Students at the Otaru University of Commerce appear to be enjoying a card game, but they're actually learning something far more serious. The cards describe emergency situations, to teach the students about communicating important safety tips during disasters such as earthquakes.
Amy Takebe, an associate professor at the university's Center for Language Studies, specializes in how words and expressions can influence people's behavior during emergencies. She supervises the class for "disaster language volunteers."
"We use short, attention-getting phrases like, 'Duck, cover and hold.' You can use these in English warnings if you want to," she tells her students.
A personal connection
Takebe has a personal connection to the topic. Her parents are originally from the United States and she is an American citizen, but she was born and raised in Hitachi City in eastern Japan's Ibaraki Prefecture.
When the Great East Japan Earthquake rocked her hometown in 2011, Takebe was overseas at Oklahoma State University. She had just obtained her master's degree in applied linguistics.
"I was just lost for words. I didn't know what to say. I just kept crying and crying in front of the TV," she says.
Her English-speaking mother in Hitachi was safe, but she struggled to understand disaster-related information due to the language barrier. So Takebe visited municipalities' websites and translated them for her.
"I remember seeing all kinds of technical terminologies that were kind of hard to translate in English at first, but I knew I needed to help my mother," she says.
Changing students' mindsets
Takebe's experience during the 2011 disaster is what led her to offer the course. In September, she began teaching her students useful and effective English expressions to disseminate disaster-related information.
During a practical session, the students practice communicating safety tips on an imaginary community radio, pretending a massive earthquake has struck. Some students relay instructions to "stay away from furniture and get under a table." Other students react accordingly.
The students each have their own reason for taking the class. One of them says, "Foreign customers sometimes come to where I work part-time. An earthquake can strike at any time. I hope I can assist them, even just a little."
Another says, "I'm the type of person who freezes up whenever I have to speak English. I'm afraid nothing will come out during an emergency. But if I take a breath and calm down, I think the words will come out."
Takebe reassures them that being a good volunteer is not about perfection.
She says it isn't necessary to speak the target language fluently. It's enough to be able to ask someone in an evacuation shelter, "Are you okay?" if they look as if they need help.
The concept to "speak from the heart, and the language follows" is what Takebe wants to convey to future language volunteers.
"That mindset is what I really hope my students gain from my class," she says.
