Korean in Japan

[Harold F. Schiffman]

>>From Asahi Shimbun

Korean edges by French in language class
The Asahi Shimbun
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In what might be seen as a grass-roots good neighbor policy, Korean has
slipped past French as the second most popular optional language to be
taught in Japanese high schools.  An Asahi Shimbun survey showed an
increase of 28 schools in the 2003-04 school year offered the language,
which is semantically close to Japanese.  A total of 247 public or private
high schools are teaching 6,960 students Korean this year, found the
December survey that covered the school year ending March 31, 2005.

English is a compulsory subject at most high schools.

While the survey did not try to determine reasons for the increase, it
comes amid rising popularity of things Korean here, from matinee
heartthrobs to cuisine. The survey showed Chinese topped the list of
languages, with 481 high schools teaching 17,111 students. Third was
French with 6,406 students at 231 schools. Fourth was German, with 3,397
students learning at 99 schools.

The category of ``other languages,'' including Russian and Spanish, ranked
fifth, with 3,379 students at 136 schools.

In the survey conducted in the previous year by the Ministry of Education,
Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Korean ranked third after Chinese
and French.

Asked about what students studied, respondents in Yamagata Prefecture said
their students practiced simulating a trip to South Korea. In Kobe,
schools used animations and pop songs from South Korea as learning
materials.

Students in Fukuoka Prefecture cooked Korean food during language classes,
while students in Saga Prefecture practiced Korean traditional musical
instruments and dance.

The survey was conducted through boards of education and agencies in
charge of private high schools at local governments in 47 prefectures and
13 major cities.(IHT/Asahi: January 10,2005)





http://www.asahi.com/english/nation/TKY200501100101.html