International meet on Japanese language begins

Tarnaka: Professor E Suresh Kumar, the Vice-Chancellor of English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU), Hyderabad, and Kojiro Uchiyama, Consul General of Japan in Chennai, inaugurated a two-day international conference on 'Japanese Language Education in South Asia (JLESA-'19)' at EFLU on Monday. The conference is being organised by the Department of Asian Languages, EFLU, in collaboration with the Japan Foundation, New Delhi.

In his presidential address, Professor Suresh stressed the need for learning foreign languages to secure global placements. Mentioning University Social Responsibility (USR) of EFLU as the first-of-its kind initiative in the country, he said that it imparted a social perspective to an academic institution.

"Under this initiative, the university has developed open educational resources (OERs) in 13 languages including Japanese language which will be launched soon," he said. The V-C reiterated the significance of Japanese language in view of Japan's widening service sector worldwide.

Kojiro Uchiyama emphasised the need for foreign languages in order to understand various cultures, and religions. He recalled a summit-level agreement between the Japan and India in 2017 for the propagation of Japanese language in India.

Reflecting on this agreement, he said that there has been a sizeable increase in the learning of Japanese language in India, especially by the professional students. He said that the conference would hold enlivening discussions on the measures to be adopted for the expansion and consolidation of Japanese language in India.

Kaoru Miyamoto, Director, Japan Foundation, called for an exchange of views at both the cultural and linguistic levels. Stressing the importance of networking in today's world, Miyamoto stated that it would have a severing effect on a nation or an individual to stand isolated in this world of opportunities. He mentioned that the delegates and scholars attending this conference will benefit from such academic exchange programmes.

The conference is being attended by delegates from Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, Japan, and Russia and also from different universities and institutions in India. Members of faculty, coordinators of the departments and students were present on the occasion.