WLC Overview
Greetings Director
The World Language Centre (WLC) was established in September 1999 at the same time as the Central Tower was inaugurated. Its mission statement states that its goal is to produce global citizens who will play an active role in the international arena in the 21st century by promoting foreign languages and cross-cultural understanding.
While WLC operates Soka University's foreign language education, it also offers a variety of extracurricular programs within the Global Square 2nd Floor Integrated Learning Support Center (SPACe). In addition to the Chit Chat Club and English Forum to help students master English as a communication tool, there is also a corner where you can receive one-on-one advice on English writing and speaking, as well as an English learning counseling room. In addition, we hold a global village where you can learn languages other than English in a fun way with international student staff.
Many graduates, who struggled with English in high school, have dedicated themselves to improving their English skills at Soka University, dramatically enhancing their abilities and going on to achieve international success. Furthermore, many have further honed their English skills at Soka University, studied abroad in non-English speaking countries, mastered three languages, and are now traveling the world.
Hone your language skills at Soka University and make your dreams come true on the world stage. We look forward to seeing you at WLC.
The WLC Self-Access Center (SAC) is located in the Learning Commons "SPACe" on the 2nd floor of Global Square. The location varies depending on the program, so please refer to the SPACe map.
The purpose of the World Language Center is to hone foreign language skills and intercultural coexistence skills and to cultivate global citizens, based on the ideas of founder Daisaku Ikeda and Founding Spirit of Soka University.
World Language Center: Education for Global Citizenship
The mission of the World Language Center is to promote global citizenship through the cultivation of foreign language ability and multicultural competence.
The World Language Center shall provide programs for developing foreign language skills. Moreover, because the role of global citizens extends to action that contributes to the cause of happiness and peace, the programs and environment of the Center shall be designed to foster in students a sense of social awareness and responsibility which transcends national and cultural boundaries.
Soka University's founder, Daisaku Ikeda, has associated the following attributes with global citizenship:
the wisdom to perceive the interconnectedness of all life;
the courage not to fear or deny difference, but to respect and strive to understand people of different cultures and to grow from encounters with them;
the compassion to maintain an imaginative empathy that reaches beyond one's immediate surroundings and extends to those suffering in distant places.
To nurture such attributes, the World Language Center shall be a place for connecting with the world, celebrating the richness of its diverse cultures, and transcending borders through understanding and friendship.
3 May 1999
World Citizen
Our founder, Daisaku Ikeda lists the following as the requirements for being a global citizen:
- Wisdom for all mankind to understand each other
- The courage to neither fear nor reject differences, to strive to respect and understand people of different cultures, and to use such experiences as a source of growth.
- Imaginative empathy and compassion that allows us to reach beyond our own environment and sympathize with those who are suffering in other places.
Soka University Founding Spirit
- Be the highest seat of learning for humanistic education
- Be the cradle of a new culture
- Be a fortress that protects peace for humanity.
