Japanese English Proficiency is Lowest in the World

 According to a magazine article (October 2011 issue of "DIME"), Japan ranked 27th in the average TOEFL score ranking of 30 Asian countries and regions. Singapore came in first, followed by India. South Korea also ranked highly. Even North Korea reportedly ranked within the top 10. The only countries with lower scores than Japanese people were Laos, Tajikistan, and Cambodia.

 The fact that Japanese people have the lowest English proficiency in the world has long been known.

 Even young members of rebel and terrorist groups living in the mountainous regions of Central Asia speak fluent English during interviews. In Southeast Asian, South Asian, and African countries, highly educated people are almost always fluent in English and French.

 Chinese, Taiwanese, Hong Kongers, and Mongolians may have slightly inferior language skills compared to South Koreans and North Koreans, but their proficiency is incomparably superior to that of Japanese people.

Even when watching live broadcasts of international sporting events, Japanese people are probably the only ones who feel isolated and unable to communicate. Even in soccer matches, when players are being substituted, non-Japanese players converse casually in English with the referee standing nearby, and in other sports, players are often seen on television communicating in English with players and staff from other countries.

 The problem is the justification (excuse). Many Japanese believe, and this has now become the accepted theory, that "Japanese people love to study and are a hardworking nation, and Japan is a country of qualifications, but fortunately, Japan was not colonized. Therefore, unfortunately, they cannot speak English."

 The truth of the above theory is uncertain. However, I believe that it is not a matter of "colonial rule," but rather that Japanese people have inherently, or organically, inferior linguistic abilities. 

 I would like to explain this in more detail at some point.

Participants in South Korean beauty pageant asked to provide sexual favours.

Participants from various countries at an international beauty pageant hosted by South Korea are asked to provide "sexual favors." Police who report the allegations are also being bribed.

 Allegations that participants from various countries at an international beauty pageant hosted by South Korea were sexually harassed and even asked to provide "sexual favors" have been made, causing a stir.

 According to reports by British media including the BBC on the 19th, Amy Willerton (19), a British woman (pictured), who participated in the 2011 Miss Asia Pacific World competition held in South Korea from the 1st to the 15th of this month, said, "I was sexually harassed by Korean officials, who tried to remove my jacket, among other things."

 Willerton also claims that members of the organizing committee blatantly asked participants for sexual favors, saying, "You know what you need to do to win, right?"

 The Miss Asia Pacific World organizing committee is made up of South Koreans. Over 50 participants from various countries held events in Seoul, Daegu, and other locations from the 1st, before competing in the finals in Busan on the 15th. The grand prize was $20,000 (approximately 1.5 million yen).

 Willerton testified that the organizers gave her a room without a bed and only provided her with one meal a day, and pointed out that the winner was Miss Venezuela, who did not participate in the talent competition. She also claimed that she reported the sexual harassment to the police, but that organizing committee officials bribed the police right in front of her. Willerton left Korea mid-way through the competition.

 Choi Young-cheol, a founder of the organizing committee, said, "There were shortcomings in the hotel reservations made by the local organizing committees.

As for the sexual harassment, one factor was that foreigners were sensitive to Korean-style greetings and the like."

 He also acknowledged that the tight schedule meant that some participants were unable to get meals. The Daegu Bukbu Police Station, which responded to the report, said, "We explained to the reporter how to file a sexual harassment complaint. We received a business card at the scene, but no money or gifts were ever received."

http://www.chosunonline.com/site/data/html_dir/2011/10/21/2011102100750.html

http://www.chosunonline.com/site/data/img_dir/2011/10/21/2011102100750_thumb.jpg

 Considering that this type of scandal is being reported in major newspapers, it seems fair to say that freedom of speech and the press is at least better secured in Korea than in Japan. Even in Japan, "sex for money," sexual harassment, and power harassment are apparently rampant in the entertainment industry. But because the "clients" are executives of sponsoring companies, CEOs, and other senior executives of major corporations, the major newspapers never report on them. Occasionally, a weekly magazine will publish a scoop article.

 When the former prime minister's geisha scandal occurred in 1989, foreign media outlets began to make a fuss and distribute articles all over the world, and Japanese media outlets followed suit and began reporting on it as well.

 One of the most important indicators of freedom of the press and freedom of speech is the presence or absence of taboo. In that respect, Japanese mass media reporting is next to garbage. My impression is that South Korea is far ahead.