ENGLISH SPECIAL / NHK show experiments with learning English
Kiyomi Arai Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer
A popular NHK TV show "Eigo de Shabera-Night: Can You Speak English?" was relaunched in April, with three new presenters--fashion model Moe Oshikiri, actor Norito Yashima, and NHK announcer Minoru Aoi.
Four years after the program was first aired, senior producer Shunichi Maruyama said, "The former presenters had improved their English ability so much that, as the premise of the show is to have both the presenters and the audience learn English together, I thought the presenters were ready to graduate."
Maruyama added that the atmosphere surrounding English also has changed. "When the program started, many people were desperate to learn English, as foreign firms were starting to acquire domestic ones. But I think that kind of tension has eased now--many people work with foreigners, and we know we can communicate in a mixture of broken English and Japanese," he explained.
To reflect such changes, the show will feature more easygoing topics, such as anime subculture.
Maruyama said he was willing to change production methods, and even try something different, as long as cross-cultural communication remains at the center of the program. "Language is dynamic in nature. Communication methods change all the time, so it's natural to try something new in this field," he said.
According to Maruyama, one way of experimenting is to do some shooting outside the studio. During the program broadcast Monday, the three presenters visited places where they were forced to speak English without any help--Oshikiri went to the British Embassy, Yashima to the Palau Embassy, and Aoi to the Foreign Ministry.
Maruyama said, "I hope the show will give viewers an incentive and a motivation to continue learning English."
Indeed, he recently received an e-mail from a female viewer, who was a third-year middle school student when the program started. "After watching the show for four years, she said she decided to study abroad. It's a great feeling to know that our message has reached some people," Maruyama said.
--Kiyomi Arai
(Apr. 27, 2007)