THE POST-COVID-19 SITUATION OF PRIVATE JAPANESE LANGUAGE TRAINING CENTERS: CHANGES AND CHALLENGES

Abstract

This article is the result of in-depth interviews with five private Japanese language training centers, each center has trained over 8,000 students in Northern Vietnam, to clarify the changes and challenges faced by these centers after the Covid-19 pandemic. The results show that the private Japanese language training centers have undergone the significant positive changes such as: flexibility in organizing teaching and learning formats; emphasis on training communication skills combined with the development of teaching materials; maintaining native teachers and focusing on enhancing teacher capabilities; cooperating in training and offering customized programs; integrating both in-person and online training methods; actively innovating teaching methodologies and collaborating with official educational institutions for a sustainable development. On the other hand, the private Japanese language training centers still need to address challenges, including: teacher-related issues, and their operations which still depend heavily on the Japanese economy.