DANIEL JONES, HOST: The U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has warned that some Japanese-speaking students in the United States are not yet used to using a Japanese language.
NPR’s Jodi Kantor reports.
JODI KANTOR, BYLINE: The International Association for the Study of the Japanese Language says the Japanese language has grown increasingly popular in recent years, especially among students in high schools.
The organization says the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organizations recommends that every child have access to Japanese by the age of five.
But some educators say students in America may not yet have the language experience needed to effectively use it.
MATT HALL: I think the kids are learning Japanese too fast.
Jodi Kantor, BYRNE-based education reporter.
HALL : The United States has a relatively large Japanese population, with about 12 million people.
The Japanese language, however, is still an emerging topic in the U.K. and Canada.
The U,S.
and Japanese countries have been at odds over a series of controversies, with the U,T.A. and Japan calling for the removal of a monument to the victims of World War II and a Japanese school in Los Angeles being shut down for breaching safety protocols.
In addition, the Japanese government recently passed a law making it illegal to teach Japanese to U. S. citizens, which some experts say could be a barrier to a U.A.’s access to a Japanese workforce.
The Japan Ministry of Education says that while the law is intended to protect Japanese citizens, it has the potential to harm Japanese-Americans, many of whom have not yet acquired the skills to become teachers.
The new law, passed in December, says schools must offer a Japanese course and provides for compulsory Japanese-language training.
It also requires schools to report any language problems in a timely fashion to the ministry.
The law has sparked protests from U.s. and foreign educators, who say it could lead to a decrease in Japanese-English instruction and decrease the number of Japanese-American teachers in the country.
We talked to a lawyer with the American-based American Federation for Teachers who has represented Japanese-Japanese teachers in lawsuits against the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Japanese Education Association.
And we also talked to Japanese-born American and Japanese-Chinese educators who are trying to keep their children out of Japan and the country’s increasingly restrictive immigration policies.
In fact, in a recent report, the U-T.S.’s Office of Education Law said that while it did not find that students in Japan were learning Japanese at the rates that students have in the rest of the world, it found that they were at risk of having difficulties understanding English and Japanese, and in some cases, could be penalized for learning too quickly.
So what are some of the obstacles for American students that could limit their ability to learn Japanese?
Well, the first one is they don’t know English.
They don’t even know the word for a word.
Jodi Kahn, BYLNE-affiliated education reporter and author of “Kazuichi, the Asian Student: A Japanese Odyssey.”
They have not learned how to use a Japanese phone book or how to translate between English and their native language.
And they have never learned how, or even if, to pronounce certain words.
They also don’t understand Japanese grammar rules, which is another thing that is a problem.
They’ve never learned to use an English dictionary or even a dictionary in their native tongue.
So they have no idea how to make decisions in their life, whether they’re in a meeting, whether their family is going to eat dinner, whether the school bus is coming or not, and how to handle different situations.
So it’s not only that they have a language barrier, but they also have a cultural barrier because they don, for instance, know how to say goodbye in Japanese.
And that means they are not able to say hello in English.
HAPPY WEDNESDAY, APRIL 2, 2019: The students at the Japanese American Center in Seattle are part of a growing movement of students who say the government and education systems have ignored their needs.
The center opened two years ago as an alternative to traditional public schools and is now home to a number of families from Japan, including a Japanese couple who are raising a child in Seattle.
JONAS: The Japanese American and Asian community here is one of the most important parts of our community.
HAPY WENTES: So we’re hoping that this new law that’s coming will help us keep our kids out of trouble.
MICHELLE DORMAN: We’re so proud of our Japanese- American community here.
HONG KONG: We are not saying that they’re the problem.
We’re saying that we’re not saying it’s the only problem.
HONORABLE MEMBER: And so it’s