Tokyo study facility gives students hands-on taste of English

Tokyo >> A spacious Tokyo English-education facility opened Sept. 6 to allow children to immerse themselves in language through simulated daily experiences as part of efforts to beef up Japan’s communication abilities ahead of the Olympics.

The Tokyo Global Gateway in Koto Ward, an $8 million project, lets children practice English in a variety of settings — inside planes, restaurants or drug stores. It also allows them to try computer programming, news production and take other classes.

“I want kids to experience the feeling of success that comes from correctly delivering their messages in English,” facility official Kotaro Yonekura said. “This is a place where kids do not have to be afraid of making mistakes and can learn from them, as well as a good practice place for those who find it difficult to understand English spoken at a native speaker’s normal speed.”

The Tokyo Global Gateway has two activity areas for students from elementary to high school: the Attraction Area, which includes travel, hotel and airport zones, and the Active Immersion Area, which has a media recording studio, laboratory, cooking space and gymnasium.

In the Airport Zone, visitors enter a mock airplane cabin where they can practice English with “flight attendants” to convey, for example, that they have a headache and need medicine and water.

In the Travel Zone, which includes a pharmacy, children are tasked with buying pills by explaining their condition to store staff. English-speaking actors will either use simple or advanced English on a case-by-case basis. Tour guides help struggling students.

In the media lab, kids simulate being TV news anchors and read scripts written in English as they are overseen by English-speaking directors.

Japan has been struggling for decades to improve its English proficiency. It ranked 27th out of 30 Asian countries in 2014 on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) program.