There is concern about Japanese children’s ability to fulfill their role in the international community. It is vital for children to learn to understand eachother in order to play a successful part internationally. “Language education” is not merely a simple matter of a textbook, but an important part of human development. APRICOT Publishing is involved in materials and educational activities to prepare children for the 21st century. We focus on our goal of contributing to and improving English education, in order to shape the development of citizens of the future.

In order to contribute to the improvement of English education in Japan, APRICOT Publishing makes materials that are easy to use and meet two other important criteria. One: the materials must be “innovative and creative”. Materials must stimulate children’s intellectual curiosity and be age appropriate for the developmental stages of the children. Two: the materials must be “fun” but just being fun is not enough. The activities must be fun and challenging so that students want to continue studying English, but the activities must also generate language that students will remember, and give them a sense of achievement.

APRICOT Publishing values teachers and the relationships with teachers who come to use our materials. The goal of most publishers is to publish and sell their materials, but that is usually the extent of the relationship. One way that APRICOT is different from other publishers is the support we provide our teachers. We believe it is important to help teachers understand how to improve their teaching and interaction with children. Good teacher support is important to not only create confident students, but also to create confident teachers.