The Latest News in ELT

November 2004

Trip to Japan Enriches Teacher's Curriculum
A regional US news site reported yesterday on a local primary school teacher who spent three weeks in Japan last month as a guest of the Japan Fulbright Memorial Teacher Fund. Sarah Shivler wowed her first-grade students with stories of Mt. Fuji and Japanese classrooms. She brought many souvenirs back to her Springfield, Missouri school, including a "koi-nobori" carp streamer that stretched almost the entire length of the classroom. She found that Japanese schools were not as high-tech as she might have imagined: "Their schools are not high-tech at all," she said. "They have computer labs, but it's not like they have computers in every classroom."
Trip to Japan enriches teacher's curriculum (November 30, 2004 )

You Say Mombai, I Say Bombay
India is a rapidly growing presence, both economically and as a major English-speaking country. So confusion over just what to call some of the country's major cities is a problem that is becoming increasingly common in the classroom. Malaysian news site The Star looks at the background to recent names changes that have given us familiar cities with less familiar names, such as Mumbai (Bombay), Kolkata (Calcutta) and Chennai (Madras). The city of Cochin was renamed Kochi, though "administrators at the Cochin University of Science and Technology kept the old name because they feared the school could be confused with Japan's Kochi University." The article also looks at some other examples worldwide of names that have been changed from the anglophone pronunciation of colonial times.
Bombay or Mumbai, the name debate goes on ()

What's Your Opinion?
In his latest Indirectly Speaking column in the Daily Yomiuri, Mike Guest writes about the assumption that Japanese students need to be made to express their opinions in the language classroom. Many teachers have what he refers to as "the missionary instinct", making the assumption that their students are naive and need to be taught about important issues in the world outside. he believes that "debate and discussion classes are an essential part of language training but not if a lesson consists of the teacher and learners merely talking about a controversial topic for an hour." Guest offers some practical ideas on how to make the most of debate and discussion in class as well as some pitfalls to avoid.
The debate about opinions (link will expire) (November 29, 2004 )

Splendour in the Grass
Asahi.com reported recently on the growing popularity of grass lawns at elementary and junior high schools nationwide. The appeal of the "green carpet" goes without saying for people from most western countries. But for students in Japan, where playgrounds are usually dirt or artificially surfaced, the experience of running and playing on grass is liberating. Schools are finding that more students take part in sports such as soccer and baseball, given the reduced chances of injury. The education ministry is providing financial support for schools that spend ¥20-90 million to lay 300 square meters or more of turf, an offer taken up by some 266 schools between 1997 and 2003. Including those privately run, about 1100 schools or 3% of the total nationwide, have a grass area for their students. ()

More Teachers Turning to Unions
In his latest Japan Times article on ELT in Japan, Tony Nichol writes about teachers' involvement with unions. He begins with the question: What would you do if you were sacked for "clicking your pen too much in class," or for "talking to yourself during your break"...or how about for "only eating the topping on your rice during lunch?" These are some of the arbitrary reasons given by schools when firing teachers, according to the National Union of General Workers. The union represents several hundred teachers in and around Tokyo and receives 20 or so e-mails from teachers every day. A recent protest took place outside the main Nova school in Shinjuku, after the school let 5 experienced teachers go, allegedly because of their union activities. But according to an official of a union in the Kansai region, following recent court victories it is the small schools that cause the most problems.
Class action (November 26, 2004 )

World Moving From English to 'Hinglish'?
Noted linguist and author of over 50 books on the English language, David Crystal has predicted that the most common form of English spoken globally will be Indian English. In a recent article in The Times of India he talked about the future growth of 'Hinglish,' already spoken as a second language by some 350 million people in the subcontinent - more than the combined population of the US and UK. "Already, a third of Indians are speaking the language, a percentage expected to rise in coming years. With the internet spreading English like no tool ever, and Indians at the forefront of the IT revolution, Indian English will reach around the globe and take over from British and American forms." Crystal predicted, "I believe the mother tongue countries have had their day. It is now the turn of the countries where English is spoken as a second language to take the lead." On another subject of concern, Crystal spoke of the alarming rate at which minority languages are dying out worldwide. "Linguistic diversity preserves the mental health of the planet, and every time a language dies, we lose a vision of the world. To be left with one or two languages would spell intellectual disaster. A language is dying every two weeks somewhere in the world today. Half the world’s languages will no longer be spoken in another century. This is an extremely serious concern, and English has to share the blame."
ELT News interview with David Crystal (November 25, 2004 )

Can You Say That in Nushu?
Nushu, probably the world's only female-specific language, has lost its most capable speaker, according to an article in the China Daily. Chinese linguists say Yang Huanyi was the last woman to possess a genuine knowledge of a 400-year-old tradition in which women shared their innermost feelings with female friends in a way incomprehensible to men.
Female-only language loses master speaker (November 24, 2004 )

Those Cunning Koreans
Police in South Korea are looking into an alleged conspiracy by students to cheat at exams using mobile phones. The students were taking the national exam for entrance to university - taken by all applicants, for both public and private universities - in the southern city of Gwangju last Wednesday. Students who were strong in certain subjects answered questions and then used their phones to pass them by text message to third parties outside the test area. They in turn passed them on to other test takers. It is believed that up to 100 students were involved and that "brokers" were charging the equivalent of about ¥30,000 per subject. Students under investigation have admitted using the system and paying the fees. Rumors of the cheating (or "kanningu" in Japanese), were circulating before the tests, but checks for phones have been criticized as being too lax. ()

I Want My NTT!
A little glimpse into the minds of your students: according to the Daily Yomiuri, what children want most is...cell phones. A recent survey by toymaker Bandai of 2,000 randomly selected parents with children aged up to 12 showed that two-thirds (65.5%) chose a cell phone as the item their kids wanted most. Second was cosmetics (14.5%) and keys (10.1%).
Survey finds cell phones kids' most-wanted item ()

National Holiday
Today is the Kinrou Kansha no Hi (Labor Thanksgiving Day) national holiday (November 23, 2004 )

Inaugural "Think Tank Live" a Great Success
There was a very good turnout for the first ever "live" version of the popular ELT News Think Tank panel discussion, held on Saturday evening at the annual JALT conference in Nara. It was standing room only as over 200 teachers came to see all three plenary speakers - Stephen Krashen, Mike McCarthy and Susan Barduhn - join regular contributors Peter Viney and Marc Helgesen in a lively and entertaining discussion. They discussed a wide range of topics under the umbrella theme of "5 things I wish I'd known when I started teaching." Microphone problems aside, Susan as moderator was able to keep the panel and the 70-minute event on track, and ably administered a 15-minute session of questions from the audience. The JALT conference has its final series of events today. For a synopsis of the topics shortlisted by the panel members, see this month's Think Tank feature.
5 things I wish I'd known when I started teaching. (November 22, 2004 )

ERF Award Winners Announced
At the end of the Think Tank live event at the JALT national conference, Extensive Reading Foundation board member Marc Helgesen and vice-chair Junko Yamanaka announced the winners of the ERF's first ever Language Learner Literature Awards. Awards were presented for the following readers: The Kindest Family retold by Krista Bell, published by Thomson Learning; Mtikazi's Mistake by Nola Turkington and A Kiss Before Dying by Ira Levin, both published by Macmillan; Jojo's Story by Antoinette Moses, published by Cambridge University Press; Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres, published by Pearson Education; and Cry Freedom by John Briley, published by Oxford University Press. Representatives from the publishers were on hand to collect the awards.
Extensive Reading Foundation ()

Mongolian Wants to Teach English to Repay Kindness
The Daily Yomiuri reported on Saturday about Mongolian Baatareeel Choijin, who is to start an English class for children in earthquake-stricken Niigata prefecture. Togother with his wife, who was an English teacher in their home country, the 37-year old has offered to do English classes every evening at the Nagaoka Ote High School, where they and their 12-year old daughter were evacuated. He was working as a coordinator for international relations, as well as assisting in math classes in a local primary school, in the village of Yamakoshimura when the earthquakes struck last month. He says he developed an even closer relationship with villagers in the evacuation center and wants to return their kindness until he and his family go home next March. ()

Firms Test Mobile Eikaiwa
Tokyo Broadcasting System has teamed up with Hakuhodo, Japan's number two advertising agency, to test terrestrial digital broadcasting to specially equipped mobile phones. One example of the type of original content the companies envisage broadcasting is TBS's English conversation study programs. Viewers would then be able to buy related study materials simply by pressing a button on their phones. Such digital services for portable devices are not expected to start operating until next year or later. (November 19, 2004 )

New Program for Japanese in U.S.
A local news site in Alabama ran an article yesterday on a new language program for foreigners beginning at Jacksonville State University that will start with 30 Japanese students. "The JSU Language Institute as it'll be called aims to build the English skills of students who want to study in the United States but who haven't scored well enough on a language test to be admitted. After completing the program, they'll enroll as regular JSU students." Though the original aim of the program was to deal with a growing Hispanic population in the region, it will begin with the Japanese students. The university has contracted with a private firm in Japan to recruit the students.
JSU to launch language program with Japanese students ()

The Earlier the Better for English Learners?
The asahi.com web site carried a couple of opinion pieces by influential academics on the topic of introducing young Japanese children to English language education. One was by Yukio Otsu, a professor at Keio University's Institute of Cultural and Linguistics Studies, where he specializes in the cognitive science of language, and a director at the English Linguistic Society of Japan. He cautions against what he sees as a rush towards introducing English into the elementary school curriculum without sufficient planning or hard evidence to support it. He also cites the problems experienced by teachers whose own weak English skills prevent them from teaching the language effectively. He calls for less emphasis in general on games and everyday conversation - what he calls "superficial English skills" - and more emphasis on understanding the fundamentals of language.

The other piece was by Mineo Nakajima, president of Akita International University, a specialist in international sociology, former president of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, and currently a member of the Central Council of Education. He says now is the time to introduce English to younger learners, or the move "will be pushed back by another decade or more." His emphasis is on the need for English in an increasingly globalized society. To counteract what some perceive as a threat to cultural identity, he suggests teaching about Japanese as well as foreign cultures through English. He also sees a need to revamp the whole approach to English education from elementary school through college.
Yukio Otsu: 'Sooner' is not 'better' for English education
Mineo Nakajima:Globally speaking, Japan needs English for tots (November 18, 2004 )

Profits Up at Benesse
The Benesse group, whose businesses include Berlitz and is a major publisher of English-language materials, recently announced a healthy profit gain over last year. Sales for the first half of this fiscal year were ¥140.9 billion and profits were up 21%. Sales of English-language materials and related merchandise for younger children, as well as practice exams geared toward high school students, helped boost overall profits. Education-related operations in general saw sales up by 13%. Correspondence courses saw a 4.6% increase in enrollment, primarily in the elementary and junior high school age groups, thanks to its advertising efforts and the introduction of educational materials for different academic levels. But Benesse's foreign-language operations posted a 2% decline in sales due to a slowdown in Japan. (November 17, 2004 )

Sleep Disorder Retards Childhood Cognition
Research presented at Tokyo University on Monday strongly links sleep disorders and other causes of oxygen deficiency in the bodies of children with stunted mental and physical development. Dr. Bernard Kinane, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, presented a study of four decades of research into hypoxia, a deficiency of oxygen reaching the tissues of the body, as well as conditions with a similar effect, such as sleep apnea and congenital heart disease. The results showed that 71% of those under 14 suffered delayed development of IQ or academic ability, 60% had growth problems, and 72% had less than usual mobility.
The Effect of Chronic or Intermittent Hypoxia on Cognition in Childhood ()

We Can Get Teachers Cheaper!
The asahi.com site yesterday reported on a development in Hokkaido that will see more eikaiwa schools providing ALTs to schools in the area. The impetus behind the move is local municipalities' lack of budget to cover the cost of bringing in teachers on the JET Program, which incurs costs by going through the central government. Tatsuya Sekitou, who runs a conversation school in Takikawa city, heard in spring of last year from a colleague at the municipal office that they were faced with having to stop hiring ALTs due to budget restraints. Sekitou teamed up with 10 other schools in 7 cities throughout Hokkaido to form a limited company this summer.

The cost of hiring a JET comes to about ¥6 million a year, including airfare, salary, accommodation and insurance. the new company has secured cheaper air tickets and can provide an ALT for about ¥4.5-4.8 million a year. Some 123 municipalities in Hokkaido make use of the JET Program, and so far 10 or so have expressed an interest in the new service. The number of JETs is already slightly on the decline, after peaking in 2002.
Story in Japanese (November 16, 2004 )

Preschool English Immersion Beneficial
Friday's Daily Yomiuri carried the latest Practical Linguist column by Marshall R. Childs, in which he looked at the effectiveness of pre-school immersion programs. Following up on an earlier article, he addressed the questions of whether bilingualism confuses children's minds or dilutes their Japanese identity, and the long-term effects of early immersion. In particular, he looked at the results achieved at the Katoh Gakuen immersion program in Numazu, Shizuoka Prefecture. Among the perceived benefits are obvious ones such as a solid base in hearing and speaking English; a head start in international awareness; and a broader outlook on life. He also cites a claim that students even have an advantage in learning their first language, contrary to what is believed by many Japanese academics.
Preschool English immersion beneficial (link will expire) (November 15, 2004 )

Ota Aims For 20-student Classes
The city of Ota in Gunma prefecture plans to have an average junior high school English class size of 20 students from next April. The city, one of the first zones to be granted special deregulatory status by the government, plans to use citizens with teaching experience or municipal workers with teaching licences to reduce the teacher-pupil ratio at all public elementary and middle schools. It is hoped that academic levels will rise and truancy will fall as a result. The change will affect Japanese and math classes in the first six grades and also English from the 7th grade. The city estimates a cost of about ¥200 million for the plan, which will add 98 teachers to the payroll. The plan coincides with the merger of the city with several others in March, which will also facilitate reorganizing teacher distribution. ()

U.S. Hosts Fewer Foreign Students
The number of foreign students enrolled in American colleges and universities dropped by 2.4% in 2003-2004 to 572,509, the first decrease in more than 30 years, according to a report by the Institute of International Education. The reasons for the falloff included stricter U.S. visa policies since the Sept. 11, 2001, attack, a perception that the United States is no longer as welcoming to overseas students and increased competition from foreign universities. Yet some universities appear to be bucking the trend.

For the third consecutive year, the University of Southern California was the top U.S. university for foreign students, according to the study by the New York-based Institute of International Education. In 2003-04, the university enrolled 6,647 foreign students, up 6 percent from the year before, the study showed. That figure, which included graduate and undergraduate students and those in the English-language program, represented 21 percent of USC's student population. The institute's report showed that India remains the top country of origin for foreign students in the United States, followed by China, Korea and Japan. (November 12, 2004 )

Shorter Summer for Some Tokyo Students
Students at the 24 junior high schools in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward will see their summer vacation cut by one week from next year as part of the ward's plan to make up classroom hours lost as a result of the introduction of the five-day school week, according to ward officials.

The Katsushika Ward Board of Education said it also plans to shorten the summer vacation period for primary schools beginning April 1, 2006. With the nationwide introduction of a five-day school week in 2002, classes are no longer offered on Saturdays, resulting in a loss of about 70 classroom hours from about 1,050 classroom hours per year before the new policy. The board has installed air conditioners in all middle schools in the ward in preparation for summer classes. (Kyodo News) (November 11, 2004 )

Phonics Coming Back Down Under
An editorial in today's Sydney Morning Herald looks at yet another debate between the phonics and whole-language approaches to teaching reading to young children down under:

The way primary schoolchildren are being taught to read has re-emerged as a political issue with the federal Education Minister, Brendan Nelson, asserting that it is a federal, not a state, matter. Two decades after Australian schools largely adopted the so-called whole language approach to teaching, proponents of the older method - phonics - have convinced the Government that the old ways are best. Dr Nelson has announced a national inquiry into literacy in primary schools. The inquiry follows warnings last April from 26 academics that the recent popularity of the whole language teaching approach to reading was ineffective for some children.
Two readings better than one (half way down the page) ()

GABA to Expand into Kansai
GABA, which specializes in "man-to-man" English conversation lessons mainly in and around Tokyo, is to open its first "language studio" in the Kansai region. The new school will be in the Umeda district of Osaka on January 5. It will be located on the 10th floor of the Dai-ni Yoshimoto Building, in the recently opened Hilton Plaza West business complex. The area is full of hotels, convention centers, offices and other businesses that make it an ideal location for GABA's style of school. The company's core market is women in their 20s and 30s and business people in general.

CEO Chutatsu Aono said, "Opening in Osaka and the Kansai region, an international center with a high need for English conversation is an important first step in GABA's nationwide expansion. I'm confident GABA can provide satisfaction to our Kansai clients, who value personal communication above all else and recognize true quality." The company was established in 1995 and currently operates 25 schools in Tokyo and Kanagawa. (November 10, 2004 )

Future Science Grads Need English
Yesterday's Daily Yomiuri carried a feature on the growing need for Japanese university science majors to master English. It illustrates the situation using one case where students at Kwansei Gakuin University were overwhelmed during a videoconference with students in the U.S., even though English was a second language for those students, too. The situation took place during a recent five-day, all-English study camp. It is hoped that the difficulties students face will help them make the most of their regualr English classes and prepare for the reality of making presentations and writing papers in English in future. The popular Kansai school believes it has achieved measurable results, as seen in improved TOEFL scores.
Science majors need English ()

Love Him, Hate Him, You Can't Ignore Him
A San Francisco news site reported on the reaction of local artists to the re-election of Ppresident Bush. Author and independent journalist Mark Hertsgaard, whose most recent book is "The Eagle's Shadow: Why America Fascinates and Infuriates the World" had this to say:

"I was just at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October, partly at the invitation of the German newsweekly Der Spiegel, to do a panel about the U.S. election but also to meet with my U.S. and foreign publishers about my next book project," he said. "The working title is, 'Does the Future Speak English: How the American Language Took Over the World and Where It's Taking Us.' "I haven't had time yet to think about how Bush's victory might affect the book, but I can tell you that without exception every foreigner with whom I spoke yearned for Bush's defeat." ()

Wired For Words
According to an article in the magazine Nature, sending a minute electrical current across the front of the head can increase verbal skills. In research carried out at the US National Institutes of Health, volunteers were asked to name as many words as they could starting with a given letter in 90 seconds. Most people get around 20 words, but with a tiny current of two thousandths of an amp applied for 20 minutes, test subjects were able to name about 20% more words than controls. A smaller current of one thousandth of an amp had no effect. It is specualted that the stimulus to the prefrontal cortex, where word generation takes place, alters brain cells and makes them more active. No mention is made of any potential implications for education. Rather, the results may be a viable alternative to the risky use of magnetic fields in the treatment of patients with diseases such as frontal temporal dementia. (Photo © Getty)
Electric currents boost brain power (November 09, 2004 )

The Bilingual Language Specialist
Saturday's Japan Times carried a profile of anguage pathologist Marsha Rosenberg, who worked as an English teacher when she and her husband originally came to Japan 20 years ago. After three years, they left for Cleveland in the U.S. and Rosenberg got her masters in speech and language pathology. After several years of teaching at schools, they returned to Japan. Through her experience of raising her own children in English and Japanese, working as a speech and language pathologist at the nursery kindergarten of the American School in Japan, and at Nishimachi International School, she became a bilingual language specialist. She also became aware of different traps and the language confusion suffered by some children. "A variety of things can happen," she said. "Some children take a little bit longer to develop both languages. Some are not sure which language they are speaking. Each child is an individual, with a different background and personality, with many factors that have to be taken into account. I set up workshops for parents and teachers, helping them understand that bilingualism doesn't always happen naturally."
Personality Profile ()

eigoTown Launches New Online Translation System
eigoTown.com Ltd, parent company of ELT News, recently launched a new online translation service. With editors and translators in 16 countries, eigoyaOnline can offer 24/7 service 365 days a year. With turnaround times starting at 6 hours, setting up a translation and editing account is free and can vastly improve the way you or your company handles translation and English editing.

International clients include: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Fidelity Investment Management, PricewaterhouseCoopers, ING Life Insurance, JPMorgan, Standard Chartered, Samsung Electronics, EMI Music, Glaxo SmithKline and many more. If your company or a company you know has translation, editing or proofreading needs, please contact Hiroshi Hirata to arrange a demonstration (in English or Japanese) of the eigoyaOnline system (Tel: 03-3770-8103).
eigoyaOnline web site (November 08, 2004 )

Calling All Reading Fans!
Actually, that's Reading - pronounced "redding" - as in the English city. Russell Wood, an English teacher in Japan, is a supporter of the Reading football club and is seeking to establish a supporter's club in this country. "The children I teach are very enthusiastic about football and the sport has been growing in popularity here for over a decade," says Wood. "I train with all of the children at my school interested in football and they often ask me about my Reading shirt and the team I support. Were I to form a supporters club, I'm sure they would all be interested in joining. I'm also part of a large English-speaking community, many of whom take an interest in football." If you're a fan of the club and would like to get involved, contact Russell by e-mail. (November 05, 2004 )

Huge Drop in U.K. Foreign Language Study
Whether it is a direct result of the growing influence of English worldwide is debatable, but the study of foreign languages in the U.K. is falling dramatically. The Times commented today on the fact that the large majority of comprehensive schools have scrapped languages as an exam requirement - "82% of comprehensives in working-class areas reported that languages have been made optional after the age of 14." The article says the change is "the appalling consequence of the Government’s short-sighted and ill-considered decision to drop languages as a compulsory subject at GSCE" (General Certificate of Secondary Education). As the article goes on to point out, learning a foreign language "makes children skilled in their own language; it offers social and employment opportunities, broadens a mindset, teaches flexibility and bolsters self-confidence."
Left speechless ()

Longman Re-launches Japan Site
Pearson Education Japan has announced the re-launch of their Longmanjapan.com web site. The completely redesigned site provides easy to follow guidance on choosing textbooks and other ELT materials to suit the teacher's or student's needs. It is organized by topic (writing, dictionaries, testing etc) and by academic level (Kindergarten, Elementary, Junior/Senior High, University & Adult). Recently added titles include a revised edition of the popular SuperKids series and WorldView, a series for adults.
Longmanjapan.com web site (November 04, 2004 )

Ministry Eyes New National Test
Education minister Nariaki Nakayama has proposed a new national test with the aim of Japan having the highest academic standards in the world. He presented a proposal to the prime minister on Tuesday that outlines a return to the national exam system of the 1950s and 60s. The system was abandoned as it was felt to incite excessive competition between schools. Since the 1980s, there has been a survey to assess the level to which the curriculum is being taught, but at most it has covered only about 9% of students. The proposed test would not cover all students but would see a significant increase. Details such as student numbers and grades to be tested will be discussed by the Central Education Council.

Recent reports from the ministry express a sense of crisis in the education system. Reintroducing the sense of competition between schools is now seen as a necessary measure. Other proposals under consideration are: revision of the basic education law; introduction of a license renewal system and specialized graduate schools to improve the quality of teachers; transfer of more budgetary and personnel decision-making powers to local boards of education; and establishing an external school assessment system. ()

Jumping Through Hoops
The use of a hula hoop as a prop helped Satoo Nakai win a recent English speech contest sponsored by the Nikkei Shimbun. The second annual Business English-Language Show & Tell Presentation Contest for non-native speakers was held on October 23 at Nikkei Hall in central Tokyo. It was sponsored by several organizations, including Sony, STEP and Northwest Airlines. An employee at a shipbuilder, Nakai explained how his professor at an MBA school in the U.S. had students use such a hoop in an exercise to explain cooperation and win-win situations. Other winners among the 13 participants included a translator who explained how employees at his company are given "otedama" bean bags, with which they juggle to brainstorm and relieve stress. ()

Culture Day
Today is the Culture Day (Bunka no Hi) national holiday. (November 03, 2004 )

Niigata Schools Slowly Getting Back to Normal
Of the over 200 Niigata schools closed following recent earthquakes, some 49 reopened yesterday. About 80% of schools in the Chuetsu district of Niigata have been damaged. Having a particularly hard time are students who soon face high school and university entrance exams. A Mainichi Shimbun article quoted one young student: "Azusa Kaneko, another (junior high school) third grader in Ojiya, was trying to memorize English words at a shelter in Ojiya. "I found it difficult to memorize words before the earthquakes struck, and it's even harder now," she said." (November 02, 2004 )

New Education Expo 2004
The New Education Expo 2004 series of events will take place until November 20, following from events in Tokyo and Osaka in the spring. The first event took place in Nagoya last weekend. Later this month, the seminar and displays will visit Miyazaki (Nov. 6), Sendai (Nov. 10-11) and Fukuoka (Nov. 20). The purpose of the expos is to present teachers and educators with new and practical ideas for the classroom. Themes this year include language education and educational reforms. There are also displays by a variety of education-related companies. Admission is free and pre-registration is not required.
New Education Expo 2004 (Japanese only) ()

Sayonara Tokyo!
For a quick look at what is a regular nightlife scene for many foreigners, teachers included, in Tokyo, Steve Tilley's article for the Edmonton Sun is an interesting read. He spent his last night in Tokyo, before heading back to Canada, in Roppongi - the "Den of Sin" that is the city's most loved and most hated entertainment district. As the writer says about the occupation of his fellow revellers, "modelling is one of the most common jobs held by foreigners in Japan, at least those too pretty to teach English."
Sayonara Tokyo! (November 01, 2004 )

English "Navi" Just Around the Corner
Zenrin Co. has developed a digital map that converts domestic maps used in car navigation systems into English notation. Based on the firm's nationwide road maps and 1,400 or so city maps, the new map system converts Japanese map data into English. The ability to enlarge or reduce the maps is the same as in the Japanese version, and a button will enable switching between the two languages. The product comes in response to growing demand for car navigation systems from foreigners residing in Japan.

Zenrin hopes to commercialize the new technology in 2005 and aims to use it as a starting point from which to develop car navigation system maps for systems with different specifications used in countries around the world. (The Nikkei Business Daily Friday edition) ()

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