Japan reaches its lowest-ever ranking on Education First’s 2024 English Proficiency Index

What do you expect when salaries are lower now than 25 years ago. You get what you pay for.

Eigo is taught by Japanese teachers, using textbooks written by Japanese authors, for the purpose of passing Japanese high school and college entrance exams. International communication is not a priority in the current education system.

What do you expect when salaries are lower now than 25 years ago. You get what you pay for. Dispatch companies focus on finding people willing to do nothing but be the token foreigner. In fact that is all they expect. Japanese English teachers often still expect to teach “this is a pen” as they did 30 years ago. Basic 2 and 3 letter words for Japanese like Yes and no or Thsnk you are as far from in their knowledge base as the geometry and advanced physics are for most other people. On the flip side Japan wants to attract talent for the work force and yet demand N2 or N1 for jobs that are not translators but other fields. Sadly having real talent choose other places that are much more welcoming. Communication is more than some basic phrases and is in part overall health of an international economy.

Zees izu a pen. Ai amu a boi. Ueah ah yu goingu, misuta sumisu?

If you talk like this, you'll be widely understood from Hokkaido to Okinawa. Trust me.

おめでとう, English is not my native language and Im pretty bad at it too. My Japanese which is the same level as my English. The only reason why I can speak English is I spent five years in the US. The only reason why I can speak Japanese is because I have lived in Japan for 18 years, I enjoy it and my wife doesn't speak German or English. I'm not afraid to make mistakes and fail.

Anecdotal, but part of my job involves checking the English of native Japanese speakers, and while the older employees usually have their basics down very well, some of the new hires make some really, really basic errors. Things like messing up singular / plural agreement, correct verb conjugation, stuff like that. On top of that, every time I correct a mistake, there's at least a 50-50 chance they will repeat it next time, meaning that they're not paying attention...or they think I'm wrong (lol).

I can't judge too harshly, as even the worst of them can write pretty well overall (and the best of them are excellent, way better than I can write in Japanese), but it's part of the job description, and if I didn't do my job properly, some of them would be sending out complete gibberish at times.

English = a mind numbing joke here

"Let me impress my pals by shouting any nonsense in english in front of the foreigner"

Not even in the smallest villages of Vietnam people have this kind of mentality.

The main reason for these findings are in the numbers they haven't shown in this report.

Companies and schools force many to take the tests this report is based on. That means there are a huge number of Japanese being counted compared to many of the other countries. Often in other countries it is only those who "love" English and want to take the tests getting recorded. In reality Japan would be in the 40-60 range. So still pretty bad.

When I first came to Japan in 2000, I taught English at an all girls high school in Hiroshima. My first day I met the principal of the school. He told me that he felt English was a fad and was not necessary because most of the students would never leave Japan after high school. I quit the following year because the support for the “English program” was terrible. Now, it seems that 24 years later, the feelings have not changed.

The proof is always in the pudding, but watch these latest dismal rankings be totally ignored. Just tell them they are doing a wonderful job, that's all they wanna hear anyway.

Zees izu a pen. Ai amu a boi. Ueah ah yu goingu, misuta sumisu?

If you talk like this, you'll be widely understood from Hokkaido to Okinawa. Trust me.

Bonus points if you can do it while sounding like Little Jacob from Grand Theft Auto 4.

Was working as a "team teacher" today in junior high school.

Was permitted to say two words.

"Good morning".

Then relegated to marking papers.

There you have it in a nutshell.

The arrogance is outstanding.

Many of the high scoring countries are former British or U.S. colonies where English is used as the de facto official language. The Dutch language, linguistically belonging to the West Germanic group, is one of the closest languages to English. So the Netherlands’ high proficiency is not surprising. It’s no use trying to compare what cannot be compared.

Sarcastically, I often quip that, thanks to the total failure of the ministry of education, gaijin like me and a lot of others posting here can make a reasonable living.

It's not just English. they are incapable of teaching anyone to actually DO anything. Driving schools are a good example. I had to sit through 40 hours of lectures before any kind of hands on with a car. The "lecturers" would tell us what page of the manual we were going to be "studying" that day and line, by line, read it to us. Occasionally, the "lecturer" would pick a particularly important sentence and write it on the board. Just as it was written in the text book and just as he had spoken it.

I'm not joking or exaggerating. English "education" is conducted along similar lines. No wonder Japanese people can't speak English.

My advice is to fire the current administration and curriculum developers and hire people who can actually get results and get them to write a new curriculum and a training programme for teachers.

Communication is when B finally somehow understands what A wants to say. So it's not our cup of tea, if the Japanese don't see a necessity for being ultra perfect English language communicators. And btw. I guess the communication difficulties are very similar or maybe even bigger when different native speakers, for example a Scotsman and a farmer from Kentucky ever would meet and try to talk in their English.

It's not just English. they are incapable of teaching anyone to actually DO anything. Driving schools are a good example. I had to sit through 40 hours of lectures before any kind of hands on with a car. The "lecturers" would tell us what page of the manual we were going to be "studying" that day and line, by line, read it to us. Occasionally, the "lecturer" would pick a particularly important sentence and write it on the board. Just as it was written in the text book and just as he had spoken it.

While I have no idea if it's true or not, I once saw an article which suggested that students at some med school in Japan were completely amazed the first time they put a stethoscope to someone's chest, as they knew the actual theory of how it all worked inside-out and backwards, but they'd never actually done it for real. "Hey, it's beating!"

One reason why I prefer doctors and so on who have studied / worked abroad.

Japan’s English ability hasn’t gotten any worse, other countries have just gotten better. The article is purposefully misleading.

Was working as a "team teacher" today in junior high school.

Was permitted to say two words.

"Good morning".

Then relegated to marking papers.

There you have it in a nutshell.

The arrogance is outstanding.

That takes me back. I used to work at one school with a JTE who clearly felt that team teaching with an ALT was beneath her dignity. Other than the formulaic greeting and the occasional request to read something from the textbook, I was definitely doing a lot of standing around pretending to be interested in what was going on.

The list of countries by english speaking population is amore accurate representation, also in singapore majority speak singlish, now how does that qualify as proficient in english.

Education First?

Aren't they a bit dodgy?

As almost all noted, the problems with language learning here is the stilted exam based curriculum and the lack of support and training for existing teachers.

I teach part-time at a private school and have a free reign over what and how I teach. Been that way for years. Teach mainly higher level kids and they are in the most really responsive to interesting challenging subject matter.

It'd be hell trying to make English a joy by focusing on their advanced grammar texts. All of the Japanese teachers of English I have contact with at the school are very able in English, have good ideas and enthusiasm, but in the long run they have to teach to the final center exams. No escape for them.

And also I've been teaching private adult students here for decades - mainly people in their 50s, 60s, & 70s - and mainly women.

You'd be surprised at how many people have moderate English skills and above and can converse well. Many people you'd never suspect. I've taught 100s. One elderly long time student told me once how she was appalled waiting at the Shinkansen station in Kobe listening to 2 young foreigners mouthing off about everything around them, oblivious to the fact that they were being understood.

She told me, she said to them in perfect English "Your mothers would wash your mouths out with soap if they heard you".

Love to have been there.

But unfortunately probably too many who possess basic+ skills are too shy to use them.

Mike_OxlongToday  04:54 pm JST

Eigo is taught by Japanese teachers, using textbooks written by Japanese authors, for the purpose of passing Japanese high school and college entrance exams. International communication is not a priority in the current education system.

This. Like learning Latin in high school.

My wife's cousin graduated Tokyo University and is quite smart. But his English is, as he himself calls it, 受験英語. No problem reading and writing with a little time. But conversation? Forget it.

Most people I know and have met can and will speak English if you just listen to them and allow them to express themselves without you acting a professor calling it out their mistakes.

The problem with most people is they make a big deal and an issue about English speaking so most Japanese just PULL BACK and decide NOT to participate in a conversation because they do not wish to be embarrassed or called out.

I have yet to meet anyone regardless of nationality who's English is not considered their mother tongue and spoke fluent English and no one really cares as long as you get your point across.

The Japanese who interact with foreigners for their work speak excellent English that is impressive.

The level of English the Japanese speak is way higher than the Japanese Americans speak.

This year’s global ranking puts Japan at 92 (average score: 454 points), which is at the very bottom of the Low proficiency band. This placement is worse than its ranking last year at 87 

Hi, how are you?

Hallow. My name is….iya muri desu. Eigo muzukashii!

Where you getting these test takers? If you get these types the score of ociyrse is going to be near the bottom

Find rest takers in Toranomon. The English here is fine.

Quelle surprise!

Here is an ideea.

Throw or burn ALL existing japanese English text books, they are atrocious;

Then, for the love of God, please forbid any teaching and pronunciation in Katakana (worst Japanese invention ever).

The make a new curriculum from scratch, zero, where you actually focus on communication and interaction, not on mindless memorization and perfecting the grammar without understanding any of the vocabulary.

The "lecturers" would tell us what page of the manual we were going to be "studying" that day and line, by line, read it to us. Occasionally, the "lecturer" would pick a particularly important sentence and write it on the board. Just as it was written in the text book and just as he had spoken it.

This would torture. If English classes in Japan are like this, no wonder some end up hating English.

Not surprising. Almost every sign I've seen here in department stores, coffee shops, etc has at least one critical mistake. Finding one that makes sense is the exception not the norm.

I don’t understand why Singapore or Neatherland ranked higher than the Philippines. Strange…

English evolve daily

No surprise Koreans rank better. From my experience they're not afraid to have a go and make mistakes. Then learn from them.

Japanese are too focused on making perfection the enemy of the good. That attitude extends beyond learning as others above have already pointed out.

藤原

おめでとう, English is not my native language and Im pretty bad at it too. My Japanese which is the same level as my English.

I'm not afraid to make mistakes and fail

Bravo, well said. Not being afraid to fail is fundamental, you lean nothing from your successes only from your failures.

Meiyouwenti

The Dutch language, linguistically belonging to the West Germanic group, is one of the closest languages to English. So the Netherlands’ high proficiency is not surprising. It’s no use trying to compare what cannot be compared

Have you ever tried speaking Dutch, from personal experience I can assure you that regardless of the roots of the language it is in no way similar to English. There may be some words that have a degree of similarity but not enough to make any real difference, the Dutch proficiency is down to good teaching and practice, and yes they are damned good.

By the way English and German come from somewhat different roots, Anglo-Saxon which is the main root of modern English was derived from Low German, modern German derives from High German. The only language in the world that has a similarity to English is Friesian, and that isn’t very close.

The only countries in East or Southeast Asia that scored lower than Japan were Myanmar at 93, Thailand at 106, and Cambodia at 111 (all Very low proficiency).

I’m very surprised to hear about Thailand’s ranking. I’ve been there a few times and also found people communicated so well in English. Maybe they just don’t know some of more precise grammatical rules and advanced vocabulary.

> Jayszee Today  09:22 pm JST

I don’t understand why Singapore or Neatherland ranked higher than the Philippines. Strange…

I’ve never met a Dutch person who wasn’t fluent in English. In fact, most of the Dutch I’ve met could pass for native English speakers.

the story and comments not much different than 20 years ago, or 20 years from now.

DanteKHToday  08:46 pm JST

Here is an ideea.

Throw or burn ALL existing japanese English text books, they are atrocious;

Then, for the love of God, please forbid any teaching and pronunciation in Katakana (worst Japanese invention ever).

I know the problem with Katakana existing as part of the Japanese language. But for the Japanese the alternative would not have been any better.

(1) It's way too late to "get rid of it" and

(2) if Japan went back to the Ateji 当て字　they used earlier, it would be a mess. Just like Chinese words for Western things, Kanji used for their sound and not their meaning.

(3) The pronunciation of Katakana words is an approximation of what Western Words sound like expressed within the limitations of the Japanese language. It should not be considered "English". But it also adds a degree of familiarity when the Katakana word is "close" to the English word.

The Japanese are better at English than English Canadians are at French. The issue with English speaking Canadians and Japanese is neither have much motivation to learn a language foisted on them.

*neither has

Shirokuma4812Today  05:40 pm JST

When I first came to Japan in 2000, I taught English at an all girls high school in Hiroshima. My first day I met the principal of the school. He told me that he felt English was a fad and was not necessary because most of the students would never leave Japan after high school.

I wonder if that principal understands that at the tail end of the Tokugawa shogunate during the transition to the Meiji era, Japanese who learned English to varying degrees and travelled outside of Japan are the ones who are revered today as the founders of Modern Japan. The Iwakura Mission to the U.S. and Europe, Fukuzawa Yukichi, Nakahama (John) Manjiro....

Small people have small minds.

I taught in a preschool international school the owner was very motivated to bring teachers who were from various countries to teach English and introduce the children to variety of cultural activities. The children from the age of 3 started to learn their ABC'S and phonics, a real big deal for learning pronunciation and reading in English and which was a real huge help when I introduced spelling tests for the 4-year-olds and up. This surprised the owner; she did not believe the children could learn to spell from this age and the children loved getting the spelling tests and requested for them. During the annual teacher presentation, where the 5-year-old children show their parents, would show their proficiency and I would give a spelling test and by this time they were doing sentences. Afterwards the parents came up to me, stating they never saw anything like this before. For some of the children they were going onto international schools and based on their ability to read and write in English they were accepted into their chosen schools.

Now let's get back to this story, I was an assistant ESL teacher in a high school in Tokyo with no free reign you are just a puppet in the classroom, the students sit like robots and are scared to practice orally English in the classroom. They need to get the Japanese teachers out of the English classes and get native teachers in the classroom and allow the professional teacher to do what they do best, teach and not be a puppet, and if this happens Japan may see a huge improvement in students English levels both orally and in test scores.

International business uses English. If you are going to be a rural farmer, then it would matter if you want to sell your stuff outside China to foreign places without a middle-man translating.

Long ago, people learned that the best way to learn any language is to go live for a year+ where it is spoken daily. That is still true.

Sending your teen to an English speaking country for 1-2 semesters is great, just like someone from English speaking countries sending their teen to Japan is great. Costs are $10-$20K. Going for a few weeks in the summer is $3000-$6000, so not as good a deal and the language skills learned will not stay with the student as long.

Get your kids into an exchange program. Don't send them to a big city if you already live in Tokyo. Really shake up their view on life.

“It’s not that Japan’s English ability is declining, but rather that Japan is not keeping pace with the progress made in other countries.”

Or rather, it's not so much that it's declining, it's that it was never good to begin with.

Japan literally uses teachers who wrote, "Studied English" in their educational background -- whether it was required JH at the time or in HS or even college/Uni -- to teach English in schools rather than bothering to hire people are are proficient and teach it well. They also have the lowest educational funding in the G8, preferring to give all that money to defense spending. And when they are utterly embarrassed about it, like this, rather than work to remedy it they get defensive and say they don't need English, when that is increasingly not the case.

Who need the language from a decadent power??..

In the next future we need to learn Chinese..

If need something from Japan, learn Japanese..

I don't have a political right but as a taxpayer I deserve an answer to just one question: Why is my tax money being used to fund JET or ALT or whatever they call it ? This program produces zero even negative result and the only thing it adds to Japan is the number of foreign sexpats.