General Education Course: Public Society: University-Wide Regional PBL IV, Visiting Japanese Classroom RUNRUN of the Hitachinaka International Association(Wednesday, May 21)

In the General Education Course, 'Public Society: University-Wide Regional PBL IV”, taught by faculty members of the Center for Global Engament, students learn about issues in a multicultural society and consider how they can contribute to multicultural conviviality as members of the community, in cooperation with the Japanese Classroom RUNRUN of the Hitachinaka International Association.

Students taking this course, along with students from Japanese Classroom RUNRUN, will visit workplaces in Hitachinaka City that employ foreign personnel, reporting their experiences at a Hitachinaka International Association event in July.

On Wednesday, June 4, the students visited Nihongo Kyoshitsu RUNRUN and held a preliminary meeting with the learners before touring the companies. Each group first presented their research on Komatsu Seisakusho and Kyokuyo Foods, the two companies they would be visiting. Then, they summarized the questions they wanted to ask the foreign employees and the people who work with foreigners. It was impressive to see them interact with each other in Japanese and English and use smartphone translation apps when necessary.