While Japan considers requiring higher Japanese language requirements for foreigners who work in the country the idea that Britain might require higher English standards for them is opposed.
Not untypical of the hypocrisy that characterises our world in general and the Japanese government in particular.
Another question, of course, is why the hell can’t they make an education system that, after at least 8 years of learning English, actually turns out kids who can speak English anyway. Really and truly, to be brutally honest, the level of English here is pathetic. And you have to take the level of English as a sure indication of the general level of education, which has to be one of the poorest in the world for an ellegedly developed country. Two weeks away from re-entering the mill, after my spring vacation, I can’t say I am relishing the prospect of dealing with the same, systematic mistakes that “learning English” in school invariably produces (all capital letters for Japanese words, anyone? Where the hell do they learn that? It must be taught because 90% do it).
