The strongest defense of JET comes from those who view it as a diplomatic soft-power tool. MOFA officials agreed to support JET because they believed participants would increase their understanding of Japanese society and return home sympathetic toward Japan. [...] “the JET Programme has been wildly successful as a public diplomacy effort for Japan.” Calling it a “vital diplomatic tool."

Sailors from Commander Fleet Activities Okinawa, Commander Task Force 76, tenant commands and their families met Soldiers from the 15th Brigade of the Japan Ground Self Defense Force (JGSDF) Feb. 8-9, to tour each other’s base and participate in cultural exchange. [...] Ishizuka said this quarterly cultural exchange helps break the ice between the two forces and makes working together easier down the road. 

As languages go, English is a notoriously promiscuous one, borrowing caricatures from Italian, chutzpah from Yiddish and faux pas from French. And yet despite the English-speaking world’s deep and wide confluences with Chinese culture, for some reason, few Chinese words have lately entered the English-speaking world’s vocabulary.

The 30 universities would enter student exchange partnerships with overseas colleges, and would conduct more than half of their lectures in English. The government would support another 100 universities to develop “special education programs for practical English”, the newspaper reported.

As interest in study abroad to non-traditional destinations continues to rise, so does the number of students interested in African languages and cultures. Despite the fact that there are somewhere between 1,000 and 2,500 languages spoken on the African continent (UNESCO, 2010), there are relatively limited options for students to focus on language study in Africa. New initiatives and programs designed to attract U.S. students to study in Sub-Saharan African countries focus students’ attention on a small subset of the most widely spoken African languages.

On Monday, Sept. 10, the recently appointed Under Secretary of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, Tara Sonenshine visited Drake to talk about the importance of International Student Exchange... During the discussion, Sonenshine focused on the benefits of both Americans studying abroad and international students coming to America, who serve not only as foreign ambassadors, but as large contributors to our economy.

The Embassy of Spain officially launched the Spanish club "Que Pas" at the University of Namibia, last week. Que Pas is an initiative of Spanish students at the university and aims to promote the Spanish language while promoting the exchange of cultural experiences, solidarity, good learning relationships and good bilateral ties between Spain and Namibia.

The two cities reached an agreement for arts and cultural cooperation and exchange in December 2009. Last May, Seoul invited a team of Cia-Cia traditional performers to a local festival. It is considering hosting Cia-Cia teachers for language training in South Korea.