The Japan Olympic Committee and official sponsor NOVA have struck upon the bright idea of offering free English lessons to athletes in the peak of their training for the Sydney Games.
English lessons, it has been suggested, are a good way to reduce athletes' anxieties about competing abroad, and will help them to greet other athletes, check schedules and question Olympic officials.
Although the timing couldn't possibly be worse, with athletes training hard to erase the memory of Japan's worst-ever results in Atlanta, lessons are not such a bad idea. Olympic history is littered with the misfortune of athletes who missed events because of language, scheduling or transport mixups.