JP Only!

[Kardayel]

i worked in a hotel for a very long time. and it mostly have been frensh or italian people who are unable to speak english

Ok, for the french part, i can try to explain it: Our foreign language education is crap... I seriously learned more english by playing FFVI than in 10 years at school ><

I don't know if it has changed till i finished school but the only thing you learned was really basic vocabulary and some grammar... And you learn more to write/read it than speak it... So... well... don't expect many french older than 25 to be fluent in english... (and here i just hope the next generation had a better education than mine)

[Mikita]

Ok, for the french part, i can try to explain it: Our foreign language education is crap... I seriously learned more english by playing FFVI than in 10 years at school ><

I don't know if it has changed till i finished school but the only thing you learned was really basic vocabulary and some grammar... And you learn more to write/read it than speak it... So... well... don't expect many french older than 25 to be fluent in english... (and here i just hope the next generation had a better education than mine)

That's pretty close to how things are in Japan as well.

There are a lot of English teachers who do try very hard and the curriculum itself is not all bad ... but perhaps a big part of the problem is that most young people don't see the relevance of learning English. The language hasn't really gained widespread use as a real communication tool in Japanese society. As a result, many short-sighted students see it as something akin to trigonometry -- i.e. something you study in school and probably never use again once you graduate.