English Language Education in Japan (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. English language education in Japan began as early as 1600 with the initial contacts between the Japanese and Europeans. The for-profit market has experienced a crisis of confidence in recent years following the bankruptcies of the major Nova and GEOS brands. Almost all students graduating high school in Japan have had several years of English language education, however most still do not have any command of spoken English. The earliest record of the initial contact between the Japanese and a native English speaker took place around 1600 when it is believed that Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa Feudal Government, met with Englishman William Adams. Although it is reported that the only interpreter between the two men was only well-versed in Portuguese language, it did not stop Tokugawa Ieyasu from having a very positive relation with William Adams who remained in Japan for the remainder of his life. However, after the death of Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1616, a change in the foreign policy of the Bakufu ordered the closing of the English merchants' office in 1623, which consequently prompted the English to leave Japan.