Regarding T. Mamoru Hanami's Nov. 29 letter, "Why pay just to learn to read?" (which was a reply to Shoko Tana's Nov. 26 letter, "Learning English to read a text"): First, I would like to point out to Hanami that very few Japanese need English for oral communication. The rare occasion would be an encounter with a lost tourist asking directions to Akihabara. And even that can be answered with a little body language and Japanese kindness.
Second, Tana stated that although communication is an important skill outside of Japan, English is taught in Japan for the purpose of reading and understanding texts and that a textbook, whether written by a native English-language speaker or a Japanese speaker of English, is only a tool.
Where is Tana wrong? Maybe Hanami needs to read Tana's text a little more carefully before replying.