Japanese class on the rise in Cork school

Not all classes start with students standing and bowing to the teacher — but that’s what happens when teenagers come into Gretta Daly’s Japanese classes.

Her 11 fifth-year students at Coláiste Daibhéid in Cork city centre have been learning the language since last year, when it was one of their transition-year classes, but kept it on due to interest in Japan, its culture and its people.

Unlike some who take Japanese just to fulfil language requirements for college entry, these six girls and five boys have picked it in addition to the compulsory French taken by all the school’s senior-cycle students.