We should study English
The third years are working on debating in English. Simple things like “I think that junior high school students should have cell phones” and “I disagree, junior high school students shouldn’t have cell phones”.
Tsukune Sensei gave her students a new statement today. The statement was “we should study English”. The students then had to write down three reasons they agreed or disagreed with the statement. Many of the students impressed me. “I think we should study English because many foreign people come to Japan and we can help them.” “I disagree because there are not many companies in Japan where English is spoken.” If the students had solid reason with their statements, I found no problem with either side.
I did have problems with two statements: “I disagree. We shouldn’t study English. These are my reasons. First, I am Japanese. Second, I live in Japan.”
These are the worst two reasons that I have ever heard and I was upset with how many students wrote them down. I think they are answers that did not require any thought and I do not think a person’s nationality should be a reason for them not to learn a foreign language. I had students who wrote, “I don’t like to study English because it is hard.” Hey, you do not like the language; I see no problem with that reason.
I have the same problems with Americans. “I don’t need to learn a foreign language because I speak English.” News flash, there are many places that do not use English and if you are traveling to countries where English is not spoken a basic understanding of the language is very helpful. (I need to learn a couple of sentences in Thai before I head to Thailand) Knowing how to say “Please”, “Thank you”, and “Where is the bathroom” is very helpful.