how much english do japanese speak?

i dont mean to be rude in anyway. but i would like to know if it is true that english is tought at most japanese schools and i would as like to know how much english do most japanese people speak?

Japanese people are thought in school english true, however it is mainly written english, rather then spoken english. Speaking to many japanese people myself, many forget after school, (for example you learn algebra in school, but who really remembers the algebra now if you don't use it every day or as much).

Sometimes they know but don't want to say something because they are afraid they might say it incorrectly, again I can understand this too.

So it depends on who you run into really.

Although they are taught at English at school, they are not taught for communication purposes, so all most people retain is some vocab and grammar rules.

Older people tend to have very little English at all, younger people will remember some of what they learned at school but it tends to be very broken.

Then you have the people who have lived/ travelled extensively overseas, or have put a lot of effort into studying and practicing here in Japan who actually speak English well, but they are in the minority.

Generally you cannot just walk up to someone in Japan and start speaking in English and have them understand you, although many will try to help if you are friendly and use simple words to explain what you want.

thank you both very much for your comments i now understand this subjsct a little better. thank you again.