Hindi is one of the most popular languages among Japanese students at Indian-origin schools

06:05AM Sat 28 May, 2022

Both Hindi and French are the most popular foreign languages amongst the Japanese students at the Global Indian International School, GIIS, campuses in Tokyo, as per Atul Temurnikar, a prominent member of the education industry.
He further added that Japanese students also seek the best of Asian and Western cultures while preserving their own culture. “Cultural learning allows Japanese and expat students to learn and experience strengths about different cultures,” said Temurnikar, the Co-Founder and Chairman of the Global Schools Foundation, as reported by PTI.

HINDI BECOMES A SHARED CULTURAL IDENTITY

Expressing his views, Temurnikar said that Hindi, which is studied in Tokyo, has become a shared cultural identity for many people from the subcontinent who are part of the 30 million Indian diaspora around the world. GIIS grade V Japanese student, Ritsuki Kobayashi, amazed Prime Minister Narendra Modi by speaking Hindi with him. The students also asked for his autograph on his drawing, which had descriptions in Hindi, Japanese and English. Temurnikar said that Hindi is a popular language choice among Japanese students and is offered from Grade 1 to 10 in both curriculums, CBSE and Cambridge IGCSE.
The GIIS Tokyo has students of 19 nationalities with Japanese being the largest cohort. Its students learn over 10 languages, including Hindi, French, Japanese, Sanskrit, Mandarin, Arabic and Tamil.
“Every student is nurtured to be a Global Citizen and students experience the widest language diversity with over 10 languages to choose from,” he said, as reported by PTI. (Source: India Today)