English Education in Japan
The current education of the English language in Japan is quite a loaded topic, but I just wanted to point out some recent efforts towards establishing a few more English oriented or bilingual schools. This snippet mentions a school out in Fukuoka that will be English-only; comments posted by others below the article provide some interesting viewpoints about the benefits of such a system.
Another interesting school I came across a few months ago is Global Kids Academy. I first learned about it from Chanpon.org through this snippet.
English-speaking schools have been around for over a century, but I find the continued establishment of more such schools an interesting trend and evidence of Japanese mothers’ continued dissatisfaction with the current public education system. The first few English-speaking schools were mostly for expats and diplomat’s kids, but the continued growth of Japanese nationals attending these schools is exciting to say the least.
July 9th, 2003 at 12:53 am
belly intelestingu
August 28th, 2003 at 11:30 am
At what age do Japanese children begin to study English in the public schools?
August 28th, 2003 at 2:00 pm
It’s my understanding that the public school system in Japan used to start teaching the English language in middle-school (”7th grade”). Apparently however there has been a recent shift the past couple years, and many schools are starting English education from 6th grade. Of course, it doesn’t really matter how early they “teach” the language, since unless they change the curriculum, they really have no hope.
Hope that answers your question :)
(p.s. I took the liberty of removing your double-post)
December 9th, 2003 at 12:51 pm
An idea that the earliar we begin to study English, the better English speakers we’ll be is not true???
July 10th, 2004 at 9:12 pm
It is true. What also is true is that language is living and must be used and not just translated or written if one is to become competent. Furthermore, not only grammar should be addressed, but all skills areas. This is what takes place in Germany and they are proficient speakers.
June 18th, 2009 at 9:27 am
I think the Dutch had the highest English scores in the world. (TOEIC?) Japan was ranked so low, despite spending so much yen. They should just allows JETs to become real teachers.