Comments on himazu on Japan, Tech, and Social Issues: Why Firefox's Share Is Small in Japan

In China there are also many users of tab-capable ...

2007-08-24T16:20:00.000+09:00

In China there are also many users of tab-capable internet-explorer-based browsers, but as far as I know, most firefox fans love the extensions(add-ons) and safety more than tab-browsing. Most of the ff fans are heavy users of the extensions. FF is also widely accepted as a portable browser.

"So there's no legitimate reason for the Japanese ...

2007-07-21T02:31:00.000+09:00

"So there's no legitimate reason for the Japanese to have worse English skills than (for example) a Swede, Chinese or Russian."

This is not correct, they have completely different backgrounds. In Sweden they use English from childhood, and they broadcast programs in English on TV. I don't know how close Swedish is to English, but it's definitely closer than Japanese, and I would say the same for Russian and other European languages.

My mother tongue is a European language and I learned English very quickly but I have been trying to learn Japanese for years and my progress is slow. The big difference between Eastern and Western languages has to be taken into account.

From my experience the Chinese are not much different to the Japanese in their English ability, and the Chinese are known to have very bad English translations in restaurants and public signs in China. But I think you can expect to meet more Chinese who can speak English in the West because of the huge Chinese population.

Aha. Maybe so. College education being provided in...

2006-08-21T20:47:00.000+09:00

Aha. Maybe so. College education being provided in the local language may not be a cause or sign of Japanese people's English non-proficiency.

But still, I think the average English proficiency among college graduates is substantially lower in Japan than in many non English countries.

Is it also a myth?

Am I seeing English proficient people selectively in other non English speaking countries?

Hello Himazu, thanks for you post.I think you will...

2006-08-21T13:05:00.000+09:00

Hello Himazu, thanks for you post.

I think you will find that in ALL non-English speaking countries, education is conducted in the local language right up until university graduation. The Japanese is not unique in having poor English skills. It's a common Japanese misconception that all foreigners can speak English. In non-English speaking countries (ie EVERYWHERE except the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand) English is learnt in schools -- just like in Japan! So there's no legitimate reason for the Japanese to have worse English skills than (for example) a Swede, Chinese or Russian.

Interesting post! I was working on a piece about F...

2006-07-27T02:31:00.000+09:00

Interesting post! I was working on a piece about Firefox marketing in Japan when I came across it.