HERI's language classes are held inside Culture Centers (Bunka Centers, in Japanese). Following is a brief explanation of what Culture Centers are and what kind of students you can expect.

CULTURE CENTERS are similar to community centers in that they offer classes in anything from sports to arts & crafts, computers, martial arts, dance, tea ceremony, cooking, photography, languages or just about anything else that prospective students might want to learn. There are many culture centers in Japan, owned by various companies, and they are an extremely popular way for many Japanese to spend their free time.

Our company has been working in partnership with one of the largest Culture Center chains in Japan for over seventeen years to offer language classes and Japanese word processing classes.

About 90% of our students are housewives, with quite a few senior citizens among them. We do get some office workers in their twenties and thirties in the evenings though. Male students are a minority.

Because these are Culture Centers, and not really language schools, we try to keep our classes as exciting and pressure-free as possible. We do not administer tests and we give very little--if any--homework. Many of the students are coming to class as much to make friends as to learn a language and the teacher needs to understand that a friendly atmosphere is imperative to the success of his classes.

Most of our teachers enjoy their classes as much as the students do. Because of the friendly atmosphere, a kind of camaraderie is developed and it is common for students to invite their teacher out for drinks, dinner or for parties. Teachers are encouraged to participate, at least occasionally, in order to build a good relationship. Dating students, however, is strictly prohibited.