Since 2016, JVTA has held volunteer activities in the Tokyo, Harajuku area where children practice using their English skills to tell visitors how to get to their destination.

Harajuku is a widely popular tourist location, with places like Takeshita Street, Meiji Shrine, and Yoyogi Park attracting many foreign visitors. In spite of this, there are very few English signs and maps in the area, making navigating the district difficult for non-Japanese speakers.

Seeing this, more and more people have striven to better support visitors to Japan while improving their own language skills. JVTA began language volunteer work in Tokyo since 2016 with this group of people in mind. Each time we host an event, we welcome and escort over 50 groups of tourists through the streets and history or Japan.

In 2019, we planned a language volunteer event aimed for children in order to allow them to experience speaking English in an interactive environment with other cultures. Thanks to the support of parents throughout Tokyo, our first event was incredibly successful and the next was heavily anticipated. Sadly, due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and the resulting decrease of tourism, we were forced to put language volunteering on hold.

At long last, this year, with the Japanese government deeming COVID-19 “a common infectious disease” and the return of tourists, we have revived our Children’s Language Volunteer event. On August 24th, 13 children ages six to nine gathered at Harajuku Station. They would first be taught simple English phrases and divided into groups. The children would then walk around talking to tourists from China, France, Spain, South Korea, the USA, Turkey, Germany, and so on.

Although English has become a required subject in elementary schools since 2020, it is still rare for students to have the chance to use the language with English speakers outside of their teachers. In order to create future linguists and translators, we must communicate to children that learning languages is a fun experience that broadens their possibilities. JVTA will continue to guide such little ones in order to achieve this dream.

*JVTA partners with schools ranging from elementary schools to universities to spread interest in working and communicating worldwide. Learn more about our partnerships below:
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