Dear Green, Thenk you for your latter. (An Engrish Adventure)
English exam question for 3rd year junior high school students(9th graders in their third year of English lessons): Respond to this invitation using at least 4 sentences.
Dear XX,
I visited your school and played the piano last week. Did you enjoy it?
My next concert is on Sunday, October 15. It will start at 2:30 in the afternoon. I will play Japanese popular music too. Please come to my concert at The Bunka Hall with your family.
Then, I hope you will have a good time with me at the concert.
Your friend,
Kathy Green
Of the students who actually attempted to write something, here are some of the amusingly bad responses:
Thank you writted a letter.
Ok. I’m go to concert.
I’m very fan.
See you.
Let’s go:
Ok. It is sound interesting.
OK!!! Let’s go!!
Buy the way. When have you ever played basket ball?
see you
I’m enjoy this response:
Yes, I did. I’m enjoy last week.
Sunday is free day.
I’m exiting with family.
Not the best English, but amusing:
I can’t go to your concert.
Because I will go to Okinawa on Sunday.
And it sounds not interesting.
I want to this trip.
Goodbay Green.
Call me:
Thank you for your letter.
I will go to concert.
Please call me.
I won’t your letter
Your friend
Take?
I am free October 15.
I want to go to concert.
You take to me.
I’m busy, but don’t worry:
I’m sorry.
I can’t go to concert on Sunday.
Because I must do many things.
You’ll have good time.
Great:
Yes, great.
I want come to your concert.
Then, I free.
See you.
A not so great mix of mispelled English and badly romanized Japanese:
Thask you for your lirttr zextataininini ikimasuyo!
It’s OK:
I enjoy everyday!!
I like go to school.
Concert is OK.
I hope have a time at the concert.
Good times:
Yes, I can go your concert.
I want hear Japanese poplar music.
I will good time with your concert.
But. my father couldn’t go there.
Sorry.
Like, totally good:
That like so good.
I will go to concert.
Please, tell me call tomorrow.
See you later. buy.
The title came from this one:
Thenk you for your latter.
Hard:
Sorry. I don’t go to school. I’m very hard. do you like play the piano. I like play the piano very much.
I hope you will a good time. Your friend
At least the kid wrote something:
Soory, I don’t go to there.
But sometimes writing nothing is better:
I LIKE TO BASKETBALL.
Sadly, sentences that have nothing to do with the content of the letter do not earn any points:
Thank you for a letter.
I’ll go to your concert.
And I’ll go to yor concernt with my parents.
And I think it will be sunny and hot.
This one was my favorite:
family go!!
I like Green.
See you
Please don’t judge all Japanese junior high schoolers’ English abilities based on the above responses. About 1/3 of the students were able to write conherent responses to the letter, another 1/3 wrote absolutely nothing, and the rest wrote stuff on par with the above responses.
Update: a few more from this morning’s test results
1)
I don’t go to concert.
Becauce I going to Australia.
I want to see a coria.
I’m sorry.
2)
Thank you for your letter.
I enjoy do too.
I go to your concert.
Your enjoy concert, enjoy to me.
3)
Thank you.
I went to your concet wiht my family.
I have supralis your present.
So, I meet concet.
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Funny, but I hate laughing at others mistakes!
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Does it indicate that more and more Japanese have difficulty in learning English?
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Ambarita:
It indicates that the Japanese education system is terrible when it comes to English teaching. About 50% of the Japanese English teachers I’ve met are incapable of writing better than the responses I posted here.
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Personally, I think Japanese enjoy not being able to speak English. It is like it defines them as “uniquely Japanese.”
Why else would an advanced nation and the world’s second economy not be able to learn English? I mean, Japan’s TOEFL scores, on average, are the lowest in Asia aside from North Korea!!!!
That is a shame.
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>>> It indicates that the Japanese education system is terrible when it comes to English teaching…
And they are not doing anything about it. I mean, come on… it’s English and it’s an international language, but they even can’t be bothered to improve it. Does it have anything to do with their attitude to accept new culture/language? Or, are they simply lazy to learn???
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In a few months I plan to write a post about the Japanese education system’s take on English learning, but here are a few of the major problems that come to mind:
-A system geared towards spitting out answers on exams, not actually being able to communicate or express your thoughts or say anything practical.
-Most of the kids are being taught by Japanese English Teachers who are incapable of communicating in basic English.
-The horrible practice of writing out katakana pronunciations for English words. Sorry, you can’t say every English word using Japanese sylables. (even the Japanese teachers write katakana above English words in their teachers’ edition textbooks)
-A system based on “equality” in which students can get 0 points on every single English assignment, yet advance to the next year of English. The result are a good number of students who are hopelessly behind and no longer care. They act up and distract students who might actually be able to learn. Also, the whole curriculum is dumbed down for the not-so-smart kids.
-The inefficient dumbed-down education system forces parents to enroll their children in private cram schools. In cram schools kids learn what they should have learned in school. The cram schools also focus on rote memorization for the sake of spitting out answers on tests.
-ALT’s: Instead of actually making meaningful reforms such as requiring the Japanese teachers to be proficient in English, the Japanese government decided to throw away huge amounts of money hiring random foreigners to be assistant language teachers. It might sound like a great idea, but in the end it is a waste because they simple do not fit into the existing system. Most of them just read sentences from the textbook like a tape recorder.
I don’t think it has anything to do with laziness to learn. It’s the result of a flawed system which is unable to reform itself.
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Since learning japanese, i’ve written much worse attempts at sentences. Still i found myself crying with laughter at:
family go!!
I like Green.
See you
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