Still an English Developing Country: Japan's English Problem, Its Real Limits, and the Isolation of Japanese Engineers
TL;DR In the EF English Proficiency Index 2025, Japan ranked 96th out of 123 countries, in the lowest "very low proficiency" band. Japan's weakest skills are writing and speaking, the exact skills engineers need to take part in global communities. In Japan, simply "being able to speak English" is still a status symbol. That alone says we are an English developing country. The result is isolation.…
The EF English Proficiency Index 2025 reveals that Japan ranks 96th out of 123 countries, placing it in the "very low proficiency" category. This ranking highlights Japan's weakest skills in writing and speaking, skills crucial for engineers to engage with global communities. The fact that merely speaking English is still viewed as a status symbol in Japan underscores that the nation remains an "English developing country" rather than an English proficient one.
This disparity results in a significant isolation for Japanese engineers, who despite having strong reading skills, struggle with writing and speaking English, essential components in global technical discourse. The ranking, based on 2.2 million test takers across 123 nations, shows Japan's scores falling consistently over the years, despite being ranked 14th in the first edition in 2011.
The use of English as a status symbol in Japan, manifested in job listings and business practices, further cements the notion of an English-developing society rather than a developing economy. The structural limitations, including linguistic differences, exam-focused education, limited practical use, and fear of mistakes, contribute to this isolation.
These factors particularly affect Japanese engineers, who excel in producing technical content in Japanese but struggle to participate in global online communities where written English is the primary means of communication. This one-way flow of knowledge—Japan consuming global engineering knowledge without reciprocating—creates a situation where Japan's engineers are effectively invisible in the global conversation.
However, the tide may be turning as Japan's participation in Horizon Europe in 2026 opens opportunities for leading EU-funded projects, requiring English for proposal writing, meetings, and negotiations. Moreover, the rise of AI tools that facilitate English communication could be leveraged to bridge the language gap, provided engineers use these tools to enhance—not replace—their English skills.
By treating English as a necessary tool rather than a status symbol, and starting with small, imperfect English outputs, Japanese engineers can start to break free from their isolation and contribute meaningfully to global engineering communities.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
