The Activities of the Japan Foundation

Marugoto published in FY2021. Left: Elementary 1 (Chinese edition) Right: Intermediate 2 (Vietnamese edition)

The JF Standard for Japanese-Language Education is a framework developed by the Japan Foundation for considering ways to learn and teach the Japanese language and make evaluations based on the concept of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). We enhanced Marugoto: Japanese Language and Culture and Irodori: Japanese for Life in Japan, teaching materials based on the JF Standard. For Marugoto, we expanded the coursebook levels published in China and Vietnam and provided supporting teaching materials in multiple languages on the Marugoto website, while we enriched the contents of Irodori. We also collaborated with NHK Educational to develop ひきだすにほんごActivate Your Japanese!, a new TV series that introduces Japanese society and culture through Japanese-language learning.

Minato “Dekiru A1” self-study course produced for Hungarian speakers by the Japan Foundation, Budapest

Since demand for online education remains high, the number of registered users for the Japanese-language learning platform ‘JF Japanese e-Learning Minato’ reached 292,400 people from 199 countries and regions, an increase of 70,000 from the previous fiscal year. Furthermore, in addition to developing Irodori Japanese Online Course, we also boosted our existing content. For example, we added infectionrelated vocabulary to Nihongo de Care-Navi.

Nihongo de Care-Navi, a Japanese-language learning website that collects terminology for nurses and care workers

The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) being held in Lautoka (Fiji) for the first time in FY2021

Launched in 1984, the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) is the world’s largest-scale test measuring the Japanese-language skills of nonnative speakers. Despite the major impact of the spread of COVID-19, the July 2021 test was newly held in Papua New Guinea and Merida (Mexico). In total it was held in 47 prefectures in Japan, and 93 cities in 25 countries around the world. 387,371 people applied for the exam and 335,915 took it. For the December test, Lautoka (Fiji) was included for the first time, and the test was held in 47 prefectures in Japan and 175 cities in 68 countries with 420,210 applicants and 348,992 test-takers.

The Japan Foundation Test for Basic Japanese (JFT-Basic) publicity materials for domestic use

Commenced in 2019, the Japan Foundation Test for Basic Japanese (JFT-Basic) is a computer-based test to measure the Japanese-language proficiency needed by foreign nationals about to reside in Japan mainly for work, to communicate in everyday life situations. In FY2021, the test began to be implemented in India, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan, and 30,596 people (17,582 in FY2020) took the test in Japan and in 16 cities of nine countries in Asia.

Irodori Japanese Online Course based on the web-based teaching material Irodori: Japanese for Life in Japan

Apart from implementing the JFT-Basic, the Japan Foundation promoted initiatives in nine countries (China, Mongolia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar and Nepal) to support the acquisition of Japanese-language proficiency by people aiming to live and work in Japan. We added four languages to the web-based Japanese-language teaching material Irodori: Japanese for Life in Japan for a total of 13 languages, and the material was accessed approximately 2.19 million times this fiscal year. Meanwhile around 54,000 users registered for the Irodori Japanese Online Course which was developed based on Irodori: Japanese for Life in Japan.
In various countries, Japanese-Language Specialists and “Japanese for Life in Japan” coordinators introduced Irodori and held seminars on how to teach using Irodori.

A “Japanese for Life in Japan” coordinator introducing JFT-Basic (Thailand)