What is wrong with the Japanese educational system?

日本的教育制度存在什么問(wèn)題？

評(píng)論：

Kotaro Hanawa, Native. Living in Japan for total of 14 years
As a student who went through this system, I would like to share you the very dark side of the Japanese education system.
The dark side can be observed by the statistics below:

作為一個(gè)經(jīng)歷過(guò)這個(gè)體制的學(xué)生，我想和大家分享下日本教育制度的陰暗面。
以下的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)就可以看到日本教育制度的陰暗面：

This is the data of the suicide rate of each country for individuals between age 15 and 24. The blue line is for Japan, while the red is S. Korea, along with US (green), UK(Purple), Germany(turquoise), France(orange), and Sweden (Pale Blue).

這張圖的數(shù)據(jù)，呈現(xiàn)的是每個(gè)國(guó)家15歲至24歲人群的自殺率。藍(lán)色代表日本，紅色代表韓國(guó)，綠色代表美國(guó)，紫色代表英國(guó)，綠松石色代表德國(guó)，橙色代表法國(guó)，淡藍(lán)色代表瑞典。

Japan has the highest teenage suicide rate in the entire world and the one and only thing which can be blamed for this is the Japanese Education System.

日本是世界上青少年自殺率最高的國(guó)家，究其根本，可以歸咎于日本的教育制度。

First thing that happens when one enters ****************** is the process of self criticism. Students are guided to lose their self-esteem and ego by forcing upon them strict rules and simple tasks. This way, teens would be prevented from becoming rebellious against their mentor. Strict rules apply to places not only within the school limits but to daily life as well.

一個(gè)日本學(xué)生進(jìn)入初中的時(shí)候，碰到的第一件事情就是自我批評(píng)。學(xué)校強(qiáng)迫他們接受嚴(yán)格的規(guī)定、簡(jiǎn)單的任務(wù)，引導(dǎo)著他們失去自尊和自我。這樣搞下來(lái)，青少年就不會(huì)頂撞他們的老師。嚴(yán)格的規(guī)定，不僅適用于學(xué)校，也適用于日常生活。

In case of what I’ve experienced,
-No dating allowed
-No volunteer activity allowed without the approval of the school principal
-No part-time jobs allowed unless the financial situation forces the subject to. In this case, a written permission from both parents, homeroom teacher and school principal are required along with a strict review of the labor contract

以我的上學(xué)經(jīng)歷來(lái)說(shuō)：
--禁止約會(huì)。
--未經(jīng)校長(zhǎng)批準(zhǔn)，禁止從事志愿活動(dòng)。
--禁止從事兼職，除非經(jīng)濟(jì)狀況迫使，這種特殊情況還需要得到家長(zhǎng)、班主任和校長(zhǎng)的書(shū)面許可，嚴(yán)格審查勞動(dòng)合同。

-One must not meet with the opposite sex other than for academic proposes such as Jukus (Japanese cram school), extracurricular activities, and examinations (I was enrolled in a boys school)
-No traveling allowed without the permission of the school authority. When approved, one must act according to the schedule approved by the school.
-No eating in public spaces even when the subject is outside the school boundaries
-Route to school must be submitted and students may only act accordingly every day to and from school

--我曾經(jīng)上過(guò)一所男校，那個(gè)學(xué)校禁止任何人與異性見(jiàn)面，除非因?yàn)閷W(xué)習(xí)上的原因，例如參加補(bǔ)習(xí)班、課外活動(dòng)、參加考試。
--未經(jīng)學(xué)校許可，禁止旅游。學(xué)校批準(zhǔn)以后，也必須按照學(xué)校批準(zhǔn)的時(shí)間行事。
--禁止在公共場(chǎng)合吃東西，即使出了學(xué)校的范圍，也要遵守。
--必須提交上學(xué)通勤路線，學(xué)生每天只能往返家和學(xué)校。

-Strict dress code which must be followed in and out of school
-No electronic devices allowed -No possession of smartphones allowed.When cell phones are necessary as a communication with the student and its parents, only the traditional types are allowed.
These are just handful of rules I can think of. Honestly, there are some rules that are legitimate and most of the rules exist to avoid unnecessary difficulties the teen might encounter. However, most of the rules are just against the liberty of the people in my opinion.

--嚴(yán)格的著裝規(guī)定，在學(xué)校內(nèi)外都得遵守。
--禁止使用電子設(shè)備，禁止擁有智能手機(jī)。當(dāng)學(xué)生和家長(zhǎng)需要通話的時(shí)候，只能使用傳統(tǒng)類型的手機(jī)。
這些是我能想到的幾條規(guī)定。老實(shí)說(shuō)，有些規(guī)定是合理的，而且大多數(shù)規(guī)定都是為了讓青少年避免可能遇到的困難。
但是在我看來(lái)，這些規(guī)定都違背了人的自由。

Also, there are considerable amount of physical punishment applied in Japanese school and also from parents. Some students get beaten by teachers just because their ties were not properly tied. I remember getting beaten up by my parents for not been able to solve a math problem right. On my first mistake, I get spanked once. On my second mistake, I get spanked twice. On my third mistake, I get spanked thrice, and so on until both get physically tired or get bruised. I was lucky because only a decade ago, people used to cane students for incorrect answers, although this was banned. Yet, every so often, in the news, somewhere in Japan, a student would get beaten to death as “punishment” from teachers often for reasons like “forgetting to bring something” or “sneezing during an important speech” etc. This is just one phantom of the Japanese empire during World War Two still influencing Japanese society.

此外，日本的學(xué)校和家長(zhǎng)也對(duì)學(xué)生進(jìn)行了大量的體罰。
有些學(xué)生被老師打，僅僅是因?yàn)樗麄兊念I(lǐng)帶沒(méi)有系好。我還記得我因?yàn)闆](méi)有做對(duì)一道數(shù)學(xué)題，就被父母打了。犯第一個(gè)錯(cuò)誤的時(shí)候，我被扇了一巴掌；犯第二個(gè)錯(cuò)誤的時(shí)候，我被扇了兩巴掌；犯第三個(gè)錯(cuò)誤的時(shí)候，我被扇了三巴掌……直到我臉上淤青、他們沒(méi)力氣的時(shí)候才停下。我覺(jué)得自己還算幸運(yùn)的，因?yàn)樵谑昵?，日本學(xué)生做錯(cuò)題目的話，都是被藤條抽打，雖然體罰明面上是被禁止的。但是在新聞中，經(jīng)常會(huì)出現(xiàn)日本學(xué)生被體罰致死的事件，而原因僅僅因?yàn)槭恰巴泿|西”或者“重要講話時(shí)打噴嚏”等等。二戰(zhàn)時(shí)期的日本帝國(guó)主義幽靈，至今仍舊影響著日本社會(huì)。

Here is a magical stick which if a teacher flash it in front of the classroom, all the students in the room suddenly turn loyal to him or her Also if shown to 80s and 90s kids, they somehow start to get goosebumps.

這有一根神奇的棍子，如果一個(gè)日本老師在教室里揮舞它，那么教室里的所有學(xué)生都會(huì)瞬間服從他或她。如果是揮向80后和90后的日本孩子，他們會(huì)開(kāi)始起雞皮疙瘩。

This is called a “Shinai 竹刀” It is used in Kendo sports. However, there is another alternative usage in which classroom teachers dare to share it to a Kendo master…..

在日本，這根棍子有個(gè)名字，叫“神奈竹刀”，用于劍術(shù)運(yùn)動(dòng)。然而，它還有另一種用途，那就是老師在課堂上化身劍道大師……

What about me? I was lucky enough not to be born in “that” generation… One of my language arts teacher was a professional junior Kendo player. However, his language arts teacher had a policy which, if they answered incorrectly to an answer, students, regardless of gender, would be slammed by a bamboo sword. As being slammed by a bamboo sword by an amateur was the worst thing possible as a professional, he studied super hard and became a lone survivor of that punishment. As a result, he got a job as a Language arts teacher. Oh, the irony!
?
那我呢？我很幸運(yùn)不屬于那一代人……我有個(gè)語(yǔ)文老師，他學(xué)生時(shí)是專業(yè)的初級(jí)劍道選手。據(jù)他說(shuō)，他的語(yǔ)文老師有一個(gè)規(guī)定，如果學(xué)生回答錯(cuò)誤的話，無(wú)論男女，都要被竹劍抽打。作為一個(gè)專業(yè)的選手，要被一個(gè)業(yè)余的劍道愛(ài)好者抽打，無(wú)疑是最糟糕的事情。所以，他學(xué)習(xí)非常努力，是唯一沒(méi)有被語(yǔ)文老師體罰的學(xué)生。結(jié)果呢，他現(xiàn)在的工作就是語(yǔ)文老師。啊，真是諷刺啊！

Thus, people start losing their ego and commit suicide as a result.

因?yàn)檫@些，人們開(kāi)始失去自我，通過(guò)自殺來(lái)擺脫這些。

In short, Japanese education is a system which makes individuals into an economic machine. Children before enrollment have lots of dreams like participating in a volunteer activity, being a game developer, doctor, scientist to solve a particular problem, etc. The function of the system is to crush all of those hopes and extract the “individual” out to the collective. By the end of the process, the students would have lost most of their self so that they can be exploited by major corporations and government official. That's how the Japanese economy worked in the post war economic Growth. However, those days are over.

總之，日本的教育制度，是將一個(gè)人培養(yǎng)成經(jīng)濟(jì)機(jī)器的零件。上學(xué)前的孩子們，有很多的夢(mèng)想，例如參加志愿者活動(dòng)、開(kāi)發(fā)游戲、當(dāng)醫(yī)生、解決特殊問(wèn)題的科學(xué)家，等等。日本教育系統(tǒng)的功能，就是粉碎所有這些希望，將“個(gè)人”抽離到集體中。這個(gè)教育過(guò)程結(jié)束的時(shí)候，學(xué)生們會(huì)失去大部分的自我，這樣他們才能被那些大企業(yè)和政府官員剝削利用。這就是日本戰(zhàn)后經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)的模式。然而，日本經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)的日子結(jié)束了。

Some people may ask, why don't then do home schooling or find alternative schools?

有些人可能會(huì)問(wèn)，日本人為什么不開(kāi)展家庭教育或者尋找替代性的學(xué)校呢？

The answer is: those options only exists in a very narrow pool of students. Homeschooling is illegal in Japan, at least at the present moment. Alternative school such as international baccalaureate schools and liberal arts schools are available, but only a handful of them exists. I only know three of them. Also, most parents would force students to go to cram schools after school and on weekends so there is no time to use online courses such as Khan Academy.

答案是：這些選擇只存在于非常少數(shù)的學(xué)生群體中。在日本，在家上學(xué)是非法的，至少目前是這樣的。替代性的學(xué)校，例如國(guó)際學(xué)校、自由的藝術(shù)院校，日本也確實(shí)存在，但只有少數(shù)的幾所，我只知道其中的三所。此外，大多數(shù)的日本家長(zhǎng)都會(huì)強(qiáng)迫學(xué)生在放學(xué)后、在周末去補(bǔ)習(xí)班，學(xué)生們也就沒(méi)有時(shí)間去學(xué)習(xí)可汗學(xué)院這樣的在線課程。

Here is my average weekly schedule as a teenager (during the most intense period)

下面貼一張我青少年時(shí)代，我最緊張的時(shí)期，每周的日常安排：

As you can see, there is no time to play or follow your own passion what so ever since every day is occupied by school work. Both “Lesson (personal tutor) “ , “Cram school” as well as “exam preparation seminars” are for-profit institutions to support students to train to be successful in examinations. I started this sort of lifestyle when I was 11 years old. I'm considered late as most students start this practice at around age 9.

正如你看到的，我沒(méi)有時(shí)間出去玩，沒(méi)有時(shí)間跟隨自己的激情，每天都被學(xué)校的功課占據(jù)這。都是“家教的課程”、“填鴨式的學(xué)?！?，還要上“考前沖刺班”（那是營(yíng)利性的學(xué)校，旨在培訓(xùn)學(xué)生考試獲得成功）。我十一歲的時(shí)候就開(kāi)始這種生活了，就這樣我都有些遲了，大多數(shù)日本學(xué)生是九歲就開(kāi)始這種生活。

There are slogans for this term (used mainly in a satirical way)
月月火水木金金！ “Mon, Mon, Tue, Wed, Thur, Fri, Fri!”
欲しがりません 、勝つまでは！h”Never desire anything, until victory!”
すすめ一億火の玉だ！ “Proceed! 100 million fireballs!”

這樣的生活方式還存在一些口號(hào)（主要是諷刺啦）：
月月火水木金金！? ?周一、周一、周二、周三、周四、周五、周五！
欲しがりません 、勝つまでは！? ?啥都不要，直至成功！
すすめ一億火の玉だ！? ?繼續(xù)！一億個(gè)火球，能量滿滿！

All of the above are slogans used frequently during the pacific war, and are used for satire to describe the present situation of inefficient overworked? society. The catchphrase on the top means to work without weekends. The second one means to never desire anything until victory. During the Second World War, this meant sacrifice everything for victory against the United States. Nowadays, it means sacrifice everything until successes in examination, or profit if the slogan was used in companies. The third slogan means the entire population should die for noble victory. After the war, it was used to sacrifice your life for the sake of our economy. Particularly the first and second one is used frequently even for literal meaning, not satire, in modern schools and some institutions as well.

以上口號(hào)，都是太平洋戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)期間經(jīng)常使用的，現(xiàn)在用來(lái)諷刺效率低下、過(guò)度勞累的社會(huì)現(xiàn)狀。
最上面的標(biāo)語(yǔ)，意味著沒(méi)有周末的工作。
第二個(gè)標(biāo)語(yǔ)，意思是在取得勝利之前，永遠(yuǎn)不要渴望任何東西。在太平洋戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)期間，這意味著為了戰(zhàn)勝美國(guó)，不惜一切代價(jià)；現(xiàn)在是意味著為了考試成功犧牲一切；企業(yè)用的話，意味著為了營(yíng)利付出一切。
第三個(gè)標(biāo)語(yǔ)，意思是全體人民都應(yīng)該為了崇高的勝利付出生命。戰(zhàn)后，這句話是指為了日本的經(jīng)濟(jì)，你要犧牲你的生命。
尤其是第一個(gè)和第二個(gè)標(biāo)語(yǔ)，在現(xiàn)代的學(xué)校和培訓(xùn)機(jī)構(gòu)中，還是可以經(jīng)常見(jiàn)到，表達(dá)的都是字面意思，沒(méi)有諷刺的意味。

So here is how everything goes :
1. Lack of funds in public education
2. Decline in the quality of public education, both in terms of safety and curriculum
3. Private schools emerge
4. Parents send their kids to private middle schools
5. Competition in entrance exams raises
6. Children as young as 8 or 9 get involved in the entrance exam competition
7. For-profit cram school emerges to support students pass the exams
8. Number of schools and cram schools increases and fierce competition starts to emerge
9. Schools start to do whatever they can to maintain good reputation for their survival
10. Children abused as result
11. Increase in suicide rates and hikikomori

事情是這樣發(fā)展的：
1 公立教育缺乏資金
2 公立教育的質(zhì)量下降，學(xué)校安全和課程質(zhì)量都在下降
3 私立學(xué)校應(yīng)運(yùn)而生
4 父母把孩子送往私立中學(xué)
5 入學(xué)考試競(jìng)爭(zhēng)激烈
6 入學(xué)考試的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)中，八九歲的還是卷入其中
7 為了幫助學(xué)生通過(guò)考試，營(yíng)利性的補(bǔ)習(xí)班開(kāi)始出現(xiàn)
8 學(xué)校和補(bǔ)習(xí)班的數(shù)量增加，開(kāi)始出現(xiàn)激烈的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)
9 學(xué)校為了生存，開(kāi)始盡其所能地維持自己的良好聲譽(yù)
10 結(jié)果兒童受到虐待
11 自殺率上升，家里蹲變多

Hiro Kajino, lived in Japan (1985-2004)
I was born and grew up in Japan in ’80s and ‘90s, and went through Japanese public ed system up to high school. I now live in the US, and saw American education system while working as teacher.

我出生成長(zhǎng)在日本的八十年代、九十年代，從小學(xué)到高中，我完整地體驗(yàn)了日本的公共教育。
現(xiàn)在我是一名老師，住在美國(guó)，也在觀察著美國(guó)的教育制度。

Of course Japanese education system has many flaws, just as American education systems does. It seems like to me, though, that the flaws are blown out of proportion by the people for whom Japanese system did not work well, and who have very strong resentment toward it. If they really have such resentment, that’s fair, and it’s common to see children get left out and alienated by inflexible education principle like Japan’s.

當(dāng)然啦，日本的教育制度跟美國(guó)的一樣，都存在著很多的缺陷。但是在我看來(lái)，有些日本人對(duì)于日本的教育制度的評(píng)價(jià)有些過(guò)于極端了，他們對(duì)于日本的教育似乎有著強(qiáng)烈的怨恨。當(dāng)然啦，如果他們對(duì)日本教育有著怨恨的話，那也是正常的。畢竟我們要承認(rèn)，很多日本孩子被缺乏彈性的日本教育制度排斥、疏遠(yuǎn)，這種現(xiàn)象還是蠻普遍的。

However, it’s not fair to assume that Japanese education system is all wrong, and I would like to share my experiences and perspectives. First of all, I did not experience many of the extreme rules that others mentioned like not dating, no part-time job, or having to submit commuting routes. We were allowed to have cell phone in our high school, and though we had uniform, many of us only loosely followed dress code (dying hair, wearing accessories, etc…). I did not witness routine corporal punishment in any of the schools I attended.

但是，如果你要說(shuō)日本的教育制度完全是個(gè)錯(cuò)誤，那也是不公平的，我只想分享下我的經(jīng)驗(yàn)和看法。
首先，我沒(méi)有遇到過(guò)其他人提到的極端規(guī)則，例如他們講的“不準(zhǔn)約會(huì)、不準(zhǔn)兼職、必須提交上學(xué)線路”等，我都沒(méi)遇到過(guò)。在我高中的時(shí)候，我們學(xué)校是允許帶手機(jī)的。雖然我們有校服，但是我們很多人還是會(huì)緊跟時(shí)尚潮流的，例如染發(fā)、掛件等等。在我就讀的任何一所學(xué)校，我都沒(méi)看到過(guò)例行的體罰。

We were taught to be strictly punctual, and we were punished for not being on time to an assembly by having to come to assembly every morning until every student was on time. We were taught that we have to take responsibilities for anyone in the class. We were taught to leave shoes all aligned as we enter the gym. We stood up and greeted teachers as they enter classroom. We cleaned our school every single day (it’s uncommon to have full-time janitor in school). We were fed lunch that was different every day of the month, nutritious(planned by a school nutritionist), cooked on site, and tasted better than what we had at home. In our school sports team, we were expected to push to our limits, but were also expected to take care of ourselves (drinking water, take breaks, etc…) I saw bullying, but I also saw many teachers and students stepped in. I can’t think of a single teacher, textbook, or elderly community member who would even subtly beautify Japan during WWII (I know a few young people who didn’t live through do). I also can’t think of a single teacher who didn’t allow questions, because we always were encouraged to ask questions.

我們學(xué)校每天早上都要開(kāi)早會(huì)，要求每個(gè)學(xué)生都準(zhǔn)時(shí)到達(dá)，如果有人沒(méi)有準(zhǔn)時(shí)參加的話，也不會(huì)受到懲罰，但是我們被要求必須要對(duì)班上的其他人負(fù)責(zé)。
當(dāng)我們進(jìn)入體育館的時(shí)候，我們要將鞋子擺放整齊；當(dāng)老師進(jìn)入教室的時(shí)候，我們要站起來(lái)向他們打招呼；我們每天都要打掃學(xué)校，畢竟全職的清潔工還是比較少見(jiàn)的；我們每月每天都吃不一樣的午餐，午餐由學(xué)校的營(yíng)養(yǎng)師進(jìn)行規(guī)劃，就地烹飪，營(yíng)養(yǎng)豐富，吃的比家里的香；在學(xué)校的運(yùn)動(dòng)隊(duì)里，我們都被期望著能突破自己的極限，但是我們也被要求要照顧好自己，例如多喝水、多休息等……
學(xué)生間的霸凌行為，我也看到過(guò)，但我也看到了很多的老師和學(xué)生介入其中。我也想不起任何一個(gè)老師、任何一本教科書(shū)、任何一個(gè)老年人會(huì)去美化二戰(zhàn)時(shí)期的日本，當(dāng)然我也知道有些不懂事的年輕人會(huì)這么干。我也想不起任何一個(gè)禁止提問(wèn)的老師，在我當(dāng)學(xué)生的時(shí)候，老師總是鼓勵(lì)我們回答問(wèn)題。

I don’t mean to invalidate the experiences of the others, but I had a pretty decent childhood in Japanese education system. Many of my friends and family members did. I know that in other parts of the country, things could have been different. I know that it didn’t work for everyone. And we would occasionally hear sad stories. Pressure, high expectations, mental illness, they are real.

我無(wú)意詆毀其他人的教育經(jīng)歷。但我想說(shuō)，在日本的教育體系中，我有著一個(gè)相當(dāng)不錯(cuò)的童年。我的許多朋友和家人也都如此。我也知道，在日本的其他地區(qū)，教育情況可能會(huì)有所不同，我也知道我的經(jīng)歷并不適用于每個(gè)人，偶爾我們也會(huì)聽(tīng)到令人悲傷的事情。壓力大、期望高、精神病，這些都是真實(shí)存在的。

But as educator and parent raising American children in the US, there are many things that I really miss about Japanese education system, though of course I have no intentions of saying that it’s perfect. I just wanted to share my perspectives.

但是作為一個(gè)教育工作者，在美國(guó)撫養(yǎng)美國(guó)孩子的家長(zhǎng)，對(duì)于日本的教育制度，還是有很多事情值得我懷念的，當(dāng)然啦，日本的教育制度并不完美。寫(xiě)這些，只是想表達(dá)下我的個(gè)人觀點(diǎn)。
以上。

Don Murray, 10+ Year Expat; 35 Year Japanophile
You could easily write a multi-hundred page book on the subject.

就這個(gè)主題，你可以很容易寫(xiě)上一本幾百頁(yè)的書(shū)。

The fundamental problem with Japanese education is its very core structure - designed from the Meiji Era in the latter half of the 19th century - to make obedient factory drones to crank out products and make Japan wealthy. And the system they use for that is entirely centered around passing exams through brute force rote memorization. There is no critical thinking, reasoning, or analysis. It’s just who can feedback the most information accurately. To take the study of English as an example, many in Japan wonder why other nations make fluent English speaking people, yet after six years of intensive study Japanese high school graduates largely are incapable of holding a simple conversation.

日本教育的根本問(wèn)題，在于它的核心結(jié)構(gòu)。這個(gè)制度設(shè)計(jì)于19世紀(jì)后半葉的明治維新時(shí)期，那個(gè)時(shí)代要求培養(yǎng)出順從的“工廠雄蜂”，以制造出商品，讓日本變得富有。他們使用的教育制度，完全圍繞著用死記硬背的方式通過(guò)考試，沒(méi)有批判性的思考、推理和分析，只選拔那些能夠精確記憶的學(xué)生。以英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)為例，許多日本人都想知道，為什么其他國(guó)家都能培養(yǎng)出口語(yǔ)流利的學(xué)生，但是日本學(xué)生經(jīng)過(guò)六年的高強(qiáng)度學(xué)習(xí)之后，日本高中畢業(yè)生很大程度上連簡(jiǎn)單的對(duì)話都開(kāi)展不了。

In a nutshell, Japan is immersed in a fallacy that memorization equals education.

簡(jiǎn)而言之，日本陷入了記憶等于教育的謬誤。

So they spend mammoth amounts of effort cramming in mile long lists of vocab and grammar rules - but never do they actually need to use them, except in test questions. Speaking English is not a part of the test system - if it were, you’d see a very different situation. Japanese classes are completely with the teacher speaking, the students listening - discussion or thinking is not part of the program. Rigid rules and strict obedience are pushed from morning til night. The rules on school uniforms, acceptable accessories, after school activities etc would make most non-Japanese just shake their heads. Meanwhile, students in other nations become extremely fluent in speaking. The Dutch sound like they spent half their lives living in England or America. Even in Scandinavia they are extremely good at English by their late teens - why? Because the goal there is communication, not memorization. There are other relevant factors as well - Japanese reticence and reluctance to speak, a strong indifference to world affairs or anything that doesn’t directly effect them, a very different language syntax, and so on.

因?yàn)檫@個(gè)謬誤，他們花費(fèi)大量的時(shí)間去記憶長(zhǎng)篇累牘的詞匯和語(yǔ)法規(guī)則，這些語(yǔ)法規(guī)則，除了考試會(huì)用到，他們?cè)趯?shí)際生活中從來(lái)就用不到。英語(yǔ)口語(yǔ)不是考試制度的一部分，如果是的話，你會(huì)看到完全不同的結(jié)果。日本的英語(yǔ)課堂，完全就是老師在說(shuō)，學(xué)生在聽(tīng)，討論和思考不是教學(xué)的一部分。從早到晚，都是嚴(yán)格的規(guī)則和絕對(duì)的服從。校服、配飾和課外活動(dòng)方面的規(guī)定，只會(huì)讓大多數(shù)非日本人搖頭否定。同時(shí)期呢，其他國(guó)家的學(xué)生在口語(yǔ)方面越來(lái)越流利。荷蘭人的口語(yǔ)之流利，讓人聽(tīng)起來(lái)會(huì)誤以為他們半輩子都生活在英國(guó)或美國(guó)。即使在斯堪的納維亞半島，那里的人們?cè)谑甙藲q的時(shí)候，他們的英語(yǔ)也已經(jīng)很好了。這都是為什么呢？那是因?yàn)樗麄兊膶W(xué)習(xí)目標(biāo)是溝通，而不是記憶。當(dāng)然，還有其他的因素影響著日本人：日本人比較沉默，不愛(ài)說(shuō)話，對(duì)世界事務(wù)漠不關(guān)心，事不關(guān)己高高掛起，非常不同的語(yǔ)法，等等。

Or let’s take another subject - history. Japanese simply cram and memorize where something happened and what date it happened - but the real value of history is knowing why something happened. But very little time or effort is spent on that.

或者，讓我們來(lái)看看另一門學(xué)科：歷史。
日本人學(xué)歷史，只需要將事情發(fā)生的地點(diǎn)和日期記下來(lái)就行。但是學(xué)歷史的真正價(jià)值在于知道為什么會(huì)發(fā)生這樣的事情。日本人在這方面花費(fèi)的精力實(shí)在是太少了。

The entrance exam to a good college is the most important thing for many Japanese people’s lives, for those who want to really move up the ladder of success. It is as if in America your SAT score determined your entire life career. To get a top level job at a top level company, you have a huge advantage by going to a top level university - and passing their entrance exam to get in. And to go to a top level university, you have a huge advantage by going to a top level high school…and then ******************…and then elementary school. Seriously. That is how school pressure begins, even at a very young age.

對(duì)于許多日本人來(lái)說(shuō)，特別是對(duì)于那些真正想要獲得成功的人來(lái)說(shuō)，考上一個(gè)好大學(xué)是最重要的。正如在美國(guó)，你的SAT成績(jī)決定這你一生的職業(yè)。要想在一家頂級(jí)公司找到一份一流的工作，上一所一流大學(xué)的你是占有巨大優(yōu)勢(shì)的，要想上一所一流大學(xué)，你就得通過(guò)他們的入學(xué)考試。以此類推，要想上一所一流大學(xué)，你就得上一所頂級(jí)的高中……然后是初中……然后是小學(xué)。嚴(yán)肅地說(shuō)，即使在孩子很小的時(shí)候，學(xué)?？荚嚨膲毫鸵呀?jīng)開(kāi)始了。

This is not to completely malign the whole system. By the time a student graduates high school, their learning is close to an American in a second year of university. They are largely skilled in science and math. Japanese don’t kill their school music, arts and sports. But a student’s life is nearly totally absorbed by their school activities and clubs, both in school and out.

我這么講，并不是要誣蔑日本的整個(gè)教育體制。你要知道，日本學(xué)生高中畢業(yè)的時(shí)候，他們學(xué)習(xí)的知識(shí)已經(jīng)接近一名美國(guó)大二的學(xué)生了，他們大多數(shù)都很精通科學(xué)和數(shù)學(xué)。日本人不會(huì)取消他們學(xué)校的音樂(lè)、藝術(shù)和體育課程，但是一個(gè)學(xué)生的生活，無(wú)論校內(nèi)還是校外，幾乎完全被他們的學(xué)校和社團(tuán)占據(jù)了。

If you want to see real world consequences for all this, look at the recent Fukushima nuclear disaster, one of the worst in Japanese history and compared to Chernobyl. An independent investigation commission finally concluded that the crisis was a "man-made disaster" resulting from collusion between the facility's operator, regulators and the government. In fact the lead author lays the blame of the catastrophe directly on Japanese culture itself. Kiyoshi Kurokawa, a former president of the Science Council of Japan, concluded, "What must be admitted -- very painfully -- is that this was a disaster 'Made in Japan.' Its fundamental causes are to be found in the ingrained conventions of Japanese culture: our reflexive obedience; our reluctance to question authority; our devotion to 'sticking with the program.' " Suggesting that the mindset that supported the negligence at Fukushima "can be found across Japan," Kurokawa also urged Japanese to "reflect on our responsibility as individuals in a democratic society."

如果你要看看這些在真實(shí)世界的后果，你可以看看最近的福島核泄漏事故，這是日本歷史上最嚴(yán)重的災(zāi)難之一，堪比切爾諾貝利。一家獨(dú)立的調(diào)查委員會(huì)最終認(rèn)定，這場(chǎng)危機(jī)是由核電公司、監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)和政府之間勾結(jié)造成的“人為災(zāi)難”。調(diào)查委員會(huì)的首席委員，把這場(chǎng)災(zāi)難的責(zé)任歸咎于日本文化本身。日本科學(xué)委員會(huì)前主席黑川清總結(jié)道：“非常痛心，必須承認(rèn)的是，這是一場(chǎng)日本制造的災(zāi)難，其根本原因在于日本文化根深蒂固的慣例：我們本能的服從，我們不愿意質(zhì)疑權(quán)威，我們忠于執(zhí)行指令”“造成福島事故的心態(tài)在整個(gè)日本都普遍存在著”。黑川也敦促日本人“反思我們個(gè)人在民主社會(huì)中的責(zé)任”。

The problem is, you have a deeply entrenched bureaucracy which may try window dressing to fix a problem, but never do what the students really need. Not to mention the last thing the bureaucrats will do is streamline themselves out of a career.

但問(wèn)題在于，日本你有著一個(gè)根深蒂固的官僚機(jī)構(gòu)，它很可能會(huì)裝模作樣地解決一個(gè)問(wèn)題，但永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)去做學(xué)生真正需要的事情。至于精簡(jiǎn)優(yōu)化自己的官僚機(jī)構(gòu)，就更不要提了。

Shunichi Arai, Born and lived in Japan for 38 years.
Thanks for asking. I am the one to answer this question, because I dropped out of school at age of 14.

感謝你關(guān)心日本的教育。
我覺(jué)得我是有資格回答這個(gè)問(wèn)題的人，因?yàn)槲以?4歲的時(shí)候就輟學(xué)不念了。

The problem is that the Japan has confucian culture which force people to obey their superior. In school context, students must obey teachers and school rules completely. I say it’s quite militaristic. Just you can think as the novel “1984” by George Orwell.

日本教育的問(wèn)題在于，日本社會(huì)是儒家文化，這就迫使人們服從他們的上級(jí)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)。
在學(xué)校這個(gè)大環(huán)境中，學(xué)生必須完全服從老師，并且要遵守學(xué)校的規(guī)章制度，我覺(jué)得這算是一種軍事化。具體情景你可以聯(lián)想一下喬治·奧威爾的小說(shuō)《1984》。

They are trying, and quite doing well in making slaves.
Also, public schools in Japan are quite under-staffed, and teachers are underpaid. So, they have not enough passion to handle problems between students, or care about students with special needs. Maybe it’s the same with many other countries though.
So Japanese schools are nightmare for students with independent thought or special needs.

日本學(xué)校在批量制造奴隸方面非常盡心、非常成功。
還有一點(diǎn)，日本的公立學(xué)校非常缺乏老師，而且他們的薪水也很低。這也就導(dǎo)致他們沒(méi)有足夠的熱情來(lái)處理學(xué)生之間的問(wèn)題，也沒(méi)有熱心去關(guān)愛(ài)情況特殊的學(xué)生?？赡茉S多其他國(guó)家也面臨著同樣的問(wèn)題。
所以，日本學(xué)校對(duì)于那些有著獨(dú)立思想和情況特殊的學(xué)生來(lái)說(shuō)，無(wú)疑是個(gè)噩夢(mèng)。

Many people in Quora say that Japanese companies are nightmarish, but I rather say that’s nothing compared to Japanese school.
Because, the Japanese economy is mostly free market capitalist economy, so, to some extent Japanese companies have to follow Economics. That means skilled worker or entrepreneur can live outside of stupid rules.

Quora上的很多人表示，日本公司是噩夢(mèng)般的存在。
但是我想說(shuō)，日本公司跟日本學(xué)校比起來(lái)，真是小巫見(jiàn)大巫。
為什么這么講呢？因?yàn)槿毡窘?jīng)濟(jì)總體上來(lái)說(shuō)是資本主義自由市場(chǎng)經(jīng)濟(jì)，所以在某種程度上，日本公司還得遵循經(jīng)濟(jì)規(guī)律。這也就意味著熟練工人和企業(yè)家可以忽視日本社會(huì)的這些愚蠢規(guī)則。

Even, just average people with independent thought can just ignore the stupid rules inside companies, because the laws are on their side. However they are completely brainwashed by schools to be slave, so they cannot fight against their company.
However, younger students have not much knowledge about the society outside their family and school, so they are really suffering.

即使是那些有著獨(dú)立思想的普通人，也完全可以忽視公司內(nèi)部的愚蠢規(guī)則，為什么呢？因?yàn)榉墒钦驹谒麄冞@一邊的。但是他們已經(jīng)在學(xué)校被洗腦了，他們被教導(dǎo)成為奴隸，導(dǎo)致他們沒(méi)法跟他們的公司進(jìn)行抗?fàn)帯?/p>