Japolish Tips: Common Mistakes by Japanese Speakers of English

Written English

Omission of articles: Missing articles are the most easily recognizable mistakes in English texts written by Japanese speakers. Most of the mistakes pertain to the use of definite articles.

There are two main problems that make it difficult for Japanese speakers to master the use of definite articles:

1.       the Japanese language lacks an article system; therefore, the speakers lack a point of reference and the rules for using the definite article are not concretely defined.

2.       In fact, the use of definite articles seems to be one of those skills that native speakers acquire almost unconsciously.

Nonnative: We interviewed 15 children with brown for our study. Children were divided into two groups on the basis of weight and height.

Native: We interviewed 15 children with brown eyes for our study. The children were divided into two groups on the basis of weight and height.

Because this skill is acquired almost unconsciously by native speakers, it requires the non-native to really think about this skill.

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