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Problems for learners in JapanThough all students have problems learning a new language, regardless if it’s with vocabulary, grammar or speaking it, there are always specific problems with different nationalities. Students from Japan also have these problems. They can range from grammar, to fluency, and even with listening! The problem with grammar is caused by various factors. Unlike the english language, the japanese don’t have the same grammatical structure. They have a subject-object-verb order in which prepositions follow nouns and particles follow the rest of the sentence. It wouldn’t make sense to them to have it any other way. It is the same as asking an english speaker to use the japanese structure. To us, the sentence would sound jumbled and unclear. That is how a japanese learner would feel. Another problem in grammar is using the different tenses. Once again, they are accustomed to using the tenses to mean different things. For example, the present simple can be used to talk about future events. It creates a big confusion within the students having to change all that and follow what we think is correct. Verb agreement is another difficult thing to learn for japanese learners. When verbs do not agree, we know it is an incorrect sentence. To the japanese student, however, this will seem completely fine. To them, the tense of the final verb is the tense of the entire sentence, regardless of any other verbs before. Having to match all of the verbs will probably seem unnecessary and confusing to them. Additionally, there are words, or parts of a sentence, that don’t exist in japanese. We use articles in almost every sentence. To us, it is something that if we were to take out, the sentence would make no sense. It is the same effect, though it is adding rather than taking out articles, for the japanese. Fluency, or speaking the language, is another factor that causes problems. The most known problem is the pronunciation of ‘l’ and ‘r’. This problem is very common for Asian learners, which include the japanese. There are less sounds in the japanese language that there are in english. This often causes the japanese student to refer back to their mother tongue. It is important to get training with all the forms and sounds. Sometimes, referring back to their mother tongue is not a bad thing as it helps them connect sounds which make pronunciation easier for them. The problem with listening for a japanese student is that when they hear english, they do not catch all the sounds, especially if it is a native english speaker. We tend to twist the words into our comfort. We do not clearly pronounce each and every word. Since the japanese student is not used to this, they will often only hear the clear or solid sounds. But with that, they do not capture the idea of the sentence and so end up being confused. At the same time, you do not want to talk to them as if they were children, pronouncing every word slowly for them. It would probably offend them. We must remember that every country has its specific needs. A japanese learner would take more time to learn english since the japanese language has no connection with the english language. A spanish speaking student would not advance the same as a japanese student. Writing the language is yet another obstacle the japanese student must face. Unlike the spanish speaker that is used to seeing the letters in the english alphabet, the japanese student is not. But regardless of what problems the japanese student faces, the teacher must always remember to be helpful and observant to their needs, and most importantly, to be patient with them.