An interview with Ryo Tateishi, a student at Stanford Graduate School of Business, on exam English versus real-world English, his journey to studying abroad, and the mindset he has developed through practical experience.
立石 亮 Ryo Tateishi
Born in 1985. After graduating from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo, he joined Mitsubishi Corporation in 2010. Following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, while working in the shipping business, he also continued volunteering in Ishinomaki on a personal basis. In 2012, he transferred to the Environment and CSR Promotion Department’s Reconstruction Support Team, where he was mainly responsible for investment and financing projects for small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs in the affected areas, as well as a winery project in Fukushima as part of agricultural support. He is currently enrolled in the MBA program at Stanford Graduate School of Business, focusing his studies on “new forms of social value created by corporations.”
Ryo Tateishi is currently studying at Stanford Business School as a company-sponsored student from Mitsubishi Corporation. He arrived in the U.S. in June 2016, beginning with two months in an English program before formally joining the MBA program.
Ryo’s first exposure to English was in junior high school, where he approached it like any other subject. He was academically capable, consistently scoring high on tests, but had no strong emotional connection to the language. He recalls one elective speaking class where, despite excelling in written exams, he realized other students could speak more fluently—a puzzling discovery that left an impression.
Throughout middle and high school, Ryo mastered grammar and test-based English, describing his learning as “a beautiful passive process.” He diligently completed every task, scoring highly without engaging deeply in communication in English. His life revolved around balancing soccer with study, following a strict daily routine. While this earned him recognition and pride, he later came to question this “railroaded” approach to life.
During exam preparation, Ryo was driven by a fear of mistakes or gaps in knowledge. He consistently achieved top results, scoring near perfect marks on university entrance exams. This wasn’t fueled by passion for English itself, but rather by satisfaction in completing every requirement flawlessly and maintaining his standing among peers.
At the University of Tokyo, Ryo devoted himself almost entirely to rowing, aiming to become Japan’s best. Academic work, including English, was treated as a minimum requirement. Although English was set aside, he occasionally felt a vague longing for study abroad and spoke about it with study abroad consultants or professors. Still, rowing remained his sole focus—until he faced a major setback when he failed to win the national title.
After graduation, Ryo joined Mitsubishi Corporation and was assigned to a shipping-related division where English was essential. His TOEIC score rose to 945, nearly perfect, but he quickly realized this meant little in practice. He struggled with phone calls and relied on his boss to correct his emails. His boss bluntly told him, “Your TOEIC is meaningless,” a comment that became a turning point in how he viewed his English abilities.
Determined to improve, Ryo tried many methods: English conversation schools, reference books, and self-study. Despite his efforts, the results were minimal—at best, his emails became slightly smoother. After two years, he transferred to a domestic CSR department, where English was no longer required. Immersed in disaster relief projects in Tohoku, English faded again from his daily life.
Ryo realized that his long-held but unfulfilled desire to study abroad resurfaced while working in disaster recovery projects. He became interested in the intersection of business and social contribution—a field already advanced in the West. Recognizing the importance of linking social value to core business practices, he decided that a business school abroad would be the best place to learn.
Balancing full-time work with study, Ryo began preparing for business school. The process involved three main hurdles: exams (TOEFL and GMAT), application essays, and interviews. He invested heavily in test prep through books and prep schools, eventually improving his scores over about two years, with nine to ten months of intensive study.
Despite strong reading and listening skills from earlier training, Ryo struggled significantly with writing and speaking. His TOEFL speaking scores were especially low, and writing remained difficult despite tutors and reference books. Only after entering graduate school, through repeated writing assignments, did his output begin to improve. He realized that immersion in an English-speaking environment was essential for real growth.
In Japan, he had been overly focused on grammatical correctness, which disrupted his speaking flow. In the U.S., he gradually shifted his mindset: speaking confidently even with mistakes, paraphrasing when necessary, and prioritizing communication over perfection. This change allowed him to speak more fluidly and effectively.
Ryo compared American classroom participation to “tamaire” (a Japanese ball toss game). In the U.S., contributions—no matter how imperfect—are valued, while Japan tends toward a subtractive, error-focused approach. Accepting this “additive” mindset helped him overcome anxiety about speaking up and taught him to focus on making contributions rather than avoiding mistakes.
Even after moving to the U.S., listening remained a major challenge. Everyday phrases, cultural nuances, and discipline-specific vocabulary often caught him off guard. He shared examples like Starbucks’ “Room for cream?” as moments of confusion. Yet, he adopted a mindset of pressing forward despite not understanding everything, treating it as part of the learning process.
Having adjusted to the “rules of the game,” Ryo’s next goal is to move beyond simply keeping up with others. He hopes to contribute uniquely as a Japanese professional in an American academic and business environment. His focus has shifted from catching up to creating and adding new value, marking the next stage of his ongoing learning journey.
