Our catch phrase is on its way.

Dear Fellow Earthlings,

English is not a school subject. It is a physical activity that is absorbed into the body through exposure to native speakers of all ages, and involves acquisition through child language learning mechanisms. With the onset of puberty these mechanisms are stifled as the left and right hemispheres of the brain separate except for the bundle of nerve fibers known as the corpus calosum. Any intervention by adults to teach English early (prior to puberty) by non-specialists will result in a diminution of the native language abilities of the students -- while at the same time giving them only a limited amount of English phonological ability. It is going to swing one way or the other. Case in point is the Seneca Nation of western New York. English has taken over these people and only desperate methods (which I personally am involved in now) can save the language. Whereas in the 1940s Seneca seemed safe, the onslaught of English and the tendency of young people to move for change has sent Seneca to the brink of extinction. So how does this relate to Japanese? Hey, just take a look at the katakana English, the substitution of terms like “okay” for “ii desu yo”, and so on. Having one’s cake and eating it too is a hard goal to achieve. So the Japanese Ministry of Education should stick to educating its students. As for the oral/aural English skills that Japanese adults so badly need in order to help Japan compete on the world stage, let that take place with the students’ commencing their speech motor skills acquisition of English as a physical activity after they enter junior high school! The effectiveness of this has been successfully demonstrated at Seibudainiiza (See Installment 128.)

Steve Walker, Earthsaver and Jingles Creator

© 2013 Steve Walker, The Jingles-The Japan Foundation for English Pronunciation, Summit Enterprises.