Tag - language

 
 

LANGUAGE

COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Dec 1, 2013
With the JLPT now over, get ahead in studying for next year
The latest round of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) was held yesterday — congratulations to the test takers! A couple of readers wrote to us about the exam after last week's Community Page published an article by Jun Hongo titled "Is the JLPT really worth it?"
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 22, 2013
Honda makes English official language for global talks
Honda Motor Co. made English the official language for global meetings as the carmaker shifts decision-making power to regional units.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 8, 2013
Costly challenge of globalizing Japan's labor force
Japan is way behind in the race to foster professionals who can operate across national, cultural and linguistic barriers. Solutions are not cheap, but the cost of not doing anything is higher.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Nov 6, 2013
English teacher suffering with cancer and HIV completes 'Yamathon' Tokyo walk
Neil Grainger and a group of supporters completed an epic walk around Tokyo's famous Yamanote Line on Sunday to raise money for his treatment and cancer charities.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Oct 21, 2013
Medical bills mount for 'fired' Tokyo English teacher fighting cancer and HIV
A British language school teacher in Tokyo is struggling to pay for his chemotherapy and cancer surgery after his Waseda University-linked former employer failed to renew his contract, citing his nonattendance due to illness.
EDITORIALS
Oct 5, 2013
Japanese language diplomacy
An expert panel has proposed increasing the number of Japanese teachers sent abroad to teach the Japanese language as a way of improving relations with Southeast Asian nations.
JAPAN
Oct 1, 2013
More Japanese teachers needed in ASEAN, Abe is told
An expert panel to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has proposed bolstering support for Japanese-language education in ASEAN countries by increasing the number of teachers, as more people in the region are learning Japanese.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 18, 2013
This glorious English language that is open to all
The multinational Man Booker shortlist shows 'outsiders' are the new normal. It's time to celebrate the unruly English tongue.
WORLD / Society
Sep 7, 2013
A 'he or she' may actually prefer to be called 'ze'
As Nicholas Gumas settles into his third year at George Washington University in the U.S. capital, he won't just ask incoming students for names, majors and hometowns. If the situation calls for it, he will ask for preferred gender pronouns (PGPs).
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2013
JET alumni advocates for Japan
Clifton Strickler never thought of coming to Japan until he met his boss at the University of Texas while engaged in an undergraduate work-study. His boss lived in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, teaching English with the Japan Exchange and Teaching Program.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Aug 25, 2013
When does one's native language stop being native?
A 71-year-old man in Gifu Prefecture made headlines recently when he attempted to initiate a lawsuit against broadcaster NHK. Through its excessive use of foreign derived words, the man claimed, NHK had caused him 精神的苦痛 (seishinteki kutsū, psychological pain). He demanded ¥1.41 million...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Aug 12, 2013
Ainu fight for return of plundered ancestral remains
Shigeru Kayano, one of the most well-known and respected Ainu figures of modern times, writes in his autobiography "Our Land Was a Forest" about the loathing he felt as a young man for the shamo (Japanese) researchers who used to visit his village and family home.
JAPAN
Jul 31, 2013
Panel plans strategy for overseas Japanese language education
Experts discussing ways to increase the number of Japanese language learners overseas propose promoting 'Cool Japan' pop culture and online services to provide more opportunities for speaking the language.
Japan Times
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 28, 2013
Hyper, mega, ultra: talking in superlatives
One of the ultra-fascinating facets of Japanese is its super-large arsenal of intensifying prefixes that provide an otherwise neutral expression with some emphatic edge. The best-known (and least spectacular) of them is dai (大), which usually translates as "big." When something went really well, for...
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2013
4 million studying Japanese abroad
4 million studying Japanese abroad: A record 3.98 million people were studying Japanese abroad in 2012 amid widespread interest in the country, the Japan Foundation announces.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?