SHANGHAI, June 7 -- Shanghai students learning a foreign language can now practise in authentic surroundings, with the opening of a new language training center yesterday.

The 12 training labs at Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Foreign Language College are decorated in the styles of the countries being studied.

Located in suburban Nanhui university town, the training center covers 3,400 square meters and teaches English, Japanese, French, German, Korean and Spanish.

For instance, German majors can practise in a lab decorated as a German-style beer hall and European outdoor plaza.

Students learning Japanese can kneel in a real Japanese sushi restaurant, complete with tatami mats, cloth door curtains and wooden walls.

Another laboratory is designed as an English-style house, with a fireplace, garage and backyard.

"We do mean to create a genuine external situation to stimulate students' interest in speaking a foreign language," said Chen Mingjuan, the vice college president.

Chen said while university students might study foreign translations and literature, college learners were required to have strong practical working ability in listening, speaking and communication.

That has led to a demand for schools to provide real-life situational training, which is still a blank in most domestic schools, she said.

After a trial period, the college will turn these simulated bars, cafes and restaurants into real businesses run by students themselves next semester.

By then, only foreign languages will be spoken between waiters and customers, officials said.

Zhang Lei, a second-year German major, said that she and her classmates loved the new labs. "I feel much more confident when speaking German here. The atmosphere does make me feel real," Zhang said.