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From the Olympics Toword Tomorrow
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7,000 language volunteers to be put to test
Ichiyo Kobayashi, of the Nagano prefectural government's International Relations Division, has been involved in giving language training to 2,000 of those volunteers with the help of teachers from the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) program.
''Many of our volunteers have been studying languages (through the program) for up to three years, and they are eager to put their skills into practice,'' Kobayashi said.
The success of the Feb. 7-22 Winter Games rests largely on the shoulders of the Games' 35,000 volunteers, and the ability of those volunteers to overcome language barriers is of the utmost importance, he said.
The JET program, which employs teachers across the nation, has provided volunteers with one means of overcoming those barriers.
Kobayashi, a JET adviser in Nagano Prefecture, said the central government began allotting additional funds to the Nagano prefectural government to increase the number of linguistic and cultural experts from overseas soon after Nagano won the rights in 1991 to host the Winter Games.
This has resulted in a sharp increase of ''coordinators for international relations (CIRs),'' as the senior language experts are known. The number of CIRs in the prefecture, which stood at three in 1991, rose to 40 last year, while the number of overseas assistant language teachers rose from 61 in 1991 to 129 last year, he said.
With the assistance of JET teachers, more than 2,000 volunteers, many of whom are housewives, were given up to three years of free language training with a choice of eight languages -- English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Korean and Chinese.
The courses were taught at all skill levels, from beginner classes to advanced courses in translation and interpretation. Much of the training was structured around the particular needs of the Olympic Games.
The prefectural government has also worked with the Nagano Olympic organizing committee (NAOC) to recruit another 5,000 foreign and Japanese volunteers with language training.
''We have worked very hard with the Nagano prefectural government to place volunteers where they are needed, based on their skill level,'' said Yuzo Toyota, an official with the NAOC Volunteer Program.
Sonia Del Campo, who has worked in Nagano for nearly three years as a Spanish language coordinator, said at first the language training program was ''very frustrating'' for both the students and the coordinators, but now she hopes all the training will pay off.
Kobayashi and Del Campo agreed that language training was only part of the battle. They said many of the language coordinators have had difficulty adjusting to Japanese culture, and many Japanese volunteers have found it difficult to overcome a preconceived ''fear'' of foreigners.
''We told the volunteers that it is not a matter of how good or bad your language skills are, but more importantly it is a question of changing your attitude towards meeting foreigners,'' Del Campo said.
(Kyodo News)
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Copyright 1998 The Shinano Mainichi Shimbun