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Assertive vs. Submissive
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Since I work at an English school as a teacher, foreign teachers and Japanese teachers including myself attend a seminar to learn effective ways of teaching English and to share some information. Foreign teachers nationalities are the US, the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, the philippines, Kenya, Ghana and so on.
When I first attended this meeting, I was surprised to see the huge gap between foreign teachers' attitude and that of Japanese teachers. When a chairperson asked something, many foreign teachers immediately said their opinions and sometimes said funny jokes. On the contrary, Japanese teachers were very quiet and rarely said their opinions.
I wonder why Japanese people can't say their opinions in public. The major reason I come up with is that Japanese people haven't experienced to discuss, debate or make a speech at school. When I was in school, a teacher was the only person who was allowed to talk in the classroom. Students had to be quiet and to behave in the classroom. That's why most Japanese people are not accustomed to giving an opinion in public.
I think that school teachers in western countries train children to be assertive, otherwise they don't understand each other. In my opinion, Japanese people should speak out how they think and state their opinions clearly. Being submissive is not a virtue in a globalized world. What do you think?
When I first attended this meeting, I was surprised to see the huge gap between foreign teachers' attitude and that of Japanese teachers. When a chairperson asked something, many foreign teachers immediately said their opinions and sometimes said funny jokes. On the contrary, Japanese teachers were very quiet and rarely said their opinions.
I wonder why Japanese people can't say their opinions in public. The major reason I come up with is that Japanese people haven't experienced to discuss, debate or make a speech at school. When I was in school, a teacher was the only person who was allowed to talk in the classroom. Students had to be quiet and to behave in the classroom. That's why most Japanese people are not accustomed to giving an opinion in public.
I think that school teachers in western countries train children to be assertive, otherwise they don't understand each other. In my opinion, Japanese people should speak out how they think and state their opinions clearly. Being submissive is not a virtue in a globalized world. What do you think?
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Foreign teachers include people of various countries like the US, the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, the philippines, Kenya, Ghana and so on.
Nationality = Singaporean, Kenyan, American, British etc.
Country = US, UK, Canada
So....
When a chairperson asked something, many foreign teachers immediately stated/shared their opinions and sometimes told funny jokes.
On the contrary, Japanese teachers were very quiet and rarely gave their opinions.
I wonder why Japanese people can't say their opinions in public.
Cultural issue probably. Not wanting to stand out, or perhaps not wanting to assert individualism.
The major reason I can think of is that Japanese people haven't had enough experience to join the discussion, debate or make a speech at school.
I think that school teachers in western countries train children to be assertive, otherwise they don't understand each other.
I don't think that's always the case. The school is just 1 environment but overall people are encouraged to speak up and have their own opinions at home, at work or even at play.
In my opinion, Japanese people should speak out how they think and state their opinions clearly.
"Speak out" pretty much has the meaning of "state what they think" in this sentence so you can omit.
I understand what you mean. Japanese people including myself try not to be very aggressive and assertive in Japanese society. : )
Since I work at an English school as a teacher, foreign teachers and Japanese teachers including myself periodically attend a seminar to learn effective ways of teaching English and to share some information.
The foreign teachers hail from various places such as the US, the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, the Philippines, Kenya, Ghana and so on.
When I first attended this meeting, I was surprised to see the huge gap between the foreign teachers' attitude and that of Japanese teachers.
The major reason I came up with is that Japanese people haven't experienced discussions, debates or speechmaking at school.
When I was in school, the teacher was the only person who was allowed to talk in the classroom.
I think that school teachers in Western countries train children to be assertive; otherwise, they don't understand each other.
In my opinion, Japanese people should verbalize their thoughts and state their opinions clearly.
However, there are times when speaking your mind can be beneficial. The difficulty lies in finding the balance between the two, I suppose.
I agree with your observations about the Japanese mindset, though. It seems that the Internet and globalization have gone a long way towards changing it, don't you think?
>It's been my experience that the people who say the least generally hear the
most.
That's true, but I'd like to be a great listener and at the same time, like to be assertive.
i think that Japanese people know how popular internationalization is these days, so it's time to change our mindset.
As a math teacher, I fight hard each year to overcome this tradition. At the beginning of the year, students are quiet and submissive. By the end of the year, they are teaching each other and feel free to argue or disagree with me when I challenge them.
As teachers, I think we like to be viewed as "all knowing" and being the smartest in the room. I don't want students to be able to parrot what I am teaching. I want students that can think and perform for themselves. I want my students to be smarter and better than I am when I'm done with them.
I didn't know that. They had very strict rules, didn't they?
Thank you for telling me that you've challenged them. Glad to know that your students have changed their attitude in your class.
This is a result of getting to know each other, feeling totally at ease with one another, understanding what is expected from each other. If we communicate that steadily, that frequently, that's what eventually happens. A mutual knowledge and understanding of one's fellow Skyper breeds confidence between them.
She may be submissive among her fellow Nihonjin -- particularly male Nihonjin -- but she certainly knows how to act and speak among her American friends. In our (usual) one-hour conversation, last night she spoke for 50 minutes; I spoke for 10 minutes. Who's complaining? Neither of us. ;-) Americans need to listen as much as Nihonjin need to opine.
A two-way street (globalization?) works much better than a "my way or the highway" attitude that most Americans too often have and a "keep it to yourself" attitude that most(?) Nihonjin seem to have. ;-)
(Joodan desu. ><)
>Americans need to listen as much as Nihonjin need to opine.
That's a good way to keep a balance!
You are truly a great listener!! Do you usually listen to your wife? ~~?
I haven't heard this funny expression before.
Most Japanese know this one, "The nail that sticks up gets beaten down". ><
We have taught that "自己を主張しすぎると痛い目に遭う" in our society, and that is very different from American way of thinking.
The major reason I come up with is that Japanese people haven't experienced discussing, debating or making speeches in school.
I actually like Arisen's suggestion better, but I thought I would propose this just to demonstrate how to use "experience" as a verb---it should only be followed by Gerunds, not Infinitives.
I think in Japanese schools teachers are the authority figure and the students just work. They don't interact and talk and ask questions. That's the difference, I believe.
When I first attended this seminar, I was surprised to see the huge gap between foreign teachers' attitudes and those of Japanese teachers.
To me treating "attitudes" as plural here sounds better, but either is okay. If you use singular you are implying that all of the foreign teachers think the same and all of the Japanese teachers think the same. If you use plural it can still mean that, but it also allows for some differences.
That's why most Japanese people are not accustomed to giving their opinion in public.
It's almost impossible to say that all of the foreign teachers think the same and all of the Japanese teachers think the same, so it should be plural.
Thank you for your good advice.