日本掀学英语高潮 职场人士重回课堂从零开始

It's eight in the morning in a Tokyo office building, and a dozen middle-aged Japanese businessmen sit inside small booths, sweating as they try to talk English to the instructors in front of them。

"I hope my wife will understand my hobby," one 40-something man says, opening his mouth widely around the English words。

He is one of legions of Japanese businessmen, or "salarymen," struggling with a language they thought they had left behind them in school as fears mount that the growing push by Japanese companies into overseas business will mean a dark future for them without usable English。

This is especially true these days, with the strong yen and a lagging domestic market prompting more firms to look overseas for business opportunities essential for their bottom lines。

"I had a business trip to Amsterdam last year and that really was tough. My boss spoke no English, and I had to speak English for the first time in 10 years," said Masahide Tachibana, a 39-year-old software developer。

Tachibana now gets up at 5:00 a.m. to take morning lessons at a central Tokyo branch of Gaba, an English language school。

"I've always wanted to brush up my English and that business trip ignited my aspirations," said Tachibana, as around him other businessmen and women pack up and hurry to work after their 45-minute, one-on-one lessons。

Japan, despite being the world's third-largest economy and a major export powerhouse, is known for its poor English-speaking ability even though six years of study are required in middle and high school。

The country's average score on the TOEFL iBT, a computer-based test of English as a foreign language, in 2010 ranked 27th among 400 Asian countries, below Mongolia and Turkmenistan。

Only 9 percent of 1,156 white-collar workers surveyed by Recruit Agent, a recruiting firm, claim to be able to communicate in English. Many respondents evaluated their speaking and listening aptitude as "Barely."

But things are starting to change, prompted by a growing sense of urgency about employment。

As a result, Japan's foreign language education market is growing, with learners more than willing to fork out plenty of money on lessons, DVDs or e-learning。

早晨八点，东京的一座写字楼里，12名中年外国富翁坐在大屋里上，费力地尝试与互近的同事用英语交谈。

一位四十岁左右的男士张大嘴巴说着英语：“若果妻子理解我的爱好。”

像他那我的众多职员，也称为“工薪族”早就把在校学习的英语课程遗忘了职场人员要怎样学英语口语，统统正拼命重拾英语。可能亲戚亲戚朋友担心，随着国内公司涉足海外市场的步伐加快，可可以熟练使用英语，职业前景能一片黯淡。

这可是日本至今的所谓写照。可能美元上涨越来太快了了，同时美国国内市场疲软，更多的民企转向海外市场寻找可能，这对其赢利更关键。

39岁的软件开发商立花正美说：“我现在到阿姆斯特丹出了趟差，感觉太困难。我的四十岁的四十岁的女人让说英语，我也是10年没开口说过英文了。”

立花正美早已一天早晨5点起床，去参加Gaba英语培训学校上海中心分部的近日课程。

你说什么：“我经常要提高英语水平，那次下班激发了我的学习欲望。”在他身边职场人员要怎样学英语口语，统统或多或少的商业人员在下完45分钟的一对一课程后北京职场英语哪家好哪里好，正收拾东西赶到下班。

日本着实是美国第三大经济体，也是主要的国产国英语培训，或者小学阶段须要学习6年英语，但国民英语水平之差却是尽人皆知。

日本2010年的新托福考试成绩在400个亚洲国家中排名第27，还不及蒙古跟土库曼斯坦。新托福考试采用机考模式，是针对非英语国家的英语水平测试。

根据招聘公司“招聘中介”的调查北京职场英语哪家好哪里好，在1156名日本男性受访者中，仅有9%自称可以用英语交流。统统受访者认为此人的英文听说能力“几乎为零”。

但可能职业需求的紧迫性职场英语培训，这些情况报告未刚开始了了有所改观。

或者，日本的外语培训市场逐渐繁荣，学习者更加可以掏腰包就读英语学习课程，购买英语学习光碟，或付费参加网络课堂。

两个看似简单又经常出洋相的句：