Tomohiro Izawa: Language Courses in 24 Languages

Keio Shiki Senior High School has been offering multilingual courses for 25 years now. Although its position within the curriculum has changed several times, currently a total of four hours are established: two periods as "Period for Integrated Studies (Inquiry)" as defined by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and an additional two periods as extracurricular language courses for those who wish to take them. Although it is far from my own specialization, I was given the opportunity to write this piece because I was in charge of this course last year.

When it first started, there were 19 languages, and even then, no other high school offered such a wide range of multilingual courses. Since then, five more languages have been added, bringing the total to 24. It is not uncommon for applicants to cite these multilingual offerings as their motivation for applying, and there is no doubt that it has become one of the hallmarks of Keio Shiki Senior High School. The late Professor Yoshisuke Tetsuno, the principal at the time who worked hard to establish the program, would surely be pleased. Specifically, the 24 languages/regions are as follows: Swahili-speaking, Arabic-speaking, Orient, Spanish-speaking, Burmese, Mongolian, Chinese, Ainu, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Russian, Okinawan, Thai, Indian, Finnish, German, Portuguese-speaking, Persian-speaking, Turkish, French, Classical Greek, Italian, Classical Latin, and Korean. They are not necessarily classified strictly as foreign languages, but rather as linguistic spheres. Therefore, one could say that Ainu and Okinawan are included.

In terms of content, students do not just learn the language; they 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 almost never used as spoken words today. What is the point of learning that? Thinking such a thing is likely the perspective of an amateur. The students who choose to learn these subjects have a much higher level of awareness than I do. There is a significant aspect of learning "diversity," which can be called a modern need, rather than just 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 language course at the time, a new one was opened. Even just finding an instructor was not easy. Considering this, the fact that so many languages are established 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 also aims for its next new stage. To that end, I sincerely hope for an early end to the COVID-19 pandemic.