[lmm]

There is a very strong economic incentive to do well on university entrance exams - they pretty much determine the course of a Japanese person's life - and thus both schools and outside tutoring focus on teaching students to score well on the English section of those exams, to the exclusion of learning to understand or speak English.

Similarly, it can be beneficial to one's someone's career to get a high score on TOEIC, so adult classes prioritise teaching people to get high scores on TOEIC. The "education" system is extremely well aligned with the economic incentives.

[skhr0680]

That is exactly what I meant by Galapagos syndrome. I should have written external(= business conducted in English) economic incentive.

The elephant in the room is that 6/12 years school here are focused on rote remembering for the next entrance exam rather than learning.

[lmm]

Meh. Poor priority in schooling and teaching to the test are hardly unique to Japan.

[skhr0680]

"Other countries have problems too"

OK, let's just give up trying to improve then.

[lmm]

"Japan has the exact same problem as many other countries. This is a perfect example of Galapagos syndrome"