世論 What Japan Thinks

goo Research recently took a look at online language study services. The results of this survey were reported by japan.internet.com.

Demographics

Between the 3rd and 5th of February 2011 1,088 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 53.1% of the sample were male, 16.8% in their teens, 17.5% in their twenties, 21.5% in their thirties, 16.5% in their forties, 15.4% in their fifties, and 12.3% aged sixty or older.

I must at this point mention my online pal Koichi at Tofugu and TextFugu, where he runs a Japanese-language study course. It’s not free, and although I’ve never used it it does seem to be very highly rated, and he even offers a 110% moneyback guarantee!
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A recent survey from goo Research, reported on by japan.internet.com, into learning foreign languages found not surprisingly that English was the most popular language, but surprisingly that for most it was a hobby rather than for any specific work or travel-related objective.

Demographics

Between the 22nd and 26th of September 2010 1,074 members of the goo Research online monitor group completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 52.8% of the sample were male, 16.2% in their teens, 18.2% in their twenties, 21.5% in their thirties, 16.5% in their forties, 15.6% in their fifties, and 12.0% aged sixty or older.

I’d love to have found out more about how people were learning for free – was it something like me with What Japan Thinks, just reading stuff on the web and hoping it sticks, was it free lessons through NHK educational television, or just choosing to go to the subtitled instead of dubbed version of movies?
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But, to my English teaching readers, don’t all start patting yourselves on the back yet, as this survey from iShare on foreign languages also reveals that less than one in fifteen feel capable of stringing more than a few words together.

Demographics

Between the 21st and 25th of November 2008 430 members of the CLUB BBQ free email forwarding service completed a private internet-based questionnaire. 50.5% of the sample were male, 13.3% were in their twenties, 54.4% in their thirties, 23.5% in their forties, and 8.8% in their teens or fifty or older.

Note that at least those in their twenties and thirties should have studied English for all six years in high school.

One wonders how much degree of racial bias is in the answers of favourite language, as Asian languages are rated much lower than Western ones. On the other hand I do find Chinese and Korean pretty rough on my ears, but then again, German can be too. I wonder, though, why exactly is knowing a language rated as cool? Is it due to perception of difficulty or association with having travelled to countries or moved in circles associated with the language?
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