Tokyo opens facility to help children learn English

In this suburban city in western Tokyo, TACHIKAWA, Tokyo opened a facility where children can enjoy learning English while simulating the experience of being in a foreign country.

The Tokyo Global Gateway TGG Green Springs facility was opened on January 16 in the Green Springs shopping mall in the Midoricho district of Tachikawa. It is the second TGG facility built through a public-private partnership with the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education, after the first was opened in Aomi, Koto Ward.

The facility has 1,400 square-meter floor space and uses projection mapping to recreate scenes such as a hotel, a hospital and a supermarket, and has rooms modelled after places such as the interior of an airplane and a restaurant. Participants will be able to learn practical English by communicating with the foreign teachers according to the simulated situations.

The facility expects to have elementary and middle school children on field trips, but it also will be available for local residents' use on weekends and as after-school activities.

The facility is managed by Tokyo Global Gateway Co., an organization made up of private companies and other parties based in Tokyo's Koto Ward. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government invested around 260 million dollars for the facility's establishment and will cover its annual rent of approximately 180 million yen, about $1.38 million, according to TGG. The facility has already received 25,000 applications for use within its first 14 months ending March 2024, and expects to have around 35,000 users annually.

A person with the Board of Education expressed high hopes, saying at the TGG in Aomi, even children who find English difficult give feedback like '' that was fun and I feel motivated. Making use of our know-how, we want to be a place where children can get a sense of accomplishment from speaking English.