Re: Culture clash

Paul D wrote:
On 2007-09-10 06:01:38 +0900, Phil Yff <phil.yff@xxxxxxxxxxxx> said:

On Sun, 9 Sep 2007 17:45:34 +0900, Paul D wrote:


laudable. In Japan, high school graduates expect to have a basic degree of
conversational fluency in English and are quick to self-critique when they
encounter difficulty communicating.

Phil Yff

Really? :) Which graduates are these, then?

I was living in Japan in 1979. Are today's graduates different?

Phil Yff

I have quite a few college students as friends (i.e. recent high school graduates). If they try really hard, they can stammer out a sentence of broken English, but they generally prefer not to even try. It's like the math and science they learned; if they concentrate, they can recall details and decipher a bit of it on paper, but using it in real life is practically impossible. Just like most Canadians who learn French in high school. :)

Paul D.


C'est vrai.
.

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