Fascinating Review of My Latest Publication

Yesterday, I came across an interesting review of my latest "translation work" posted on Amazon Japan, so I would like to introduce it in English below.

中学英語を、コロナ禍の日本で教えてみたら

Mother Tongue and Language Education: A Relentless Mirror of National Characteristics

Although the cover and title do it a disservice, this book is extraordinarily excellent. I strongly recommend it not only to English learners whose mother tongue is Japanese but also to anyone interested in contemplating "What is the Japanese language?"

The author, an American who attended a Japanese middle school for three years and took English classes alongside Japanese students, and who taught English in Japan as a teacher when grown up and came back to Japan for three years, offers a unique perspective. The content intricately weaves together Japanese modern history, U.S. policies toward Japan after WW2, and the history of the English language.

The author argues that English education in Japanese schools has been a grand fantasy, created to embody the ideals of democracy imposed by the United States after WWII. This makes it inherently hollow, with its performative nature in the classroom taking precedence over practicality.
The book offers fresh insights into the difference between "Kokugo" (national language education) and "Nihongo" (Japanese language education). The keen observation that the greatest barrier to learning English for Japanese people using Japanese is "Kokugo" is particularly noteworthy. Before World War II, Nihongo was taught in overseas territories rather than Kokugo, but that path was cut off with Japan's defeat.

Although not mentioned in the book, many Japanese immigrants to overseas territories were impoverished farmers who spoke heavily accented Japanese due to the lack of the standard language widespread in Japan at the time. In contrast, children of wealthy locals learned standard Japanese from an early age in schools, becoming speakers of the standard language. This dichotomy between the dialect-speaking Japanese immigrants and the standard language-speaking locals raises interesting questions about who is more "Japanese," a perspective that could have added more depth to the discussion, though it might have also complicated it. [Translator's note: the reviewer is a researcher studying overseas Japanese immigrants]

"Kokugo" and "Nihongo" have different grammars, although both are linguistically the same. For example, the five-level conjugation in "Kokugo" grammar does not exist in "Nihongo" grammar, where the method of classifying conjugation forms is different.

Kokugo is based on Edo-period Japanese literature, created with reference to English grammar, but it has the advantage of dealing with pre-modern and modern Japanese in a continuous manner. Therefore, the author concludes that it will not disappear in the future, despite the fact that Kokugo grammar has caused problems when learning foreign languages.

One example pointed out in the book is the "~teiru" form. In reality, "~teiru" in Japanese does not represent the present progressive tense but indicates a change of state. However, this is not taught in Kokugo classes, which becomes a pitfall in Japanese-English translation. Beyond this example, the way Japanese handles tenses like past and present is different from English, but this is neither addressed in Kokugo nor English classes. It is taught in Japanese language education for non-Japanese speakers, but it is overlooked in Kokugo classes (in fact, the form "~teiru" is even omitted from the conjugation patterns taught in Kokugo).

Kokugo education hinders the accurate understanding of modern Japanese for Japanese children. Naturally, this becomes a stumbling block when studying English. Many readers are likely encountering such discussions for the first time. In my opinion, the best way to learn a foreign language is directly in that language, but this does not improve translation abilities. You may become proficient in reading, writing, and speaking, but translation is a separate skill. Therefore, different learning methods need to be considered.

[Translator's note: English classes in Japanese schools have traditionally focused on translation and reading. Although there have been calls for improvement for a long time, considering the abilities of English teachers, the reality is that improvement is difficult even with the assistance of native English-speaking auxiliary teachers.]

As my humble review is getting long, I will wrap up here, but this book is an excellent resource for understanding the meta aspects that underlie English education.