"Japan Seeks to Revise Technical Intern Training Program"

"Japan Seeks to Revise Technical Intern Training Program"

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Welcome to "Learn Japanese from the News."
　
Join us as we learn Japanese and about the country through Japanese news stories. Today's headline is…
　
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外国人（がいこくじん）の技能実習（ぎのうじっしゅう）「今（いま）の制度（せいど）をやめて新（あたら）しい制度（せいど）を作（つく）る」
　
"Japan Seeks to Revise Technical Intern Training Program"
This news story was published on NEWS WEB EASY's website on April 11th.
　
Now let's go over some vocab words that will help us understand what's going on.
　
技能実習（ぎのうじっしゅう）
technical intern training
　
専門家（せんもんか）
expert
　
Let's keep these words in mind as we listen.
　
「技能実習（ぎのうじっしゅう）は、外国人（がいこくじん）が日本（にっぽん）で働（はたら）きながら技術（ぎじゅつ）を習（なら）う制度（せいど）です。発展途上国（はってんとじょうこく）の働（はたら）く人（ひと）を育（そだ）てるために始（はじ）まりました。しかし、働（はたら）く人（ひと）が足（た）りない仕事（しごと）を外国人（がいこくじん）にさせるためにこの制度（せいど）を使（つか）うなど、問題（もんだい）が増（ふ）えています。
４月（がつ）10日（とおか）、専門家（せんもんか）が会議（かいぎ）を開（ひら）いて、今（いま）の制度（せいど）をやめて、新（あたら）しい制度（せいど）を作（つく）るという案（あん）を発表（はっぴょう）しました。
今（いま）の制度（せいど）では、働（はたら）く会社（かいしゃ）を途中（とちゅう）で変（か）えることができませんが、新（あたら）しい制度（せいど）では変（か）えることもできるようにします。そして、3年以上（ねんいじょう）の実習（じっしゅう）が終（お）わったあとに「特定技能（とくていぎのう）」の資格（しかく）を取（と）る人（ひと）を増（ふ）やして、日本（にっぽん）で長（なが）く働（はたら）きやすくします。
専門家（せんもんか）は秋（あき）ごろまでに、新（あたら）しい制度（せいど）の案（あん）を決（き）める予定（よてい）です。」
　
Japan's technical intern training program allows foreign nationals to learn vocational skills while working in the country. But the program has been controversial, and now a government panel is proposing that it be scrapped and replaced with a new system.
　
The panel says that the new system should focus not only on transferring technical skills but on helping trainees build long-term careers.
　
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Now let's take a closer look at some sentences from the story.
Starting with this one:
　
技能実習（ぎのうじっしゅう）は、外国人（がいこくじん）が日本（にっぽん）で働（はたら）きながら技術（ぎじゅつ）を習（なら）う制度（せいど）です。
　
"Technical intern training is a program under which foreign nationals learn technical skills while working in Japan."
　
The term 技能実習（ぎのうじっしゅう）means "technical intern training."
Under this program, Japan has welcomed foreign nationals from developing countries as 技能実習生（ぎのうじっしゅうせい）, that is, "technical trainees."
　
But there have been problems with working conditions, wages, and treatment of workers, and calls have been growing for the program to be scrapped.
　
Now, let's look at the phrase 日本（にっぽん）で働（はたら）きながら技術（ぎじゅつ）を習（なら）う.
　
The word ながら describes two actions or states occurring at the same time. It's similar to how we use "while" in English. One thing to note is that the emphasis is on the action that comes after ながら. So 働（はたら）きながら技術（ぎじゅつ）を習（なら）う suggests that the main focus is on learning technical skills.
　
OK, let's move on to our next sentence.
　
専門家（せんもんか）は秋（あき）ごろまでに、新（あたら）しい制度（せいど）の案（あん）を決（き）める予定（よてい）です。
　
"The experts plan to decide on their proposal for the new system by the fall."
　
The term 専門家（せんもんか）refers to someone who specializes in a particular field or area of study. The kanji character 家（か）in 専門家（せんもんか）means "house" or "family."
　
But we also use it after a noun that indicates someone's occupation.
　
For example, 芸術（げいじゅつ）means "art," so 芸術家（げいじゅつか）means "artist."
We also use it after nouns that indicate someone's disposition or strong inclination. For instance, 努力（どりょく）means "effort," so we say 努力家（どりょくか）to describe a hardworking person. And lastly, we call dog-lovers 愛犬家（あいけんか）.
　
Adorable. And that's all we have for today.
Let's hope the new system addresses the problems with the old one and allows people from overseas to live and work in Japan with peace of mind.
　
All right. Be sure to tune in next time for more!
　
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