Japan's All Nippon Airways Supporting Country-Wide Effort to Teach Practical English

Japan's All Nippon Airways (ANA) is supporting a country-wide effort to teach practical English to students in order to prepare for the expected 40 million visitors in 2020.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education is launching the Tokyo Global Gateway (TGG), a large-scale education project that hopes to increase students' proficiency in the English language to create a more welcoming experience for visitors.

The facility will open on 6 September 2018.

"ANA is honored to be a part of the country's mission to create a welcoming destination for all visitors," said Yutaka Ito, Executive Vice President of ANA. "2020 will be a year to show the world our country's proud history and traditions, while learning more about different cultures. The first step in this process is teaching a generation how to communicate with our guests visiting Japan."

At the TGG, elementary, junior high, and high school students will have an opportunity to use and practice practical English. As a result of this program, Japan should have a generation who can better communicate and foster relationships with people from different cultures around the world.

The facility is divided into two areas: "Attraction Area" and "Active Immersion Area". Inside the "Attraction Area", where the students can experience how they can use English in their daily lives, there are "Airport Zone", "Hotel Zone", "Travel Zone", and "Campus Zone". The "Active Immersion Area" is where students conduct group work in English.

ANA is sponsoring the "Airport Zone" where students will be able to role-play as passengers and talk to "flight attendants", who are instructors hired by TGG, using scripts made with help from ANA. ANA will also provide the facility with real airplane seats, drink carts, and uniforms for instructors.

"ANA is dedicated to expanding and enhancing tourism to Japan," said Ito. "By working with the TGG, we are helping not only to teach students English, but provide them with the opportunity to practice the language. In turn, this will better prepare them to communicate and learn from future visitors."

Japan will host the Rugby World Cup in 2019, followed by the Olympics in 2020.

See latest HD Video Interviews, Podcasts and other news regarding: ANA, Education, English, Japan.