Language students at the University of Zambia are set to learn foreign languages such as Japanese using Toshiba AT300 tablets.

The personal computer (PC) manufacturer Toshiba Corporation has donated 12 Toshiba tablets to the university's Language Centre to aid the teaching of foreign languages to its students.

The Japanese language course is planned to be run in association with Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan.

"The Toshiba tablets are the first and single most important use of technology for teaching at the Language Centre," said Sande Ngalande, acting assistant dean of the university’s School of Humanities and Natural Sciences, and its Department of Literature and Languages.

"We are using the tablets as teaching and learning tools, as well as for identifying online resources to further assist us in our work.

"This has allowed us to use our time more efficiently and, importantly, to attract more young people to our language programme," he added.

The University of Zambia's Language Centre teaches seven local Zambian languages.

In addition the centre also teaches Japanese, English, American Sign Language, Arabic, French, German, Portuguese, Swahili and Spanish to the university’s students, and to government and foreign ministry officials who engage with foreign nationals in the course of their working day.

"Our donation of the 12 Toshiba AT300 tablets, facilitated by Hokkaido University and the Japanese Embassy in Lusaka, is part of Toshiba Corporation’s commitment to skills development in Africa," said Chika Yamada, of the Toshiba Corporation in Johannesburg.

"We were happy to support the University of Zambia’s language programme, as it will surely foster more positive working relationships by bridging communication gaps through the learning of languages," Yamada added.