Q-Eng

I saw a video on YouTube, in which an English teacher suggests that Japanese people should not apologize about their English speaking ability. He says that it’s frustrating.


I have a mixed feelings about it. I believe that most native English speakers tend to make themselves look great and sometimes even exaggerate their abilities. I hear that when American (or maybe other Western) people say that they are in a level of intermediate in Japanese, that means they can speak only a few Japanese phrases.

On the other hand, Japanese people tend to avoid saying they are great. We don’t want to look like we are showing off our abilities. So if Japanese people say they can speak English (without adding “a little”), it means they are really great at speaking English.
This kind of humility is considered to be a good manners in Japan. That’s a part of Japanese culture.
Should I give it up when I speak English?

Maybe I should, when I hop into American society. I don’t want to be misunderstood or frustrating.

However, I felt uncomfortable when I saw the video. The teacher seems to be complaining to his students or other Japanese people. Since he is in Japan and even temporarily he is a member of Japanese society, he should not deny criticize Japanese culture. It sounds like that he is insisting Japanese courtesy is wrong.

He says he is frustrated, but I think he should learn about Japanese culture. Then he can suggest that his students should be proud of their ability and show off it without hesitation when they talk with native English speakers.

He says that if you say bad things about yourself, it stops the conversation, that it could mean you don’t like learning English, and that it makes it very hard for the person you’re speaking to talk about learning English.

I don’t think so.
As for me, I sometimes feel uncomfortable with compliments about my English ability and can’t help saying bad things about it. However, I can explain my feelings. I would say I don’t have enough English ability because I do know I have a lot more to learn. I don’t want to think I’m satisfied at this level. I can only understand about a half of the lines in movies in English, I find a lot of English words that I don’t know when I listen to news or read books.

Although I don’t feel good about his speech, I must admit that speaking English can mean giving up some of our native culture. That’s why I sometimes feel I become a different person when I speak English.


和訳はこちら↓を御覧ください。
http://lang-8.com/43673/journals/115381408879871035453165...