Looks at this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKtPI8IMuOM
These Tokyo University students are not speaking English. Why is that?? The Shanghai students (and of course Harvard) are speaking English with no difficulty. The Chinese kids are confident, high level English speakers. People around the world have been interested in Sandel these days- and people around the world will watch these videos, especially those focusing on the earthquake and nuclear issues. These university students (from the best universities in Japan) should be speaking English. They are highly intelligent people.
I watched this show last Saturday evening. From what I saw, only one Japanese girl spoke English to Sandel. She was able to communicate without a translator. Good for her! Now what about the rest of them? NHK should have chosen kids that can speak English. This video an embarrassment to the nation.
It is NOT that these kids are dumb or inferior to other Asians. Something is wrong with the education system. And there is a severe problem with confidence and social skills. As an educator and resident of Japan, I am disappointed. Hopefully the next generation will show more ability.
