PRIMARY schoolkids in Glasgow are being inspired by Celtic hero Shunsuke Nakamura and club new boy Koki Mizuno.

But it's not their footballing skills that's got the youngsters going - it's their lingo.

The Celtic Learning Centre, a partnership between Celtic and the city council, has launched a project to promote language learning across Glasgow by introducing Japanese in some schools for the next academic session.

A primary school taster this week involved 23 P6 and P7 pupils from St Philomena's in Robroyston.

The youngsters took part in activities such as learning phrases in Japanese, exercise and Japanese drumming.

A taster session for secondary pupils last week proved successful, with more than 30 students and staff learning about Japanese language and culture.

It was originally thought students would do stand-alone language units from the Scottish Qualifications Authority but there's now demand for a GCSE to be introduced.