More and more elementary school teachers in Japan are turning to English language schools with native speakers, as they seek to gain confidence in teaching the language before it is formally added to their curricula in the academic year starting April 2020.

Many teachers admit to lacking confidence in their English, in areas from vocabulary to grammar, expressiveness and pronunciation. Elementary school teachers, such as Yuko Shigematsu, say they are afraid of teaching their students "the wrong thing."

Now the ministry of education is providing a road map to foster more competent English teachers, and a growing number of local boards of education are expanding their teacher training programs through outreach to foreign language institutes.