Kenyatta University
ABE Yasuko

2020 was a very tough year for everyone around the world. I will begin by talking about the situation over the past year for Japanese-language education in Kenya.
Kenya reported its first COVID-19 infection on March 12. Immediately after that all events and gatherings were banned, almost all international flights were stopped and the country went into lockdown. Just before the ban on international flights, I returned to Japan temporarily, and it was February 2021 when I was finally able to return to Kenya. As I write this report, it is currently April 2021 and Kenya is in the middle of its second lockdown.
Due to the pandemic the Japanese speech contest had to be cancelled at the last minute, just a week before it was due to take place, and the 2nd Africa Conference on Japanese-Language Education that had been planned for September, as well as the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) scheduled for December, also had to be called off. Facing this situation, educational institutions, and particularly higher educational institutions have resumed classes online, but the reality is that these online classes are not running smoothly, mainly due to the fact that in Kenya, it is difficult to secure a stable internet connection. Even if the university itself can set up an online learning environment, the students themselves often do not have access to such an environment. Not many people in Kenya have home wi-fi or own personal computers or tablets. Many students connect to online lessons using their smartphones, creating a considerable financial burden for students in terms of data communication charges. Although the university is distributing data packages free of charge to students and teachers are trying out new online lesson structures, the reality is that online lessons still face many issues.

13th Kenya Japanese Speech Contest online

While I was based in Japan, I held online seminars for Japanese-language teachers and events for learners, but perhaps because of the situation I have described above, there were not many participants and there were also often cases when the participants’ internet connection would suddenly cut out.

The Kenya Japanese Speech Contest is usually held in March each year. We really wanted to avoid having to cancel the event for a second year running, so in March 2021, we held the contest online. Although the number of applicants to participate was less than the previous year, we still managed to have a total of 12 contestants. Each contestant submitted a video of their speech that they had recorded in advance, and a Q&A session about their speech was done live online on the day of the event. As some participants did not have stable internet connectivity, we rented a function room at a hotel and held a hybrid event, linking people at the hotel with participants, judges and sponsors listening and watching online. Fortunately, there were no technical difficulties and the event concluded as a great success. The participants were able to enjoy a Japanese event for the first time in a long time and both the judges and spectators all noted how the content and quality of the speeches had improved in comparison to previous contests. I think that what helped to improve the quality of the speeches was that the contestants were able to re-record their speeches until they were satisfied. This was a positive aspect of conducting the speech contest online and I hope that it can serve as a model for encouraging high-quality speeches in the future.

Deserted campus shop and cafeteria during university lockdown

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the closure of Japanese language courses at private sector language schools and the number of learners on Japanese courses at universities has also declined, resulting in Japanese-language teachers losing their jobs. Even in such a difficult situation, there are still many learners who remain keen to study the Japanese language, and I believe that Japanese-language teachers and learner numbers will bounce back. What I can do at the very least is to offer my encouragement and support to these people. While it remains difficult to use online interactions as an alternative to meeting face-to-face, I acutely feel the importance and necessity of finding the things that it is possible to do and do them, and step up to the challenge without fear of failure.