Poor English skills and coordination with visiting English speakers are just two of the problems worrying elementary school teachers as the government's two-year transition period to inaugurate weekly classes in the language begins next month.
"I know just enough English to understand what the foreign teaching assistants are saying, but some older teachers have no idea and they're worried," said a 29-year-old female teacher based at a public elementary school in Sumiyoshi Ward, Osaka, who wished to remain anonymous. English classes have been running inconsistently for sixth-graders at her school for four years, she added.
The new classes, officially titled Foreign Language Activities but more commonly referred to as English activities, officially kick off in April 2011 for fifth- and sixth-graders, or 10- to 12-year-olds, requiring schools to run 35 periods a year.