By RACHEL CROMIDAS. Published: September 4, 2010
The only open-enrollment Japanese language program in the city’s high schools will no longer exist. The courses, at Percy L. Julian High School on the far South Side, are a casualty of budget cuts and teacher layoffs in Chicago Public Schools.
Xian Barrett, the Japanese language teacher, said he was laid off last month. “I was absolutely shocked,” Mr. Barrett said. “I don’t understand why there’s not more support for Japanese, because the student interest is there.”
Frank Shuftan, a spokesman for the public schools, said the program, in which 151 students were enrolled, had been canceled.
Although Japanese and other foreign languages are important, Mr. Shuftan said, “we told the principals to take a long look at their budgets and determine what could be cut.”
Careda Taylor, Julian High’s principal, declined to comment.
Brandon Austin, 17, a senior who took a year of Japanese as a junior, said he was afraid he would not have the credits needed for graduation without a second year of Japanese.
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YANGON, July 5 (Xinhua) — A Japanese language proficiency test for Myanmar citizens will be held in the former capital of Yangon in late this year to boost language communication between peoples of Myanmar and Japan, according to Myanmar Association of Japan Alumni (MAJA) Sunday.
Sponsored by the Japanese Embassy and the MAJA, the 11th Japanese language proficiency test will take place on December 6 at the Japanese Embassy here, the sources said, adding that the test will cover four levels.
Meanwhile, the 10th Japanese speech contest was held in Myanmar under the title of “Together Toward the Future, Mekong and Japan” in last May and four winners were produced out of 15 contestants.
Myanmar and Japan have been cooperating closely in the culture sector. Some Japanese film festivals were held over the last few months in Myanmar, while a special piano and flute concert by famous Japanese artists Hiroshi Matsushima and Yoshimi Matsushima is to take place in Myanmar’s Yangon and Mandalay in August this year under the Japan-Mekong exchange year program.
The program has introduced music concert, film festival, get-together party, and Japanese speech contest every month since January this year.
Other programs to be added include Karatedo contest, Ekabana flower decoration show, Japanese fashion show, Japanese singing contest, Judo contest and film festivals respectively.
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