Tomohiro Izawa: Language Courses in 24 Languages

2022/02/21

Keio Shiki Senior High School has been offering multilingual courses for 25 years now. Although its position in the curriculum has changed several times, currently a total of four hours are established: two periods for the "Period for Integrated Studies (Inquiry)" as defined by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and two periods for extracurricular language courses for elective students. Although it is far from my area of expertise, I was given the opportunity to write this article after being in charge of this course last year.

When it first started, there were 19 languages, and even then, no other high school offered such an extensive range of multilingual courses. Since then, five more have been added, bringing the total to 24 today. These multilingual offerings are frequently cited by applicants as a reason for applying, and there is no doubt that they have become one of the hallmarks of Keio Shiki Senior High School. The late Principal Yoshisuke Tetsuno, who devoted himself to the establishment of these courses, would surely be pleased. Specifically, the 24 languages/regions are as follows: Swahili-speaking world, Arabic-speaking world, Orient, Spanish-speaking world, Burmese, Mongolian, Chinese, Ainu, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Russian, Okinawan, Thai, Indian, Finnish, German, Portuguese-speaking world, Persian-speaking world, Turkish, French, Ancient Greek, Italian, Classical Latin, and Korean. They are not necessarily classified strictly as foreign languages, but rather as linguistic spheres. Therefore, it can be said that Ainu and Okinawan are included.

In terms of content, students do not just learn the language; they also broadly cover the background of the region, including culture, lifestyle, and history. For this reason, the subtitle of the Period for Integrated Studies is "Language and Culture." Some of the languages are rarely used today. Thinking "What is the point of learning that?" is likely just an amateur's perspective. The students who choose to study these subjects are far more aware than I am. There is a significant aspect of learning "diversity"—a modern necessity—rather than just treating language as a tool. The most recently established language is Finnish. A few years ago, Keio Shiki Senior High School began international exchanges with high schools in Australia, Taiwan, and Finland. Since there was no Finnish course at the time, we established a new one. Finding an instructor alone was no easy task. Considering this, the fact that so many languages are offered and so many experts are gathered here makes it an outstanding environment for learning "Language and Culture." In conjunction with the newly started international exchanges, this course aims to reach its next stage. To that end, I sincerely hope for an early end to the COVID-19 pandemic.