TUFS Language and Culture Supporters help translate multilingual school picture books

April 25, 2022

TUFS Language and Culture Supporters* cooperated in the translation of Wakuwaku Ezukan: School Words in Six Languages, a picture book published by Holp Shuppan Publications in March 2022, with editions for the North and South American continents and, Europe, and for Asia.

The number of foreign Japan residents between the ages of 6 and 15 as of May 2021 is estimated to be around 130,000. An increasing share of this number are attending Japanese public schools.

The picture book covers school-related tools and places as well as various conversations in English, German, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian for the North and South American and European edition, and in Chinese (simplified and traditional), Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, Indonesian, and Vietnamese in the Asian edition. The conversations are presented from the perspective of the children who appear in the book, so that not only non-native speakers but also native speakers of Japanese can communicate with each other simply by opening and reading the book.

* As of November 2021, a total of 301 people offering assistance in 31 languages are registered as TUFS Language and Culture Supporters.