (one class a week and two classes a week). And for 7th grade and up, academic English was still in the main.

Many parents arrange for additional English conversation lessons after school using private, group, and online lessons. Parents know that English conversation is best learnt when young and current school curriculum is never enough to achieve the goal.

How about 7th grade and up?

In Japan, elementary school is from 1st-6th grades, Junior high school is 7th-9th, and high school is 10th-12th. Although compulsory education is up to the 9th grade, 99% of students advance to high school by studying and passing entrance exam which is very competitive for high ranked schools both public and private.

After elementary school, most students, especially 10th-12th graders, start to gear up toward college entrance exam. Naturally, the curriculum are set so that students will do good in them including English.

You have only one chance at college entrance exam each year. If you don't get in the school of your choice, then you will have to study one full year preparing for the next year's exam, these students are called "浪人・Rōnin".  According to MEXT, approximately 20%, 1 in 5 high school graduates who take college entrance exam become "浪人・Rōnin".

College grads can read and write in English, but "i don't speak English...."

The link below is for an actual public college entrance exam problem from 2020. Students were given 80 minutes to complete. You would see that it's not easy. Anyone who can pass this exam must be pretty good with speaking and listening too, right? (well....wrong.)

National Center for University Entrance Examinations - 2020 English exam problems

In my opinion, studying English for college entrance exam is very different from learning to speak English, and that is why even now, most college students can read English pretty well, but do so poorly in speaking and listening.

Japan is finally seeing the fact that their education system was too focused on college entrance exam, and not so much beyond that. Preparing for the exam may have taught children that hard work and sacrifice will pay off in the form of "Accepted" notification, which determines what kind of work or companies they will go into after college, and how much money and promotion they will be getting, or what kind of social circle they will belong to.

All of those things are important, but spending their precious growing years focusing too much on just memorizing without feeling the real purpose and meaning of learning let alone joy of learning is unhealthy.

The promising future of English education in Japan

It was a natural progression that Japan's education system is finally making tangible changes.

2020 and on, many public high schools started to put more weight on testing listening and writing in English, some schools plan to introduce speaking in English as a part of English exam.

In response to that, college entrance exams increased the % of "listening problems" from 20% to 50%, and more "reading and understanding long articles" problems replaced the written "pronunciation, accents, and phrase ordering" problems.

The big picture and goal is to educate students so they can think, understand, and express all in English. This is a wonderful direction. It will take years to catch up with the level of English ability of other non-English speaking countries, but Japan will get there.

English is not just a language spoken in certain countries. English is a tool you need for communicating with the world. This is an inevitable reality. It's our duty to help children achieve this goal while enjoying the process at the same time.

If you are interested in teaching English in Japan, one option is to apply for an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) governed by MEXT.  

See you next time!