What do you think about “Janglish”?
Give your opinions about the following statements.
There are too many English words and expression in Japanese.
The government should stop using and creating Janglish terms like Hello Work and “cool biz” and use proper Japanese instead.
The government should work to keep English words and expressions out of Japanese more generally, e.g. by creating Japanese equivalents or having an official dictionary.
There should be a government inspector making sure that the English used on posters, packaging, fashion etc. is correct.
Most of the English words in Japanese are used with more or less the same meaning as in English/ Most of the English words in Japanese are used with different or very different meanings to the original word in English.
The way that Japanese borrows English words and expressions is no different from how other languages borrow words and expressions from other languages.
The fact that there are many English words in Japanese helps Japanese learners learn English more quickly/ The fact that many English words are used a different way in Japanese stops Japanese people progressing quickly.
Japanese expressions like “paper driver” are examples of bad English that Japanese speakers should be embarrassed by/ Japanese expressions like “pair look” are creative examples of Japanese that Japanese speakers should be proud of.
Even though many “Japanese English” expressions are not used outside Japan, other nationalities should easily understand them if you use them.
Most mistakes Japanese people make in English are the same as other nationalities make/ Most mistakes Japanese people make in English are different from those made by speakers of other languages.
Many more Janglish expressions are likely to become part of standard English or World English in the way that anime, salaryman, cosplay, karaoke and Walkman have done.
Which ones above do you have strong and weak opinions about? What language did you use to give your opinions on them?
Opinions language
Brainstorm at least three phrases for each of these functions:
Asking for opinions
Giving strong opinions
Giving weak opinions
Other opinions phrases
Agreeing
Disagreeing
Using the opinions language above, talk about one of the topics below until your partner guesses which one it is. Do they agree with you?
If no one corrects you, you will never stop making mistakes.
Japanese people are too scared of making mistakes when speaking.
Correcting people’s mistakes helps them to stop making that mistake again.
Even if Japanese people learn how to make sounds like “th” that do not exist in Japanese in class, they will never be able to use them in real time in conversation
Talking about common mistakes in class makes people more nervous about making mistakes and therefore makes their speaking worse rather than better.
It is easier to learn something that exists but is slightly different in your own language than it is to learn something completely new.
When someone corrects you, you can often remember you have been corrected but not which version is correct.
Japanese people are too aware of the differences between Japanese and English.
Japanese people are not aware enough of the differences between Japanese and English.
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PDF version for easy printing: Opinions about Janglish
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