English in the Philippines
On Monday, I found an internet article entitled “What Asia Can Learn From Philippines About English Education.”
In the Philippines, many don’t go to elementary school or high school. Yet, according to the article, Philippines has mastered English as a second language. The reason is we “had the foresight to understand the value of keeping the language.” It means that after being colonized by America, we decided to keep and learn the language.
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foresight – the ability to see what will or might happen in the future
In one of our previous meetings, Inari-san said he wants to copy the way English is taught in the Philippines. However, I don’t think simply copying the Philippines is the best way to change Japan’s attitude towards English because Philippines’s relationship with English has been going on for more than 100 years ago.
I think Japan should not just copy what Philippines is doing, but think of ways for Japanese to learn English based on their attitude and needs.