Category: ネイティブ講師の日記

Something I saw in Japan in 2006 was Japanese people going to school in their uniforms on the weekend! I also saw them go to school in their school vacations! This was very surprising to me because The UK is very different!

The only time I went to school on a Saturday was to play a football (soccer) game against another school’s team. School clubs don’t really operate on the weekend because there are no teachers or staff there to supervise the school. The sports teacher went there to organise the sports game, but that’s all. In many cases, one does not have to wear a uniform when one enters High School. British schools usually finish at approximately 3:00pm and most pupils go home to relax. My school finished at 2:40pm every day. A few people stay for 1 or 2 hours, but that’s all. I heard that in Japan, most pupils are encouraged to join a club and attend club activities often after school. I also see a lot of pupils studying at cafes in Tokyo. That is something I’ve never seen in the UK. Pupils usually just go home to play.

1. Have you ever been to school on the weekend?
2. Did you feel pressured to join a circle when you were in school?
3. Did you have to wear a uniform whenever at school?
4. Would you prefer a school life similar to the UK (as described above) ?
5. Why do you think people study at cafes?

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As an English Teacher, I can talk to Japanese people every day. And we usually talk about culture or language. After hosting some debate events, I realized something strange. Many people in Japan don’t know what “debate” is. I was shocked, so I asked the people I meet everyday to tell me about debating in Japan. And the most common answer was also “we don’t know that.” I couldn’t believe it. So I asked them about their education, “don’t you study or practice debate in school?” But they just said they study textbooks and don’t have formal discussions or debates. “But how do you explain your opinion, and how do you argue your point to other people?” They simply replied, “we don’t.”

It’s amazing that a lot of children in Japan are not taught to express themselves freely and be different. And notice I said “not taught to”, not “taught not to.” Whenever I ask a Japanese person for an opinion, the usual response is very neutral in order to not upset anybody listening. Of course everybody has an opinion, but people care very much about the others around them and their feelings. Also, most people in Japan don’t want to draw attention to themselves by saying something controversial. That’s why I think Japan ended up being such a safe and peaceful country.

The opposite to this way of socialising can be found in The United States. It’s the total opposite and you can feel it when you talk to a Japanese person who has lived in The US for some time. Most people become a bit western-like in their way of thinking and speaking. It’s an amazing phenomenon and one that can really surprise one at first. The UK is very similar to The US, except in The UK students are taught to debate. Classes are filled with topics to be debated and discussed amongst students. Debate is something that The UK has incorporated into its conversing culture. Any conversation can turn into a debate at any moment, which can put you on edge. People usually don’t mind being vocal with their opinions, even if those opinions may offend. In fact, many western comedians base their whole comedy routines on using controversial jokes that may – and often do – offend. Ridicule is also common in public debates, or debates in front of an audience. Sometimes debaters try to ridicule to make the audience laugh and gain their favor. Debate is almost an art form in The UK and a very well respected skill to have.

1. Do you debate sometimes?
2. Did you learn how to debate at school?
3. Do you find it easy to debate?
4. Is debating with people necessary?
5. Do you worry somebody may be upset if you debate?

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英語が話せる！「SEI新宿英会話教室」 http://www.sayinsei.com/

♦〒160-0022 東京都新宿区新宿2-8-1 新宿セブンビル 606
♦メール: sei@kaonnuri.com　TEL: 03-5925-8247

There are multiple ways of apologising to somebody. One is by simply saying, “sorry.” There are more and there are other phrases and terms used in those times, “I beg for your forgiveness” is one example. Japanese is no different. There are several different ways of apologising in Japanese. Another form of apologising is by doing some kind of action. In traditional Japan, the older generations used the “dogeza” mixed with some words as the strongest form of apology – not including seppuku, of course.

We have no such thing in the UK. In fact, there are no physical ways of apologising directly except for doing a kind of task for the person, such as cleaning the house for your wife, or buying a present.

In Japan, it seems that apologizing isn’t something that’s thought about as much as it is in The UK. If a British person does something wrong, first thing usually think about who was wrong and then react accordingly. But in Japan it seems that no matter who was right or wrong, there is an instant and automatic “sorry” that follows. I know that in Japan, children are brought up with the philosophy of resolving problems and fights by apologizing because it causes the least trouble for people around. People put the group and other people above themselves. It sounds kind and sweet from one perspective, but from another perspective it also means that the person who was wrong can walk away without scorn or punishment. In a company, school or public fight, both people are often punished equally, even if one person is totally innocent. It creates a culture where people apologize without thinking about it. Stress accumulates and we’re left with more tension than before.

It also creates a fake arrogance in people. Those kinds of people aren’t actually arrogant, but the stress and culture mixes and it leaves them with the opinion that they are in the right more than they actually are. If disputes and challenges are issued in those times, people may change their perspective. At least, as a foreigner who is new to this culture, I can feel bad intentions and negativity just by watching people walk or looking at their face or listening to their voice and conversations. It’s more visible with the middle-aged generation (40-60). It makes me wonder if it’s related to the high suicide rates. In The UK, there are more confrontations in public and when people fight, they try to resolve it through debate. And by the time those people get home, they definitely feel better for relieving their stress than if they had bottled it up day after day until they break down mentally. I’m not saying Japanese people are wrong. Actually they are very mentally strong for having such a tough culture for years. I worry about their health, general well-being and relationships. I think it also may relate to the reason why many people are not having relationships and children in Japan. There are many single people, especially in their 30s in Japan. Culture plays a big role. Work. Stress. Culture. Relationships. Mental Health. Just imagine how those five factors may be connected and related. It seems almost obvious to me, or am I missing a big piece to the puzzle?

1. Do you often apologise? In what kinds of situations?
2. Do you think you need to apologise every time?
3. What about if you did nothing wrong? Do you still apologise?
4. Do you think it’s true that older people expect politeness too much?
5. Do you think people deserve to be confronted sometimes?

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英語が話せる！「SEI新宿英会話教室」 http://www.sayinsei.com/

♦〒160-0022 東京都新宿区新宿2-8-1 新宿セブンビル 606
♦メール: sei@kaonnuri.com　TEL: 03-5925-8247

There are some basic differences between Japanese and British cuisine that I think causes confusion and big differences of opinion about the tastes of each.

We hear in Asian countries a lot that British food is “bad” and in The UK that Asian food is “strange and not edible.” It’s mostly tied to a difference of upbringing and being accustomed and familiar to flavours and tastes. Imagine a typical person in Asia and a typical person in Europe. The chances are that the European will like noodles and fried rice. And the chances are that the Asian person will like spaghetti, steak, and fried potatoes.

Why? Isn’t it obviously because they are brought up eating some similar types of food? Asian noodles are similar to Italian Spaghetti. Both continents eat meat, and food like potatoes and rice are eaten by both too, albeit in different forms. I don’t see why this baffles and puzzles people. You can expect the same typical people from each continent not to like the delicacies and more customized cooking from each cuisine too.

So what is fundamentally different between Japanese and British cooking? Well, Japanese food is largely soy and miso based. Modern Japanese people eat a lot of carbohydrates other than rice such as bread, noodles, etc. But there is a lot of soy and miso based food enjoyed by Japanese people. It’s very different to British food, which is largely reliant and often heavy on herbs and spices and has been since the medieval period. But some British food is quite subtle in taste and some is almost flavourless without the assistance of condiments, etc. A few examples that spring to mind are Yorkshire Puddings and Pasties. Quite a lot of British food found in bakeries, such as pasties, are rather stodgy and heavy on the stomach.

When Asian people eat some British food, and when British people eat some Asian food, there’s no wonder they don’t like the taste at first; it’s a new experience! I hated Miso Soup, Seaweed, and Senbei when I first came to Japan, but after eating them several times I got used to the taste and started enjoying them a lot more!

1. Have you ever eaten British food? If so, how was it?
2. What do you think of Japanese food? Is it similar?
3. Have you ever started liking some food after hating it for a long time?
4. What are the most common types of food in Japan? Are they soy?
5. What is your favourite cuisine in the world and why?

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英語が話せる！「SEI新宿英会話教室」 http://www.sayinsei.com/

♦〒160-0022 東京都新宿区新宿2-8-1 新宿セブンビル 606
♦メール: sei@kaonnuri.com　TEL: 03-5925-8247

In the UK, students usually don’t have entrance examinations in order to enter a University. On the other hand, students in Japan have to take an entrance exam for every University that they apply to.

There is something called “Hensachi” in Japan. It’s basically what helps decide their career as well as their University. It’s a deviation value that tells the students and teachers what type of Universities they should apply to by looking at their statistics. The reason I also say career is because many companies select candidates based on their University. It has some logic, but it breaks down when people who go to prestigious Universities become lazy. What I’ve heard is most valuable in companies – or the average company, at least – is not the level of intelligence, but experience, strong passion and work ethic.

One flaw with this system is the knowledge gained at University. Many people don’t mind studying a subject totally unrelated to what they want to do, or something they are completely uninterested in, as long as they can enter a prestigious University. It creates a system where people are occasionally not able to work straight out of University, or are forced to do a job they don’t like. Some companies spend a lot of time and money training those people, but whether it’s efficient or not is another story. This is not exclusive to Japan, but it’s a topic I’ve come across recently as I teach English to Japanese people.

It’s not totally different in the UK, but there are a few differences with the system. Since entering University doesn’t require an extra entrance examination, High School students only have to focus on their High School examinations. That’s not much of an advantage in and of itself, but the rule of studying only 3 or 4 subjects in High School allows people to think and choose what career they want. In that case, is it possible for a history student to study science or mathematics are University? It’s unlikely. Universities have requirements for applicants. For example, in my case I could study Computer Science in University because I studied mathematics and science at High School. It was one of the requirements.

By the way, we don’t actually say “High School” in the UK. We say “College” or “Sixth Form” instead. They are essentially the same, except Colleges are independent whereas Sixth Forms are joint with a school. For example, I stayed at my school after graduating at 16 years old to enter Sixth Form, where I studied for another 2 years.

And that leads me to one more sub-topic. Students in the UK study for a shorter period than most other countries, including The United States, do. We study for 2 years in College/Sixth Form, 3 years for a Undergraduate Degree, 1 year for an additional Masters (sometimes 2 years) and then only 2 years for a PhD. That’s a total of 6 years in University. In Japan and The USA, the same process in University takes 9 years (4, 2 and 3 years respectively). Education and its quality is something that I believe needs more discussion, but it makes me think about the way people think about what constitutes a good education and how it truly relates to the industry.

1. Are you satisfied with the education you received?
2. How do you think the University system can be improved?
3. Do you think Universities are very important for getting a good job?
4. What do you think about the differences between The UK and Japan?
5. If you could change something with the system, what would you change?

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英語が話せる！「SEI新宿英会話教室」 http://www.sayinsei.com/

♦〒160-0022 東京都新宿区新宿2-8-1 新宿セブンビル 606
♦メール: sei@kaonnuri.com　TEL: 03-5925-8247

In the UK, before we go to University, we usually decide what kind of jobs we want to do after we graduate. It’s a natural and logical thing, but I think a lot of people in Japan don’t think so deeply about their future. I think many people in Japan have more stress and pressure from their parents and schools to enter high level universities than people in the UK. Japanese people study hard at school and it’s not unusual to go to school on the weekend. In the UK, it’s impossible to go to school on the weekend unless there is a specific event such as a sports game. After leaving high school, many Japanese people don’t really mind what subject they study. The most important thing to them is entering a famous University. Why?

This is connected to the situation with joining companies. The part of an employee’s resume that companies most care about is the name of the University. Therefore, as many people don’t work in the same field of University study, companies have to spend time and money training new employees to be able to do the job. Or in many cases, many applicants to job vacancies are under qualified. It’s common to find people aiming to study tourism or something at a famous University, just so that they can get the University name on the CV. This is most noticeable in the business sector, where many people study something totally unrelated to business, such as science or literature or religion, and then apply for a company with no knowledge or experience. The sales industry suffers from this problem a lot, and people work harder and longer to make up for their failures or lack of experience.

1. Did you decide your career path early?
2. Did you have a lot of training for your job?
3. Do you think people should stay working at the same company for a long time?
4. Do you agree that companies in Japan care most about the University?
5. Let’s talk about the working life for fresh graduates. Is it hard work?

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英語が話せる！「SEI新宿英会話教室」 http://www.sayinsei.com/

♦〒160-0022 東京都新宿区新宿2-8-1 新宿セブンビル 606
♦メール: sei@kaonnuri.com　TEL: 03-5925-8247

I feel that UK delinquent children 問題児  are typically more disrespectful and/or do more outrageous things than Japanese delinquent children問題児. I know bullying is a big issue in Japanese schools, but children are strictly taught to respect teachers and elders, and they follow it more than British children do.

Children in the UK are also taught to debate and discuss more. Maybe that’s why they are more tempted to rebel and resist elders and education. In the UK, many people play bad games such as “knock a door, run!” The rule is simple: knock on a person’s house door, and then run away! Other common activities include throwing stones at windows, smoking, taking drugs, being teenage parents, bullying, fighting, and vandalizing buildings. Later, when they become adults, some people steal cars, credit cards, and make fake insurance claims. This is why The UK is a more dangerous place than Japan. Especially when people get drunk or go to football games or go out at night. Japan is a very safe country.

1. Have you seen or experienced bullying before?
2. What do you think about Japanese students behaviour ?
3. Did your school have delinquents? Were you one?
4. Do you think Japan is a safe country?
5. What kind of bad games do Japanese delinquent children do?

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英語が話せる！「SEI新宿英会話教室」 http://www.sayinsei.com/

♦〒160-0022 東京都新宿区新宿2-8-1 新宿セブンビル 606
♦メール: sei@kaonnuri.com　TEL: 03-5925-8247

 

I think Japanese schools and parents are stricter than UK schools with children and education. Joining a club is strongly expected of students and their lives are much busier than students in Europe of American. Actually, South Korean students have the toughest study life, but it’s also tough in Japan. Classes in the UK are usually more interactive too, with games, powerpoint interaction, debates, and discussion. Whereas in Japan I heard that students just listen to the teacher and write in a book. It sounds like my University life!

As a British student, I didn’t have to study as hard as people in Asia do. But that is probably also why countries in Asia have higher education rankings. However, I wonder if such a serious education is useful for working. Most of our education is not used in our jobs. So even if somebody knows many things, how can they be expected to be great at doing any job? I think we need a balance.

1. How was life for you at school?
2. Did you enjoy studying hard?
3. Do you think club activities are necessary or important?
4. What do you think is an ideal school life? Should students rest more?
5. Do you think people feel too much pressure at school?

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英語が話せる！「SEI新宿英会話教室」 http://www.sayinsei.com/

♦〒160-0022 東京都新宿区新宿2-8-1 新宿セブンビル 606
♦メール: sei@kaonnuri.com　TEL: 03-5925-8247

A very easy to notice difference between Japan and the UK is the comedy when watching TV. Japan actually has different types of comedy whereas the UK only has two (from what I know). One of Japan’s most famous types of comedy is Manzai, which is where one person is the serious character (straight man) and one is the silly / funny character. The jokes involve a small slap on the back of the head by the serious character whenever the silly character says something silly. It’s an interesting style and easy to follow, unlike UK comedy.

In the UK, comedians mostly use satire and sarcasm to make jokes. For some people, it can be difficult to understand sometimes and it sometimes requires us to think more about the joke to understand it. But at times British comedy shows get so popular that they become international hits. One example of this is “The Office” made by Ricky Gervais, a famous British comedian. In my opinion, Japanese comedy is more interesting because it involves more aspects and I feel there are more ways to create a funny joke than in the UK. But it’s interesting that many foreign people also become interested in Japan’s comedy and start to prefer it, just like me. Although I have talked to some Japanese people who say they prefer British comedy. Actually one person told me they really love “The Office”.

There are also differences between American and British comedy but it’s a long story. Basically, I think British comedy is a bit more complex or difficult to understand for foreign people.

1. Do you like comedy? Which do you prefer?
2. Do you think foreign comedy is difficult or easy to understand?
3. How would you summarise or describe Japanese comedy?
4. Do you know any popular comedy shows? Do you enjoy them?
5. Do you think comedy can be offensive sometimes? Give some examples.

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英語が話せる！「SEI新宿英会話教室」 http://www.sayinsei.com/

♦〒160-0022 東京都新宿区新宿2-8-1 新宿セブンビル 606
♦メール: sei@kaonnuri.com　TEL: 03-5925-8247

“Foreign chocolate is too sweet.” That’s what many Japanese people have told me. When It sounds kind of strange to me because chocolate is supposed to be sweet. When they told me that they tried my favourite chocolate, Cadbury’s chocolate, I wasn’t expecting them to append “it was too sweet though.”

But in Japan, “bitter chocolate”(ビターチョコ) is popular. Bitter chocolate is also known as “unsweetened” or “baking/cooking” chocolate. The first time I ate bitter chocolate as a snack was in Japan. I can’t imagine eating baking chocolate in the UK and enjoying it. I would feel like something is missing. Anyway, it was strange to me at first but I got used to it and now I enjoy it too.

1. Do you like chocolate or other sweet things? How much do you eat?
2. Do you think Japan’s chocolate is not sweet enough, too sweet, or just right?
3. How about foreign chocolate? Do you have any favorites?
4. Do you think it’s fine to eat chocolate regularly?
5. When do you receive or give chocolate as a present?

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英語が話せる！「SEI新宿英会話教室」 http://www.sayinsei.com/

♦〒160-0022 東京都新宿区新宿2-8-1 新宿セブンビル 606
♦メール: sei@kaonnuri.com　TEL: 03-5925-8247