When I was growing up in Japan, taking English second language training was mandatory in almost every school. If you ask any English foreign language teacher about Japanese students, they will probably tell you the same things. We tend to have some of the best grammatical understanding of the English language, but we have a lot of difficulty making conversation in a language that is not native to us. Good grammar is a product of our education system. In English language training, as in everything else, the school system puts a lot of emphasis on technical knowledge. The problem is that, with the pressure to do everything correctly, we do not feel comfortable taking risks. And speaking English when you did not grow up with it is definitely a risk.
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