Konnichiwa to new languages

LEARNING JAPANESE AND CHINESE:TY students, bored with the same old language modules, are learning tongue-twisting tongues from the far east, writes PETER McGUIRE

POWER IS moving east. Europe’s population is in decline, and American supremacy has taken a thumping.

The Transition Year students at Christ King Secondary School in Cork are amongst hundreds of students who are jettisoning the usual European language modules to tackle the unfamiliar sounds of Chinese and Japanese. Chinese is offered as a special TY subject in 30 schools, most of which are based in Cork and Dublin, while Japanese is currently available in 30 schools as both a TY and Leaving Certificate subject.

Japanese teacher Mariko Takishita-O’Keeffe came to Ireland 10 years ago. “I’d been working in education and I needed to learn English,” she says. “Then, eight years ago, I came to Cork and started teaching Japanese in four schools. As well as the language, we look at fine art, traditional costume, how to wear kimonos, what sumo is all about, and the subcultures of Japan. Students learn about anime and manga animation, and we watch Japanese films.

“They find gestures very interesting: the Irish sign for ‘come here’ is the same as the Japanese for ‘go away.’ Young people are interested in hearing about different parts of the world and getting an insight into a different culture.”

Laura Creedon, a 16-year-old student at Christ King, began learning Japanese in TY, and has continued the language into Fifth Year. “I really love the subject,” she says. “Mariko teaches us about the culture, the food, the stories: she makes us want to learn more. She brought in a special cooker and we made sushi with sticky rice in class. I hadn’t eaten sushi before but I gave it a go.”

For Laura’s classmate, Jesse Hogan, Japanese has been an eye-opener. “I’m really bad at languages, always failing Irish and French,” she explains. “I’m not interested in them really, so I was apprehensive about taking on Japanese in TY. But we learned through talking rather than textbooks, and we’ve looked at the language through the culture.

There’s eight of us in the class and we can practice amongst each other.”

Jesse loves the look of surprise of people’s faces when they hear her speaking in Japanese. In Ireland, she can use the language as a secret code with her classmates, but she’d love the chance to practice Japanese in its homeland and hopes to visit one day.

JAPANESE AND Chinese have long been taught as second languages to students in Australia and New Zealand. The UK education system has also embraced the tongues. Karen Ruddock, National Co-ordinator of the Post-Primary Languages Initiative, believes that the time has come for Ireland to do likewise. Chinese and Japanese languages have an economic importance for Irish students.

“China and Japan are huge markets for Ireland, and if we want to sell our goods and services, we need to learn the languages. This is a matter of national competitiveness, but we’re so used to learning French and German. Changing people’s mindsets is a big challenge.”

Li Xin teaches Chinese to six secondary schools around Cork city, including Christ King. She arrived from Beijing last September, where she taught Chinese to non-native speakers and English to Chinese speakers.

“There’s a lack of understanding of China, and I’d like people to learn more about us,” she says. “With that understanding will come increased opportunities for business and travel.”