The smell of incense and the sound of black American R&B are likely to be the first things students encounter when they enter a Wisdom21 English language school.

Within a few steps more---past new leather couches, a big-screen TV maybe showing a Janet Jackson concert, and photos evoking the Harlem Renaisssance ---any notion of being in a typical "ei-kai-wa" (English conversaton) school will surely have taken a walk.

In a nation filled with frustrated students of English, Wisdom21 has created a profitable niche among Japanese anxious to practice English --- by breaking the mold. Indeed, the Osaka school's main business is arguably not language, but culture, as it is founded on the premise that comfort with foreigners and confronting cultural issues are essential for effective language-learning.

" Some students come in the first time almost crying because they're afraid to go one-on-one with a foreigner," says Canadian instructor Brenda Engberts. She says an atmosphere more like a home stay than a classroom, "draws them in and keeps them here. It feels kind of like a family.

" Wisdom21's founder, Darrell Gartrell, adds, " What we've been able to do is teach them to identify with us. By sharing myself with students, I have helped show them how to make that approach. We take people out of their shell.

" Gartrell's specialty is slang and idioms, and his influence has led to a focus on African-American culture and history, with black music CDs in the stereos and "Black Enterprise" magazines on the coffee tables. Advanced students are also as likely to discuss the American civil rights movement as Japanese and western diets.

It was Gatrell's experience teaching before he started Wisdom21 that suggested to him there was an interest in studying English with a cultural emphasis. But he adds, "I didn't kid myself either---a lot of students came because I was black.

" Now, though, Gartrell hopes to expand from black culture to provide immersion in a variety of English-speaking cultures. "We want our students to know and hear that it's an international language ," he says.

Diverse staff:

His diverse staff gives some indication of what the future might hold. A teacher from Ghana builds lessons around issues of economic underdevelopment. A part-time worker from Turkey, hired to hand out flyers , is now teaching occasional classes giving a sampling of Turkish culture. Engberts, from Canada, says she likes to stress the difference between Canada and the United States.

Dan Carey, 50, pulls from his experience as a 25-year New York City resident, emergency medical technician, and operator of a limousine service. He clips New York Times articles for his students to read and discuss, including one about a recent multiple-murder at a Wendy's restaurant.

" Having lived in the Queens section of New York, I'm very familiar with those areas," he said.

" We talked about the particulars of the case; this guy had several prior run-ins with fast-food places. We considered the queston of whether his bail should have been set higher."

Wisdom21's approach is clearly a long way from "This is a pen." As of now, the three-year -old, 450-student school is hardly a financial threat to the likes of Geos and Nova, but Gartrell's concept for an English school doubling as a cultural "center of higher learning" shows signs it could steadily suck more students away from the big schools.

Gartrell says wisdom21 gains about 30 new students for every five who discontinue lessons each month. Students pay 15,000 yen each month, and are guaranteed class sizes of no more than three. Though Gartrell says he has logistic hassles running a business in Japan, money is not a worry. Working off of its own revenues, Wisdom21 has established two full-time schools in Osaka, and a new head office. The 15 teachers work in a dozen well-furnished classrooms, with stereos and videos that give a home-stay feel. Gartrell is still considering how to spend the school's first outside funding, a 10-million-yen small-business bank loan. He has also talked with an outside investor who may help the school expand to Tokyo or elsewhere.

Sheena Daswani, an Osaka radio and TV host who was a guest speaker at a recent special event at the school geve a sample of what the rest of J0apan may have in store. Giving a latecomer a quick update, she said: "I'm talking about globalization and yin and yang and Einstein's theory of relativity all at the same time." Meanwhile, on the white board behind her, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach" is scrawled next to a yin-yang symbol.

Herbal medicine:

After the talk, each of the dozen or so higher-level students shared a recent classroom topic, including prejudice and stereotypes, "Whether we are happy about our jobs," herbal medicine, the death of Keizo Obuch, the history of samba music and the Brazilian Carnival. One of the longer student contributions was from Dr. Yoshinori Yasuda, a 44-year-old pediatrician and cardiologist who came to Wisdom21 after experience in one of the larger ee-kai-wa schools. "It was like a reprint of the Japanese educational system," he said. "There was no chance to say my own opinion." Kokoro Nishiya, aged 27, has been at the school for 14 months. "I've never really thought about it, but most of the topics really are thought-provoking," she said. "They give me a chance to go soul-searching."

Students were also asked some of the slang or sayings they had picked up: "kinda, rip-off, look who's talking, jack of all trades and master of none, porcelain throne." Outside the school's other location earlier in the day, a student seemed in the spirit when she told teachers she was "off to get rowdy and raise hell" in Hawaii for a few days.

Gartrell's vision includes strict qualifications for both students and staff, and he has turned away students and dismissed teachers who did not seem serious about the endeavor. Students must complete an interview to convince him of their commitment before enrolling. They also receive a rule book, "Breaking Traditons," which details school expectations and the commitment to speak English.

Once they're in, Gartrell says he tracks students more closely than they might expect elsewhere. He keeps a file on each one, and classifies them not only by ability but by "psychological" profile: "Gun-Shy" stacks up on vocabulary but dreads speaking; "Trigger-Happy ," on the other hands, knows 12 words and, as Gartrell says, " damned if he doesn't use them every chance he gets;" while "The Warrior" may be facing an ultimatum from work, and is desperate to get fluent---and fast.

Staff performance :

All students have a conference with Gartrell after every four lessons, where he can check their progress and also keep briefed on his staff's performance in the classroom. Soon, students may also be able to access their files and chart their progress on the school's Web site: http://www.wisdom21.com "I want to control every aspect from the time they walk in the door," Gartrell says. "I want it to feel like a fantasy world."

It seems Kansai students eager for English are finding the hands-on approach worth paying for. In breaking the mold like this, it may not be long before learners elsewhere in Japan will have chance to sample the Wisdom21 approach as well.

Asahi Evening News, Kansai Edition, July 10, 2000