Ukraine-Japan Center “UAJC”
KOBAYASHI Takefumi

I was originally scheduled to be dispatched as a Japanese-Language Specialist to the Ukraine-Japan Center (hereinafter “UAJC”) in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, in March 2020. However, the decision was made to put my dispatch on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and instead I began working via online operations from Japan from August. The fact of the matter is that, as embarrassing as it may be, I had never once even imagined what Japanese-language education in Easter Europe, where Ukraine is located, might be like, and I had almost no knowledge or information on the subject. It was also my first time to carry out classes online. At the beginning of the assignment, I began working with the local lecturers in Ukraine to learn the details about the state of Japanese-language education in the country and at the UAJC and what I could do to support it.

Currently, the main focus of my job is to run the Japanese-language course. The UAJC offers a beginner and intermediate class and a short-term class called Online-kaiwa Japanese (Online Japanese Conversation Class). I manage two intermediate classes and the Online-kaiwa Japanese class, which are both run online via Zoom. There were moments of confusion for both myself and the learners at the beginning, but over time we grew used to the online class, and now it has become quite natural. The biggest challenge for me at the beginning was how to interact with these students who I had never met and build relationships with them. I knew nothing of the learners’ characteristics or personalities at the beginning, and it was hard to read the reactions of those who were only participating with voice due to their Internet environment or the devices they were using. On top of that, I did not have a very good grasp of the whole concept of online classes. However, despite that beginning, I gradually grew used to teaching class online over time, began to understand the characteristics and personalities of the learners, and even increased my knowledge of Ukraine.

Generally speaking, though the Ukrainian learners of the Japanese language may master the language, this seldom leads to the opportunity to study in Japan or gain employment at a Japanese company. I believe their motivation and drive to learn Japanese is their interest in Japanese culture in the wider sense. Therefore, though I do try to follow the textbook in my classes as a rule, I also try to add explanations of the cultural background and incorporate other topics, conversational practice, and expressions that are closer to daily life in Japan. The conversational practice in particular is often quite fun for the students, though the degree may vary according to their personalities and strengths. More so than the conversations that follow the textbook, those involving role play, or communication to accomplish a task, or researching themes as a pair and giving presentations, typically become quite exciting for the learners. On the other hand, many of the learners have difficulty with reading and writing. One thing that has particularly concerned me has to do with Kanji. The problem is that I often see learners at the intermediate level who are unable to read the minimum Kanji required at that level. To address the issue, I made a list of Kanji from the N3 level of the Japanese-Language Proficiency Test (hereinafter “JLPT”) and use it to test the learners each week. I feel that these weekly tests have made the learners focus more on their study of Kanji.

Moving forward, I would like to try to imagine what the advantages are for the lives of the UAJC Ukrainian students in learning the Japanese language, and find ways for them to learn the Japanese language that serve those advantages. My sense is that this likely involves learning the Japanese language to enrich their lives rather than to take the JLPT. I also believe there is much more we can do online, so I would like to continue to explore that.