TOKYO — When you speak to foreign English educators in Japan, one thing becomes crystal clear: English education in Japanisnt working. Its just awful. While English classes are mandatory in Japanese schools, the percentage of students who emerge with actual English abilities are surprisingly low. Students in China, Korea and Japan are in an arms race tosee who can produce students with the best English, and Japan seems to be trailing far behind in third place.東京——當你同日本的外國英語教育者對話時，有一件事情變得非常明晰：英語教育在日本行不通。實在可以用糟糕來形容。雖然日本學校中實行強制性的英語課堂，可是擁有英語能力的學生少得可憐。中日韓三國的學生互相競爭看誰擁有最好的英語能力，而結果似乎是日本落在了第三名

With the Olympic Games coming up in 2024,the Japanese government has proposed changes to increase the level of English ability in their students. Changes like starting introductory English classesin 3rd grade elementary school and making the subject compulsory from the 5th grade. Are these changes really going to help? Weve gathered opinions fromboth foreign teachers and Japanese citizens about issues with the system and what might improve it.隨著2024年奧運會即將到來，日本政府提議做出改變從而提升學生們的英語水平。比如在小學三年級就讓學生學習一些入門的英語知識，以及在5年級時讓英語學習成為必修課。這些舉措真的有效嗎？就這方面的問題，我們搜集了外國教師和日本民眾的看法，看看如何提高日本的英語教育。Every foreigner who spends any amount oftime in Japan will understand the fundamental need to change the way students study English. But a recent thread on the Japan subreddit, which seems to havebeen started by an English educator, tried to assemble as many opinions aspossible about the matter in one place. Many of the complaints fell into three main categories:在日本呆過一段時間的外國人都會意識到有必要對日本學生學習英語的方法進行根本性的改變。最近網上有一名英語教育者發表了一個帖子，就這個問題激起了人們的討論，很多抱怨可歸到以下三種：1. Teaching to the tests應試教育For those unfamiliar with the Japanese school system, most high schools and universities have a test that prospective students must take and pass. Especially in the case of high schools, there is amandated set of content that appears. And so, Japanese Teachers of English(JTEs) focus on the grammar and vocabulary that will be on the test. A broader understanding and the practical uses of English are largely ignored because they have to cover the specific material and dont have time for anything else.在日本，大多數的中學和大學都有入學考試，想要就讀的學生必須參加考試并通過才行。特別是中學，有一系列強制性的測試需要學生參與。所以為了應付這樣的考試，日本的英語教師就把焦點放在了語法和詞匯上了。對英語更廣范圍的了解和實際應用往往被忽視了。So, if Japanese students have to learn specific material for the tests, why should they learn anything else? There isno point in actually learning the language if all that is required is being able to pick the correct answer on a multiple choice test. Many Japanese netizens agree, Why change anything unless the style of testing is changed?所以，為了通過考試學生們不得不學習某些指定的英語素材，那他們還有必要學習英語其他方面的知識嗎？如果學生們需要做的就僅僅是在多項選擇題中挑選出正確答案，那么還有必要學習這門語言嗎？許多日本網民也覺得，當務之急就是要改變這樣的考試制度。2. The quality of the textbooks is quitelow教科書的質量相當的低下Many foreign language teachers criticized the textbooks used in the classrooms, complaining about all manner of things including content and grammatical errors. Even more specifically, many peoplefound the choice of grammar included to be suspect, saying it wasnt grammarused very often in native English. The JTEs have to teach these archaic forms through topics such as recycling plastic, people and animals dying in WWII andboring Japanese history, causing students to be apathetic. (Topics like theseare required in government approved textbooks.)很多外語教師都批評課堂中使用的教科書，包括其中存在的內容和語法方面的錯誤。而且人們認為教科書中的語法內容是可疑的，因為這些語法都不常用在地道的英語中。日本英語教師在教授這些陳舊的語法時，所使用的話題包括再生塑料，二戰中人類和動物的死亡，以及無聊的日本歷史，導致學生們對英語學習缺乏興趣。（在政府批準的教科書中，這些話題是必備的。）3. A focus on translating into Japanese and JTEs speaking in only Japanese. Where is the English?Perhaps one of the biggest complaints wasthe amount, or lack of English used in the classrooms.集中于將英文翻譯成日文，而且日本英語教師只說日語。那英語哪去了？或許人們最抱怨的事情之一就是課堂中英語的使用程度不高或者根本沒使用英語。The JTEs often teach all the grammar in Japanese, and check that the students can follow the textbook by translating the English into Japanese. Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) are regulated to human tape recorders, and then set free to roam the class and help thestudents. Of all the hours of English education, how many of those hours were spent actually listening to and speaking English? (Repeating English is not the same as speaking it.)日本英語教師通常用日文來講授英語語法，而且通過要求學生將英文翻譯成日本的形式來考查學生的英語學習進度。一些助理語言教師相當于人類錄音機，然后踱步于課堂間并“幫助”學生。在英語學習的整個期間，有多少時間是真正花在聽和說英語上了？（重復英語和說英語可是兩碼事啊。）Japanese people agree that the current teaching style often limits students to what little English they hear from the teachers and what words are put in front of them. Successful teaching should include as many senses as possible to surround students in English. One Japanese netizen suggests that TV dramas should be utilized to hear real English, while seeing the facial expressions and mouth movements all togetherin one package. How can a student not be excited to learn phrases like OK, Im on my way, Whats the problem? or Freeze! Youreunder arrest!日本民眾認為目前的教學方式使得學生們接觸到的英語知識極少。成功的教學應該從多個方面讓學生們融入在英語學習環境中。其中一名日本網民建議說可以利用電視劇來讓學生們聽到真正的英語，而且還能同時看到劇中人物的臉部表情和嘴部動作。比如，“OK, Im on my way”（好的，我已經在路上了）, “Whats the problem?”（啥情況）或者 “Freeze!Youre under arrest!”（別動！你被逮捕了），看到這樣酷酷的英語表達時，學生們怎么會沒有學習英語的熱情？Which brings us to the main problem with the current system: Japanese students dont understand the benefits of learningEnglish. This is certainly not limited to Japanese learners, but how many time do you hear a student say, m Japanese, so I will never use English in thefuture. Studying English as a language is one of the least interesting thingsabout it. But, what about all the different things that you can experience whenyou understand English? TV shows, movies, books, games, and its not even limited to entertainment, scientific journals, international business and the majority of the Internet is conducted in English.聊到這里，就涉及到了目前英語教育系統中存在的一個主要問題：日本學生不懂得學習英語的好處。當然，這并非日本英語學習者獨有的問題，但是你有多少次聽到一名日本學生說“我是日本人，所以我以后是不會使用英語的，”把英語當成一門語言來學習是英語學習中最無趣的一面之一。但是，在學會英語后，你知道你能體驗到多少不同的東西嗎？英語電視節目，電影，書籍，游戲，還還包括英語科學雜志，國際商業，而且大多數的網絡內容都是以英語呈現出來的。When the exposure of English is limited to the classroom and the unfortunate textbooks, a majority of the students will disengage from it and end up not learning anything. When students are forced to study and learn about certain grammar points and vocabulary, with no know ledge about how you can apply it to all the amazing things in English, of course, thestudents are going to do poorly. Expose them to the idea that, yes, this is a subject you have to study, but look at what you can do with it outside the classroom.You can excite students with that and promote self-study, which is a much better approach than learning This is a pen for the sake of a test.所以如果只在課堂和書本上學習英語的話，最終大多數學生將不會對英語學習產生興趣，從而什么都學不到。如果僅是被強迫去學習語法和詞匯而不懂得如何將這些知識應用在日常的英語使用中的話，那么學生們的表現肯定不好。所以應該給學生們的灌輸的一種思想是：是的，這是你必須學習的一門課程，但是學成后，你可以在課外很好的利用這些知識，拓展自己的視野。你可以利用這種方式來激勵學生，從而提升他們的英語自學能力。