Japan: 'No English, no job'

英语将成日企官方语言

In a bid to plug dwindling domestic consumption by tapping into overseas markets, some of Japan's big-name retailers are telling their employees to start speaking English - or find another job, Reuters reported. Rakuten, Japan's biggest online retailer, plans to make English the firm's official language. Employees at Rakuten will need to master English by 2012 to avoid facing the sack. "No English, no job," Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani told the Asahi newspaper.

据路透社报道，为了拓展海外市场，以便应对国内消费的萎缩，部分大型日本零售商开始强令雇员学习英语，否则就必须另谋高就。日本最大的网络零售商乐天公司准备将公司的官方语言换成英语。乐天雇员需要在2012年前掌握英语，以避免被开除的命运。乐天首席执行官三木谷浩史对《朝日新闻》说："不会英语，就失业吧！"

*以上新闻由ChinaDaily双语手机报提供