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CNN Live Saturday

More Japanese Forced to Learn English

Aired February 16, 2002 - 22:09   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, economic hard times are teaching some tough lessons in Japan. Many Japanese now being forced to learn English, as it becomes a necessary tool for success in a changing workplace.

CNN's Tokyo bureau chief, Rebecca McKinnon has more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My mom can speak English, but I can speak English more better.

REBECCA MCKINNON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Six-year old Kazuna Odate and her chattery classmates, already have a headstart over most Japanese professionals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So the report that you're working on is basically due for every month?

MCKINNON: Communicating with Americans and Europeans is not easy for accountant Tomimi Takahashi in her late 20s. Her American boss has to switch into Japanese to make himself understood.

Despite years of English in high school and college, these young professionals didn't take it seriously until they joined an American company.

"If I can't communicate directly with headquarters," says Ikuko Yokayama, "I'll never be more than support staff."

(on camera): Walk down the street in downtown Tokyo, and you'll find a lot fewer people here who can speak to you in English than in many other major Asian cities, like Shanghai, Seoul or Bangkok. But as the recession drags on, and unemployment continues to rise, the Japanese are being forced to globalize like never before.

(voice-over): Which is why this ambitious mother brings her two- year old to her four-year daughter's English class. This mother had the same idea. She says her husband, a systems engineer, is struggling because he has to use more and more English at work. "We don't our kids to have that problem," she says.

As Japan's Prime Minister Janito (ph) Koizumi tries to fix Japan's economy and pull it out of recession, he's hitting great resistance from conservative politicians and bureaucrats, who don't want to change the way they work. Whether he succeeds or not, many believe change will come with a new generation.

KUNIKO INOGUCHI, BOPHIA UNIV.: Foreign companies coming and recruiting enormous amount of young people is a good news. Those people who are at the interface of globalization, who has to acquire language skills, knows the new management skills, can control computer softwares and be competitive in negotiations. Those you know, people, I think will change this country, not Mr. Koizumi or his generation.

MCKINNON: Most of these six-year-olds don't know about such high expectations. But for some, ambitions already have no borders.

Rebecca McKinnon, CNN, Tokyo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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