World-Asia-Pacific-Garden
TOKYO - It's eight in the morning in a Tokyo office building, and a dozen middle-agedJapanese businessmen sit inside small booths, sweating as they try to talk English to theinstructors in front of them.
"I hope my wife will understand my hobby," one 40-something man says, opening his mouthwidely around the English words.
He is one of legions of Japanese businessmen, or "salarymen," struggling with a language theythought they had left behind them in school as fears mount that the growing push by Japanesecompanies into overseas business will mean a dark future for them without usable English.
This is especially true these days, with the strong yen and a lagging domestic market promptingmore firms to look overseas for business opportunities essential for their bottom lines.
"I had a business trip to Amsterdam last year and that really was tough. My boss spoke noEnglish, and I had to speak English for the first time in 10 years," said Masahide Tachibana, a39-year-old software developer.
Tachibana now gets up at 5:00 am to take morning lessons at a central Tokyo branch of Gaba,an English language school.
"I've always wanted to brush up my English and that business trip ignited my aspirations," saidTachibana, as around him other businessmen and women pack up and hurry to work after their45-minute, one-on-one lessons.
Japan , despite being the world's third-largest economy and a major export powerhouse, isknown for its poor English-speaking ability even though six years of study are required inmiddle and high school.
The country's average score on the TOEFL iBT, a computer-based test of English as a foreignlanguage, in 2010 ranked 27th among 30 Asian countries, below Mongolia and Turkmenistan.
Only 9 percent of 1,156 white-collar workers surveyed by Recruit Agent, a recruiting firm, claimto be able to communicate in English. Many respondents evaluated their speaking and listeningaptitude as "Barely."
World-Asia-Pacific-Garden