Ottawa Japanese Language School

The Ottawa Japanese Language School (ja: オタワ日本語学校, fr: École de langue japonaise d'Ottawa), or simply OJLS, is a non-profit school in the Canadian capital of Ottawa promoting and teaching the Japanese language. The school has been founded in 1976 with the help of the Japanese-Canadian veteran Jack Nakamoto. The school is led by an administrative board of volunteers, currently led by David Okura, which include the current principal, Kazuko Kobayashi, tutors, and students. Every bi-semestrial school year starts in September and ends in May, during which hundreds of students, including non-Japanese people interested in the language and people with Japanese descent, learn the language from volunteer tutors. Grades are divided into classes to accommodate various ages and levels of ability: Children, Youth, Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. Although the school promotes the equality of both the Canadian official languages (English and French) as well as Japanese, the Japanese language is taught in English to beginners.

Links

• Ottawa Japanese Language School official site
• Jack Nakamoto, article about the war veteran in the Ottawa Citizen of November 9, 2006.