Why is Japan's English So Bad ?

Why is Japan's English level the Second Worst Country in Asia ? And why is Japan's English World Ranking also dropping every year ?

This is actually no mystery at all and its a combination of factors all in which we try to address at our school.  Did you know that in Asia only North Korea's English level is worse than Japan? And in 2024 Japan dropped 7 more rankings to being the 87th ( out of 120 countries )  worst in the world in English ? No  ! Well lets take a look at the biggest three reasons . 

1. As an American living in Japan , if I were to say to you, " I want to learn Japanese and be fluent in the language and culture so I am looking for a Chinese person to teach me Japanese " ! What would you think ? You would think I was pretty stupid, I mean why not learn from a Japanese person ? Right ?  And yet that is what usually happens in Japan. People go to Japanese teachers who's Pronunciation is Katakana English or worse and knows very little about the culture. And yes learning the culture is very important to achieving fluency in a language. At the Miller's English school we only have Native American English Teachers.

2. Japan's English Education is almost 100% reading, writing, and memorization. This is  naturally backwards in any language. Think about it, when you went to Kindergarten as a child could you read and write ?  No, you couldn't but could you speak ? Yes, you could. In every country and every language people learn to speak first and once you can speak, reading and writing comes easier later to learn. At the Miller's English School we focus on not only speaking but understanding what you and others are saying. So many times we see kids going to a Japanese teacher/school and memorize a speech but have no idea what they are saying because they just memorized it, Ask them a question about what they are saying and they cannot answer. Stop them in the middle of the speech and they cannot continue and must start over again from the beginning.

3. A common excuse from Japanese people that I have heard repeated for 25 years now is  "We don't have a chance to use English Enough " !  At the Miller's English School we address this problem in two ways. 1. We have looked at other English Schools and made sure our Monthly Lesson fee was much less ( usually 50% less ) than other schools. This way people can come twice as often as other schools if they want too ! We also address this issue of a lack of opportunity by having at least 14 events every year for students to attend. We feel classes are where you learn about things and the events are where you get to use and practice them in a real life setting. Check out our events page!  No one in Japan does events like us ! We strive to make these events authentic to how they are in America and because of that people usually say , when they come, " I feel like I went to America on a Homestay " ! ( We offer American Homestays three times a year too though ) !