SDM started two English training courses in April 2010. One is to help beginners to acquire the English needed to participate in discussions in ALPS, and the other is for students who wish to study abroad. The courses are quite popular even though no credit is offered. The details of the each class are as follows:
Class for beginners (Preparation for ALPS)
ALPS is one of the most distinctive courses at SDM, and lectures, presentations, and discussions are conducted in English. Mainly for international students, the number of other courses offered in English has increased, and English is becoming the second common language at SDM. Some students, however, are not used to speaking English. Yuriko Iida, a second year student in the master's course, proposed English training courses to help students improve their listening and speaking skills. She is a qualified interpreter with experience in simultaneous interpretation education. Professor Taketoshi Hibiya mainly contributed to creating the course content. The beginners' class utilizes the SDM concept; teachers and students both teach and learn in that students who have English teaching experience become instructors. Around 30 students learned various methods such as "shadowing" (repeating what you hear), "sight translation" (translating word by word from the beginning of a sentence), and "reproduction" (repeating after the sentence has finished). A method called "show and tell" was also introduced. It is easier to speak a foreign language when you can show the object you are talking about. One student explained how to enjoy a cup of coffee as he was actually making coffee. It is also helpful to choose a topic you are interested, so that you are more motivated to talk. In the last two classes, students created a mind map using the theme of this year's ALPS, "Safety and Security" as the keyword and learned technological, business, and political terms in English.
Class for students who wish to study abroad
Aiming to equip students with the level of English required for discussion with classmates in top-ranked graduate schools, Professor Richard Greene and Assistant Professor Nobuaki Minato offer a course to around 20 students focusing on 1) communicating logically and 2) increasing opportunities for English discussion.