New Elementary School English Program For Japanese Students

[Niyusu]

From the Japan Times:

Poor English skills and coordination with visiting English speakers are just two of the problems worrying elementary school teachers as the government's two-year transition period to inaugurate weekly classes in the English language for Japanese elementary school students begins next month.

The new classes, officially titled Foreign Language Activities but more commonly referred to as English activities, officially kick off in April 2011 for fifth- and sixth-graders, or 10- to 12-year-olds, requiring schools to run 35 periods a year.

Full article: Elementary school English in Japan: Ready or not | Japan Times

Note: There is a related article on the same page called "Businesses step up with learning tools to cash in on new language needs" which may be of interest to some English teachers in Japan.

[burkhartdesu]

This isn't that strange, maybe it's for the best.


Here in Anchorage we have full blown immersion programs where kids are integrated with Japanese starting at grade 2.

I actually participated in a Japanese speech competition where I was beat out by a 5th grader who gave a speech (in Japanese, of course) about the moons of Saturn and the gases that surround them.


He even had a powerpoint, that little bastard.