I enjoyed the Feb. 26 article "Are schools ready for English?" But by the looks of the photographed open book (presented as an example of the teaching materials to be used), my answer to the question posed by the headline would be NO!
The book appears to be in Japanese. Japanese teachers have every right to be worried and distraught to have to teach a subject they know they cannot speak and have not studied for many years. How can this possibly be a good idea?
I don't teach math or any higher math-related classes because I am not qualified to do so, yet many teachers will bear the burden of teaching a subject they do not know. After teaching English from one of those Japanese/English textbooks, my opinion is that it was just short of a waste of time.
Give kids the "Let's Go" introductory English text with the workbook, and by the end of the year, they as well as the teachers will have a solid base of correct English to build on for the future as opposed to a shaky Japanese/English half-correct background.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.