Japan should use its opportunity as 2020 Olympics host to bolster English proficiency amid figures showing a worsening trend, says the Japan president of the official English language-training supplier for next year's Rio Games.
Junnosuke Nakamura, who heads local operations for Swedish firm EF Education First, which also ran English training for volunteers and officials at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, said despite recent reform efforts, English competency in Japan has not markedly advanced.
"Japanese people need to improve their English to welcome more people from outside, attract more people from outside," he said in a recent interview at EF's Tokyo office in Shibuya Ward.
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