Japanese Language Assistance Program
(JLAP=Time for Japanese)

 
JLAP is a communication space for foreign residents and Japanese staff to have conversation in Japanese. Throughconversation in Japanese, we help foreign residents improve their Japanese speaking ability free of charge.

JLAP, Japanese Language Assistance Program, used to be a place for the acquisition of Japanese through free conversations. However, recently, in order to further respond to the “curiosity” of the learners, we have divided JLAP into three sections: “Business Section,” “Daily Life Section” and “Beginner’s Section”

The volunteer staff of each section has summarized what kind of activities each team is involved in.

Find which team suits your interests, and let’s make JLAP better together!

Class for Beginners
Class for Beginners

Although duration of stay and aims of stay are different in individuals, motivation to be able to speak Japanese is the same.

 

Group for beginners provides support in learners' mother language.

 

Staff of this group, however, teach Japanese, using Japanese advertisements, magazines and route maps positively in addition to pictures and gestures.

 

This is why we want them to understand Japanese by explanation in Japanese, since they live in Japan in fact. We are trying to help them master Japanese which can naturally be used in their daily life.

Class for Situation Practice
Class for Situation Practice

We teach Japanese by role-playing in various situations.

 

For example, "I drank at Izakaya (Japanese-style bar) comfortably."

→ "Oh, no. I forgot to bring my purse with me."

→ "I should think about how to excuse."

This is one example.

 

Learners enjoy role-playing with a lot of good ideas rather than they are studying Japanese.

 

I sometimes feel as if I were learning skits, although I am teaching Japanese.

 

We often derail from the curriculum in a positive way.

 

I had an experience that my students and I came to be examinees and an examiner at a job interview unintentionally in the process of learning.

 

In addition, we exchanged information on cheap Izakaya unconsciously as well.

 

We aim at learning Japanese in line with our daily-life situations.

Class for Business Japanese
Class for Business Japanese

We use teaching materials focusing on conversation in business scenes such as "How to introduce a new employee" "How to respond to telephone call" "How to express one's opinion at the meeting".

 

Learners enjoy themselves and they are all sociable.

And they are very curious about Japanese.

 

For one example, when a very polite expression as "Kashikomashimashita" (very polite expression of OK, all right and so on, and literally it means "I respectfully accept your offer") was used in the situation practice of telephone response, questions such as "Can I use this expression with my friends?" and " How about with teachers?" Questions came out one after another. 

 

And one learner told about experience when he or she was working as a part-timer. He or she put stress on "komarimashita", while that person pronounced "kashi" with very weak stress. That person repeated "komarimashita", "komarimashita" again and again. In Japanese "komarimashita" means "I am in trouble." Hearing this failure, all the people attending the class burst into laughing!

 

We are learning business English in such an enjoyable atmosphere.