As a foreigner in Japan who currently teaches English, it’s impossible to avoid having an opinion on a policy of mandatory second-language education. Deas from rockinginhakata.com commented on bilingualism (particularly of English and Spanish in the States), but I want to take one step back, towards second-language education in a general scope.
In terms of English education in Japan, I don’t feel it should be mandatory. That may come off as a surprising stance coming from an English teacher, as it effictively undermines my position, but as an individual I am not married to the idea that English is a necessary skill on the international stage, and I’m much more enthralled by education and knowledge in general than any specific area.
A few years ago, a third-year high school student of mine was preparing for entrance into a prestigious university in Tokyo. I asked her if she would continue studying English, to which, without any hesitation, she answered “No.” Her real interest was in Spanish, and that’s what she would be focusing on. “Man,” I thought, “If only you had started studying Spanish from the beginning and saved yourself this whole waste-of-time on English.” Her English education was a waste of time, but necessary for both graduation and university entrance requirements.
This is just one area of Japanese education that needs reform. I may be castigated by opponents of the American educational system who refuse to find anything good in it, but it would benefit the Japanese Board of Education to use the U.S. model for language education as a rough foundation. In the U.S. system, no specific language is required, but two-years of a foreign language is required, be it Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Swedish, Dutch, Russian, or even sign language. The board of education should give students an option, and they should also provide adequate information outlining the utility of individual foreign languages in “The Real World”. They may even go one step further and match-up useful languages based on the students’ intended professions.
Similarly, Japanese language skills for foreigners in Japan should be promoted by (not required) Japanese government bodies. Many foreigners (especially Westerners) have absolutely no drive to learn the language because they either lack long-term goals in the country or they don’t see the use in the effort. That’s fine. They shouldn’t be required to learn the language, but they will need to accept the consequences of not doing so - No potential for career advancement, inconveniences in everyday life, limited social capacity, etc.
The foreigners who do choose to pursue Japanese should be “rewarded” for their efforts as a token of appreciation from the government recognizing that the individual is trying to integrate themselves into society. These “rewards” may come in the form of longer visa grants and slightly relaxed requirements for immigration and permanent residency. There might even be government-sponsored (affordable, convenient) Japanese courses provided, perhaps even through a correspondance course. (I think the JET program has something like this, doesn’t it?) Opponents of the “reward system” will speak disparagingly of the idea (and most often the outcry will be over the difficulty of the language), but what it ultimately comes down to is showing just how much you are willing to invest in society. Again, they’ll have to face the consequences of not learning the language.
The point I’m driving at is that there are advantages to learning second languages, but those advantages don’t apply to everyone, and so requiring any specific language will produce a lot of wasted efforts, time, and money. Sure, you can consider English the “international language”, but what if your future career track will bring you into contact with Spain more often, or other Spanish speaking countries? Or Germany? Or France? How useful is English then? Yes, you can argue that the business transactions in those countries should also be conducted in English, but there is no doubt that speaking the lingua franca gives you a major upper-hand. (Especially when doing business in Japanese!) It is the responsibility of the government to promote languages, and provide resources outlining their utility. It is the responsibility of citizens to make their own choices’ regarding foreign language study, and any skills they choose not to have are the results’ of their own decisions’.
