Foreign language learning, including English, is most effective during a child’s early development stage. Today we see many English language schools around the city, but there is a lack of teachers trained in teaching English as a second language to children, leading to an increase in teachers who apply grossly simplistic methods of teaching. As a result, we have children who can speak English but are incompetent in Japanese, children who acquire only a mediocre level of both English and Japanese, children who are rebuked by their parents for not speaking English at home despite attending English language school, and children who can speak English but cannot cope with the internationally high standards of Japanese public education.

Because we are conscious that our children are at a critical development stage, we support our children’s English learning with a lot of care and thought, but also see it as the best window of opportunity for them to learn English. We use English as the main medium of communication within Kansai International Academy, but we also place a lot of value on the Japanese language. We teach our children the importance of their Japanese cultural heritage, while also teaching them the importance of English as a communication tool，as we work to create a global understanding in our children. Our foreign children are also required to learn Japanese culture in the same way.

Children do not simply learn the English language at our school. They learn about the environment, music, physical education, mathematics and other disciplines at a higher level than what children of the same age would usually learn. We maintain a strong line of communication with parents as well, in order to create a student centered learning environment.