Japan is known for its poor English-speaking ability even though six years of study are required in middle and high school.(Agencies)
It's eight in the morning in a Tokyo office building, and a dozen middle-aged Japanese businessmen sit inside small booths, sweating as they try to talk English to the instructors in front of them.
"I hope my wife will understand my hobby," one 40-something man says, opening his mouth widely around the English words.
He is one of legions of Japanese businessmen, or "salarymen," struggling with a language they thought they had left behind them in school as fears mount that the growing push by Japanese companies into overseas business will mean a dark future for them without usable English.
This is especially true these days, with the strong yen and a lagging domestic market prompting more firms to look overseas for business opportunities essential for their bottom lines.
"I had a business trip to Amsterdam last year and that really was tough. My boss spoke no English, and I had to speak English for the first time in 10 years," said Masahide Tachibana, a 39-year-old software developer.
Tachibana now gets up at 5:00 a.m. to take morning lessons at a central Tokyo branch of Gaba, an English language school.
"I've always wanted to brush up my English and that business trip ignited my aspirations," said Tachibana, as around him other businessmen and women pack up and hurry to work after their 45-minute, one-on-one lessons.
Japan, despite being the world's third-largest economy and a major export powerhouse, is known for its poor English-speaking ability even though six years of study are required in middle and high school.
The country's average score on the TOEFL iBT, a computer-based test of English as a foreign language, in 2010 ranked 27th among 30 Asian countries, below Mongolia and Turkmenistan.
Only 9 percent of 1,156 white-collar workers surveyed by Recruit Agent, a recruiting firm, claim to be able to communicate in English. Many respondents evaluated their speaking and listening aptitude as "Barely."
But things are starting to change, prompted by a growing sense of urgency about employment.
As a result, Japan's foreign language education market is growing, with learners more than willing to fork out plenty of money on lessons, DVDs or e-learning.
早晨八点，东京的一座写字楼里，12名中年日本商人坐在小隔间里，费力地尝试与对面的老师用英语交谈。
一位四十岁左右的男士张大嘴巴说着英语：“我希望妻子理解我的爱好。”
像他这样的众多职员，也称为“工薪族”早就把在校学习的英语课程遗忘了，所以正奋力重拾英语。因为他们担心，随着日本公司开拓海外市场的步伐加快，如果不能熟练使用英语，职业前景会一片黯淡。
这就是日本当今的真实写照。由于日元走势强劲，同时日本国内市场疲软，更多的公司转向海外市场寻找机会，这对其赢利很关键。
39岁的软件开发商立花正英说：“我去年去阿姆斯特丹出了趟差，感觉很困难。我的老板不会说英语，我也有10年没开口说过英文了。”
立花正英现在每天早晨5点起床，去参加Gaba英语培训学校东京中心分部的早间课程。
他说：“我一直想提高英语水平，那次出差激发了我的学习欲望。”在他周围，很多其他的商业职员在上完45分钟的一对一课程后，正收拾东西赶去上班。
日本虽然是全球第三大经济体，也是主要的出口国，而且中学阶段需要学习6年英语，但国民英语水平之差却是尽人皆知。
日本2010年的新托福考试成绩在30个亚洲国家中排名第27，还不及蒙古和土库曼斯坦。新托福考试采用机考模式，是针对非英语国家的英语水平测试。
根据招聘公司“招聘中介”的调查，在1156名日本白领受访者中，仅有9%自称可以用英语交流。很多受访者认为自己的英文听说能力“几乎为零”。
但由于职业需求的紧迫性，这一情况已开始有所改观。
因此，日本的外语培训市场逐渐兴盛，学习者十分乐意掏腰包就读英语学习课程，购买英语学习光碟，或付费参加网络课堂。
booth: a small, often enclosed compartment, usually accommodating only one person（隔开的小房间）
legion: a large number; a multitude（众多，大量）
bottom line: the last line of a financial statement that shows the net profit or loss of a company or organization（账本底线，账本盈亏结算线）
brush up：to renew a skill（复习，提高）
fork out: slang to pay (money, goods, etc.), esp with reluctance（支付）