Gov't to enhance language education for non-Japanese to ease conflicts

[dk]

Gov't to enhance language education for non-Japanese to ease conflicts
TOKYO — Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs has decided to strengthen measures to help foreign residents learn Japanese, and plans to boost the number of language coordinators in local communities, agency officials said Wednesday.

The agency has begun studying concrete measures at the Japanese language education subcommittee set up within its Council for Cultural Affairs, eyeing to implement them in fiscal 2009, starting in April 2009.

An increase in foreign residents in Japan has heightened conflicts between some foreigners and local Japanese people, primarily due to the lack of language skills among foreign residents, according to the officials.

Foreign residents tend to become isolated or fail to follow the rules set out by local municipalities such as rules on garbage disposal, they said.

The language coordinators are likely to engage in activities such as providing teaching skills to language instructors, encouraging companies where foreign residents work to provide opportunities to learn Japanese, as well as offering consultation about daily life.
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/415242

This REALLY makes me happy. I wonder how long it'll take Okinawa to get with the program. For one thing, it'd help a lot of us foreigners get motivated to pick up the language, and for another, personally, it'd make me feel at least a little more welcome rather than just tolerated.

I love it.

:thumbup:

I'm really looking forward to watching this develop. Hopefully something positive will come from it.

[DoctorP]

I don't really like the idea...mainly because it tells me that foreigners who move here to live are too damn lazy to learn the language!

[dk]

I don't get it. If they took the innitiative to enroll in one of these courses, I'm pretty sure that that would show the opposite of lazyness. Sure, they can enroll in any one of dozens of private courses already available, but this at least puts out a welcome mat in my opinion.

[DoctorP]

My point is...that by them doing this it is proving that the people already here are just too damn lazy to learn.

The program itself I really don't have a problem with, but I think it will be wasted money. (this is not in reference to the military community and the "temporary residents" it creates) Let's say you have 10,000 foreigners living here, I don't see more than say 400 taking the classes. To me that would be a lot of money wasted. But then I have always been one to say that if you want to live in a country, then you should at least learn the language!

Add to that the ones working as English teachers are usually encouraged NOT to learn the language by their employers.

[socalheart]

I know my father wouldn't have taken the course. My mom and stepfather might, if they have time and it's free.

[dk]

I'd positively take the course if I were sent a little flyer with dates and times. I always feel bad about how much my Japanese sucks. It's one amongst a dozen things I need to learn.