Since the summer of 1992, Momoyama Gakuin University and Douglas College have been operating regular 5-week Bilingual Language & Culture Institutes (BLCI). Taking place in both the spring and summer of each year, the programmes are participated in by Momoyama stu-dents studying English as a second language (ESLs), and Douglas College students studying Japanese as a second (or foreign) language (JSLs). The BLCI is based on a simple contract between the two groups of learners: "If you help me to learn your language, I\u27ll help you to learn mine". The programme provides them with both structured and non-structured opportunities to interact, by including things like Bilingual Workshops and Field-trips alongside classroom instruction. The aim is to create an enhanced learning environment in which both classroom and extra-classroom experiences play significant parts. The advantages of this approach are many: 1). It overcomes the passivity common in Japanese classrooms by eliminating the hard distinction between learner and teacher; 2). ESLs are incorporated into the host college\u27s schedule instead of being isolated in a separate language course; 3). Students spend the majority of their time with people of their own age group from the host culture, creating a more natural and spontaneous learning environment; 4). Students have the opportunity to generate friendships with young people from the host culture, transforming the language-learning experience from a narrow pedagogical one to one in which pedagogical and cultural lessons become intrinsically linked
