You may have noticed that many of our new students aren’t total beginners. They know vocabulary and grammar — just not how to use them in conversation.

So what makes conversation so difficult for them? And why do they lack confidence? The answers go deeper than poor language abilities.

Fear of Foreigners

As strange as it sounds, many people from the East Asian countries our students call home are afraid to speak to foreigners. Try replacing “foreigner” with “alien,” and you’ll get an idea of how they feel. Yes, to many of our students, we might as well be aliens!

This fear of outsiders stems from a tendency to see themselves as homogeneous societies, and therefore view foreigners as intrinsically different from them.

This belief is further compounded by a lack of interaction with the rest of the world. For instance, a recent survey of 27 countries found that Japanese and Koreans were the nationalities with the least close friends, family, and work partners abroad:

So perhaps it’s understandable that they get nervous in the presence of people from other countries.

On the bright side, our students have taken the first step to conquering their fear of the unknown. As one student from Taiwan said, “The most important thing I’ve gained is the courage to speak to foreigners. Now, I won’t run away when someone asks me for directions on the street.”

So each lesson with a friendly tutor shows them that people from different countries aren’t … from another planet.

English Testing

In the countries our learners come from, students sit grueling exams from elementary school to university. Those in the workforce continue to take certification exams, job-specific qualification tests, and language assessments.

This focus on standardized testing extends to language education as well. From a young age, students learn to think of English as a subject tied to grades, where every missed problem leads to deducted points. To say the least, this isn’t a fun way to learn a language.

It also doesn’t help that language assessments predominantly test for mastery of grammar, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. For example, Eiken – the most popular English exam among Japanese youth – doesn’t test fluency. It tests mastery of uncommon vocabulary words, such as “zealous,” “counterclaim,” and “bravado.”

And while there are tests that assess speaking and writing, students have learned to pass them without developing these communication skills. For example, one of our students had a TOEIC score of 850 (the highest recruitment benchmark for most companies). However, when he actually had to use English in real life, he was devastated: “I struggled to call a taxi and couldn’t even hold a basic conversation.”

So it’s no surprise that our students lack confidence when communicating in English — communication simply wasn’t the focus of their English education system.

Inexperience with Discussion

Learning a language requires students to express their thoughts and opinions, but many of our students grew up with an education system that didn’t value discussion.

A student commented that she struggled to answer the question, “What are your thoughts on...?”. “I feel frustrated that I can only say, ‘it’s good/bad.’ [This has made me realize that] I haven’t even thought of these topics in Japanese and that it’s important to have an interest in and an opinion on various things.”

Unfamiliarity with discussion is common for students from this part of the world. East Asian students who move to the US and must attend American high schools tend to be surprised at the focus on classroom discussion.

A Japanese student noted that “in a Japanese social science class, they only study who did what. They memorize. [But] in the U.S., they discuss what happened and what went on behind the scenes, and what you think [about it]."

Another commented that "in schools in Japan, you are supposed to be quiet. Here, [by] contrast, it seems that [teachers] believe that students should speak up."

So by signing up for our service, many students are actually embarking on a learning experience totally different from what they’re used to!

👋 That’s it for now!

So next time you’re teaching a new student, remember: this might be their first time discussing something in English or talking to someone from a different country.

In the meantime, stay tuned for future articles with tips on teaching these types of students!