SARNIA, Ontario -- While the number of Japanese language learners and educators in Canadian schools is growing, elementary schools like Gregory A. Hogan, a Catholic institution here, are eager for teaching intern Akiko Samukawa's volunteer services.

The 26-year-old native of Kobe interned three months at Riverside Public School in Mississauga, a suburb of Toronto, and six months in Sarnia.

In Sarnia, Samukawa assisted kindergarten and first-grade teachers and devoted Fridays to Japanese lessons for grades one though six.