There is a simple reason why Taba Solange, a Brazilian living in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, never helps her 12-year-old son or 7-year-old daughter with their homework: She can't read Japanese very well.
But the 40-year-old mother realizes her children are more fortunate than other Brazilian kids. Unlike those who moved here with their parents from South America, her own were born and raised in Hamamatsu, and thus have a grasp of the Japanese language.
"I spoke mostly Portuguese at home to my kids, but they are doing well in Japanese," Taba said in limited Japanese. "But I know many (Brazilian) kids are having a hard time at school."