SHIMANOUCHI Ken

In August 2023, I wrote a piece for this website titled “Why I Recommend Learning Multiple Languages”. Based on my experiences learning English, Spanish, and Portuguese, I emphasized the importance and usefulness of language learning in diplomatic activities, as well as all the joy that comes with it. Thankfully, I received a number of opinions and comments from readers. This essay is a sequel. While considering why Japanese people (including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as an organization) tend to avoid or shy away from foreign languages, I would like to share with you some thoughts on foreign language learning.

Language Learning as a Lifelong Endeavor
Language learning should not be seen as something that ends upon graduation from school or completion of language training programs abroad, whether at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or in private business. It is true that after such training, people often become too busy with work to focus on studying languages. However, it is important to remember that one truly acquires foreign language skills useful for work or life overseas only after being on the frontlines abroad. In fact, language study continues even after retirement. Post-retirement, you often have more time and resources to enjoy such activities.

I have been retired for well over ten years, and I now spend more time studying languages than I did in my active-duty days. In this digital age, even elderly people can stay in touch with each other via email, and thanks to that, I can correspond with relatives and friends abroad in foreign languages. When I receive emails in Portuguese from friends in Brazil (which I started learning as a third foreign language at the age of 60), I panic a little but frantically respond with the help of a dictionary.

For language enthusiasts like me, what is most appreciated is the wealth of information on a variety of topics available via YouTube and other social media, which offer both visual and audio learning at any time. In addition to traditional “conversation classes” in foreign languages, there are countless niche videos on topics such as the actual pronunciation of English during Shakespeare’s time, differences between English in the UK and Ireland, regional accents in the UK and US, and more. For Spanish and Portuguese, there are videos on the differences between Europe and Latin America and their relationship with Arabic. You can even find videos on very niche topics, such as the characteristics of Frisian (spoken primarily in northern Netherlands), which is considered one of the languages most akin to English. Furthermore, there are videos that help understand current hot issues, like the similarities between Russian and Ukrainian or the relationship between Hebrew and Arabic, even though these are areas outside my expertise.

Listening is Harder than Speaking in Foreign Languages
Many Japanese people often say, “I can understand what they are saying, but I can’t speak well” when it comes to foreign language conversation. But is that really the case? From my experiences, listening is far more difficult. The reason is simple. With a decent vocabulary and understanding of sentence structure, you can convey your thoughts when speaking. However, with listening, you are at the mercy of factors outside your control: accents, word choices, and pronunciation differences based on the speaker’s region, occupation, or age. There is also a wide variation in speech clarity among individuals.

For example, in Spanish, which I started learning in my 20s, I can say most of what I want to say, but I still struggle with listening depending on the person I am talking to. For instance, I sometimes find it difficult to understand the Spanish spoken in some islands and coastal areas of the Caribbean Region, especially the street language. I have a bitter memory of stumbling badly as an interpreter during a summit meeting between Japanese and Venezuelan leaders early in my early career because I could not catch everything the Venezuelan side said.

After arriving in Brazil and beginning Portuguese at age 60, I found the pronunciation (with its 14 vowel sounds) particularly challenging, both in speaking and listening. Differences in regions and individual speakers made listening even more difficult. After giving an opening presentation in Portuguese at a conference, I had to embarrassingly rely on an interpreter for some of the Portuguese questions during the Q&A session. By the way, I can hardly understand European Portuguese, which some say resembles Russian in pronunciation.

As for speaking, I believe it is okay to go at your own pace. Those who trained in the US can use an American accent, and those trained in the UK can use a British accent. There is no need to strain yourself to mimic local accents. I tried to speak BBC English when I was stationed in London but soon gave up. I was unable to get rid of the American twang that I picked up growing up in Washington DC. The important thing is to speak clearly and understandably (with good diction), and never too quickly.

The same goes for Spanish. Whether you use a European Spanish or Latin American accent, both are fine. In the 1970s, when I was studying in Spain, Latin Americans were sometimes corrected condescendingly or met with feigned confusion when speaking with locals in their own accents. Today, Spain is a prosperous and mature country where you find workers from Latin America everywhere, and such unpleasant behavior has disappeared.

Language Evolution (Watch Out for Political Correctness)
Language evolution is happening all over the world. In Japan, too, changes in lifestyle, technological advancements, and the spread of “political correctness” (PC) are altering the language used in daily life. Young people continue to invent new expressions and for someone of my age, some of their language is incomprehensible. Still, I occasionally use words from their vocabulary like “uzai” (annoying) or “kimoi” (gross) because they are quite handy in conversation with friends (though I’m admittedly a bit behind the times. These expressions have been around for some time).

Recently, political correctness in English has become particularly tricky. For instance, the use of gender-neutral pronouns is changing. Where “he” or “him” was once commonly used for words like “everybody” or “somebody,” now it is increasingly common to use “they” or “them,” even though it is grammatically incorrect. This shift shocked me when I received a response from Dropbox with gender-neutral language, avoiding “he” or “she” altogether. It appears that not everyone in the English-speaking world is on board with this change. According to a 2022 Pew Research poll, nearly half of Americans express discomfort with gender-neutral pronouns. Another example is the recent introduction of the word “Latinx,” a gender-neutral term for Latinos /Latinas, which has not been widely embraced by the Latin community itself. Regardless, in today’s America, it is safer to avoid using gendered language to steer clear of ideological debates.

English is Important Even in Non-English-Speaking Countries
As I mentioned in last year’s essay, it is ideal to use the local language in non-English speaking countries. However, there are times when it is more efficient to communicate in English, even if you are fluent in the local language. For example, when discussing international topics that use English terminology with Ministry of Foreign Affairs counterparts, speaking in English may be more expedient. In meetings at restaurants, too, if the other party is proficient in English and the conversation is sensitive, switching to English may be a good idea.

However, there are risks. In Japan, for example, while dining at a sushi counter with my wife, a well-known Japanese executive from a major company switched to English as soon as he noticed us (an elderly Japanese couple who, perhaps in his eyes, could not possibly understand English). Although I was not eavesdropping, I could not help but admire his flawless pronunciation and idiomatic expressions. Even in countries where English is seldom spoken, it is important not to let your guard down.

In Spanish-speaking countries, people often prefer speaking English over Spanish if they are fluent in it. In such cases, I would accommodate their preference. But in Spain, where I performed my duties displaying the title “trained at the Spanish Diplomatic Academy,” I always spoke in Spanish, even when my counterpart was fluent in English.

Let’s stop using the term “native check.”
In organizations in Japan that do the bulk of their work using foreign languages, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, important English speeches and letters are often finalized after undergoing a so-called “native check.” However, I have long had doubts about this term, “native check.” If we ask whether there are many “native Japanese speakers” who can write elegant Japanese speeches or letters, the answer is certainly no—in fact, there are very few. The situation is the same in other countries. Without having the “appropriate native speaker” review the document, there is a risk that not only will you fail to create a good speech or letter, but you may end up with something that is of embarrassingly low quality. Especially with speeches, unless the reviewer is a seasoned public speaker with experience in the specific field, they will not be able to write anything elegant and impactful.

During my active years (though I’m not aware of the current situation), there was a tendency in some parts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to assume that if a native speaker reviewed the document, it would automatically be perfect, and the term “native check” was overused. However, I have seen many English texts that went through “native checks” but were far from satisfactory. Sometimes, the native speaker was too eager, making unnecessary corrections or revising parts that should not have been changed. For example, once I showed a passage I had written in English to a young American media consultant. To avoid repetition, I used the word “upgrade” after using “improve” in the previous paragraph. However, the consultant changed it back to “improve.” Avoiding as much as possible the repetition of the same word is a fundamental rule of writing in Western languages, but it seemed the consultant did not notice this and “corrected it just for the sake of correcting.” (Incidentally, in Spanish, repeating the same word is avoided even more meticulously than in English.) An experienced and truly “appropriate native speaker” would, of course, understand these basic rules and, if necessary, suggest more fitting expressions while also respecting the writer’s personal style. Speaking of which, I sometimes find the proofreading function in the recent versions of Microsoft Word baffling. For instance, it pushes revisions, saying that double negatives (including grammatically correct ones) make the text hard to understand. To me this is excessive interference, but it seems that modern English prefers simpler and more straightforward expressions.

In any case, the original draft of a foreign language speech or letter should be written in that language as much as possible. If you draft it in Japanese, get it cleared, and then translate it directly into the foreign language, the result tends to reflect Japanese-style thinking. When expressing the same ideas in a foreign language, you often need to drastically change the structure, sometimes even rearranging the sentences or paragraphs, and get creative with expressions. You must always keep in mind that the underlying thinking and culture between a foreign language and Japanese are different.

As I have shared some of my personal experiences and expressed the concerns of a self-proclaimed language enthusiast, the more I study, the more I realize I still have a long way to go. Recently, I read a magazine article introducing research that suggests continuing language learning in old age helps prevent dementia. I plan to keep studying languages, trusting the findings of this research.
I have yet to graduate from the beginner’s course of foreign language studies. I would appreciate it if readers could share their experiences and offer their critiques.

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SHIMANOUCHI Ken is a former ambassador to Spain and Brazil.