Teach English in Fengping XiAng - Chongqing

Difficulties in JapanThe japanese language system is one of the most removed systems from the English language. The obvious differences begins with their system for writing, called Kanji. Kanji uses symbols to stand for whole meanings, instead of the Latin system where each symbol represents a sound. Pages are also traditionally read from right to left, so a transition into English writing isn't easy. Luckily, japanese have placed a great importance in being able to understand English ever since WW2, with particular emphasis on reading and writing. Today, all public schools are required to teach English as a second language, so most high school students will have 2-3 years background in English. Beyond this emphasis in public education, many products use English symbols for their logo, and many street signs are also written in English, so the average japanese has had quite a bit of interaction with our character system, if not our syntax. japanese grammar is formed quite differently than in English. In English, sentence structure is usually goes subject, verb, object, but in Japan, it is subject, object, verb. This means that if I were to say that I wanted an apple, if I said it in japanese I would say, I, an apple, would like. Prepositions always follow the noun, and most particles tend to follow at the end of the sentence. Beyond this, Adjectival phrases always precede the noun in japanese, in English they always come after. Because of all these differences in syntax, it is unsurprising that learning English is often riddled with grammatical errors. Since articles don't exist in japanese, they are often omitted in sentences, and the versatility of the japanese language will often cause confusion as well. For example, many adverbs and adjectives can function as nouns, which can be changed in a number of ways to denote just how much respect is being given. One other important detail is the absence of distinction between whether words are countable or uncountable, which determines which articles to use in English. Relative Pronouns like who don't exist either. All of these are differences between English and japanese structure and form- it's no wonder that japanese have difficulty adapting to our language. The phonological differences between japanese and English are quite marked, which makes pronunciation very difficult for most japanese. Similarly to Spanish, consonant clusters like the ?str? in strength are virtually unheard of, so many students have a tendency to add a vowel sound in between, so they would want to pronounce strength, sta-rength. One of the most noticeable differences however involve the consonants /l/ and /r/. Words like fly tend to be pronounced like fry, mostly because the students simply cannot hear the differences because they haven't been trained to recognize them in their own language. Due to the early introduction of the English language, most students have less difficulty with the language itself, but the tremendous differences in culture tend to create problems. japanese culture centers around politeness and the well being of the group. students are taught in a very rigid structure which emphasizes that the teacher is the sole authority. This means that the students are very reserved in speaking out or asking questions, as it would convey conceit or assertiveness- qualities that aren't held in high regard in such a reserved society. While students can be called upon to answer questions, it seems that you must be careful who you ask and whether or not it's a question they know, as answering incorrectly is worse than staying silent- they could lose face in front of the classroom.