Miya

Hiragana -> Katakan -> Kanji is usually the order most people go with. However, there is no "correct" order. You can learn whichever first and still become excellent in Japanese. You just need to make sure you have a good grasp of all three at the end of the day.

Again, this is a matter of how we're teaching them. If we are exposing English to young children and letting them learn at their own pace, then starting young is a good idea. It's only bad when we (like you said) start drilling vocab and grammar into them at a young age. That's what makes children hate English.

That's what I think too. But the problem with these Asian countries is the quality of English being taught. Their English teachers are simply not good enough and they have to hire teachers from overseas (me) to assist them. The problem is they don't have enough budget so not every school can have a foreign teacher. They need to get better teachers if they want their kids to know English. Starting at a young age, but having bad teachers still won't do anything for them.

@Mameha You're right. A lot of Asian countries have poor English skills. I live in Japan and no one here speaks English. Even their "English teachers" are unable to speak English fluently. Hong Kong is a bit different though because it used to be a British colony. So a lot of parents actually communicate with their children in English. Plus they start their English education really early. They start teaching English to kids when they're in kindergarten. In Japan, kids don't start learning English (speaking only) until the 5th grade... in my opinion, that's too late and puts them at a huge disadvantage.

I teach English in Japan and the kids here are super unmotivated. There's not much I can do. Sometimes I plan games, but they don't always work. Instead of getting them interested in the language itself, what I've learned to do is make them interested in me. I make jokes in class (even if they can't understand it), I (playfully) tease them, and I try to create a "friendship" with them. That makes it easier for me to control the class so even if they hate English (which they do), they'll go through with the lesson. Developing a "friendship" with my students also makes it easier for them to come up to me to have casual conversations. I can't motivate them to actually open their books and study the grammar, but at least I can get them to attempt to talk to me in English.

Hong Kong while not really a "country" uses English as their second language. First is Chinese (mainly Cantonese, but also Mandarin) and next is English. I just visited HK and tons of people spoke English there. Road signs and train stops are also announced in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English.

Welcome majateaches! I'm also a teacher! I'm teaching English to elementary and junior high school students in Japan now! Nice to meet you

I have 2 goals for myself in 2016. The first one is to pass the JLPT level 2 exam. The second is to improve my Japanese speaking skills! I also have one more goal, but it's not about language learning. It's about language teaching. I teach English to Japanese students in Japan so I hope all of my students will improve next year. I want all of them to be able to speak some basic English! XD

Where did you hear that "Nobu" is popular? I don't think it's a common name. As for last names, Sato, Suzuki, and Takahashi are the most popular in Japan. Tanaka is in the top 10 though.

I live in a foreign country now. I can speak a little bit of the language, but I'm far from fluent. My listening skills are excellent though. I can understand most of what is said to me. I'm learning everyday

Not necessarily "my" country, but in Japan where I'm living now, "Haruka" and "Hina" are the most common names for girls and "Yuma" and "Haruto" are very popular boy names.

1) English (native) 2) Chinese - I'm Chinese so I can already speak some Chinese, but I'm not fluent enough. I'd like to be more fluent. 3) Japanese - One of my favorite languages. 4) French - I studied French, but forgot almost all of it. I'd love to pick it up again. 5) Korean - A language I'm really interested in

I work in Japan 大丈夫、大丈夫。私も日本語が下手です　XD　一緒に頑張りましょう。

I took the N3 in June and it was way too easy for me. I passed it with almost perfect marks. I think I need to take a slightly higher level next time. I didn't sign up for this upcoming one though because I haven't been studying XD

ウインさん、linguaholic へよこそ！ 私の名前はミヤです。ホンコンに生まれ、アメリカで育ちます。今は日本に住んでいますが、日本語はあまり得意ではない。 よろしくお願いします！

You're welcome! Hope it helps you. What level of JLPT are you planning to take?

Hi Wayne, I'm from Hong Kong too! I was born there and will be going to Hong Kong this year for Christmas and New Year's. And I'm studying Japanese! I live in Japan!

I've read some short stories in Japanese, but they were hard. It took me A LONG TIME to read and understand everything. I had to use dictionaries and ask people I knew for help. I'm hoping that one day I can read a whole book in Japanese without needing translation.

I am pretty cheap, but when it comes to studying languages, I'm willing to spend some. I'll actually go and buy books on my own to study... I never do that with anything else (well, not often anyway). I won't spend a ridiculous amount to learn a new language since there are free resources online, but I'm willing to spend some money.

In California, foreign language is given as an option in middle school, but students don't have to take it. It's recommended though, because then students can jump ahead in high school which requires 2 years of foreign language. My middle school was too small so I didn't have that option. I took four years of French in high school though. It was fun and it made me realize how awesome it was to learn a language. I do regret not starting in middle school though. I think that's a good age to start learning foreign languages.

But everywhere would mean more than those options Just kidding, thanks

Really? I don't think so. A lot of people have interest in language, but because other people are messing around, they can't enroll in the classes. I really think that's a shame.

It is a pretty.. unusual reason, but hey, if it gets them interested in the language, then that's a good thing. I think any interest in a language (for whatever reason) is better than no interest. If they have no interest, they're just wasting everyone's time.

Can we have an "everywhere" for the second question? lol. I'm studying Japanese and I live in Japan so literally everywhere I go, I'm learning new phrases and words ^__^

I'm going to have to check this out over the weekends. Is it free to use?