News

Hajimemashite!

My name is Megan Balanck and I'll be taking over from Chris Shone as the Assistant Programme Officer at the Japan Foundation London Language Centre.

I have recently returned from Nagasaki City, having spent two very enjoyable years teaching English at five schools as an Assistant Language Teacher on the JET Programme.  Prior to JET I took Japanese Studies at Durham University, which included one year in Japan at Kumamoto University.

As a JET participant, my role was to introduce aspects of British life to Japanese students, while demonstrating that learning a foreign language is not only incredibly useful, but also a lot of fun.  Now that I'm back in my home country, I'd like to try and do the reverse - to spread awareness and enthusiasm for Japanese culture and encourage more and more people in the UK to study the Japanese language.

I’m really happy to be here at the Japan Foundation and am eager to help you out with any questions you may have.

Douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu! 

From 21^st – 30^th July, 25 participants took part in the Japanese Language Refresher Courses for Teachers. They visited the Japan Foundation to brush up on their language skills and network with other teachers of Japanese. An advanced course was held in the first week and an intermediate course was held in the second week, in an attempt to cater to as many different levels as possible.

The advanced course focused primarily on keigo and manners/taboos in a typical Japanese workplace. The participants were able to hone their skills through role-plays, quizzes and written activities before finally interviewing a series of mystery guests and reporting their findings back to their classmates.

In the intermediate course the class revised various language points, while also talking about recycling issues and any new ideas they had for tackling the world’s environmental problems. Finally, in small groups, they laid out their manifestos for why they should be elected as ‘mayor’ and had the chance to vote for whoever they considered to be the best candidate.

“I really enjoyed the course”, said Helen Turner, a lecturer at Hertford Regional College. “It was a wonderful opportunity to submerge in Japanese and to meet people in the same situation.”

Christopher Byrne agreed, saying, “It was a very well structured course with two excellent teachers. It featured very clear explanations and use of target language, with enjoyable and engaging activities.”

Thank you very much to everyone who made this year’s courses so successful. 

The 2010 Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) will be held in the UK at SOAS, University of London, on Sunday 5^th December 2010. The exam will also be held on the same day at Dublin City University in Ireland.

This is the first time that candidates will sit the new JLPT, and be able to choose from five levels, instead of four. The new levels N1, N2, N4 and N5 will be roughly equivalent in difficulty to the old levels 1-kyu, 2-kyu, 3-kyu and 4-kyu, respectively. The new N3 level will bridge the gap between 3-kyu and 2-kyu.

The new exam will focus more on communication skills, and give a better picture of what a candidate can do in Japanese. The sections within each level have also changed slightly. In addition, past exam questions will no longer be made public. Sample questions and profiles of the new levels will be published instead. Full details of the new exam are given on the official JLPT website in Japanese. (An English version is expected later in August 2010.)

Applications will be open from 12th August 2010 until 6pm on Thursday 7th October 2010. For all enquiries about taking the JLPT in the UK, please contact SOAS.

This course provided a chance for advanced learners of the Japanese Language to finally discover what Japanese people really think about various topics. The participants spent some time learning about formal ways of speaking and also worked together in small groups to think of questions to ask the special mystery guests. Questions topics ranged from the position of women in the Japanese workplace to the acceptability of tattoos in public baths! Each group also had the chance to present their findings to their classmates and compare conclusions.

The next Talking Contemporary Japan course will take place in November. Please look out for details in the What’s On section of this website and in JF-News. 

On 19^th June the finals of the Nihongo Cup were held at the Embassy of Japan in London. Despite the rival event of Japan vs Holland taking place at exactly the same time – clearly an oversight on the part of the World Cup schedulers – the auditorium was full to capacity, as the audience settled down to listen to the speeches. Without a vuvuzela in sight, the finalists showcased their considerable talents, competing in three separate categories in an attempt to impress the judges and win an array of fantastic prizes.

The 18 finalists had done extremely well to reach this stage of the competition, with this year’s number of applications totalling 268 pupils from 22 different schools. Speech topics ranged from the traditional way of the Japanese samurai to Seattle saxophonists and all participants had clearly put a great deal of time and effort into their preparation for the contest.

In between the speeches there were also excellent performances by the pupils of Knorton Knatchbull School and the Kakehashi Koto Ensemble to keep everyone entertained. On top of this, the audience was treated to a dance and language lesson by the pupils of Greenford High School and the Japanese Language Committee, demonstrating that clubbing and Japanese-language learning can actually be combined very easily!

Competition was extremely high but eventually the judges were able to agree on the winners, awarding first prize in each category to Ollie Capehorn (post-GCSE), Tanya Naumenko (pre-GCSE) and Jonah Allen (Key Stage 3), who later remarked that “This was probably the best moment of my life to date!”

Many congratulations and a big thank-you to everyone who came together to make the day such a success. The full results of the contest are as follows:

Key Stage 4 and 5 Post-GCSE:
Winner – Ollie Capehorn, Wycliffe College
Speech Title: Why not take up a foreign language?
2^nd Place – Shyam Patel, Whitgift School
Speech Title: Japanese Religions
3^rd Place – Lawson Lancaster, Greenford High School
Speech Title: Takoyaki and Fried Potatoes
Other Finalists:
Jisu Lee, St. Helen’s School
Joe Littler, King Edward VII School
Dorota Malec, South Wolds School

Key Stage 4 and 5 Pre-GCSE:
Winner – Tanya Naumenko, Wycliffe College
Speech Title: Hokusai
2^nd Place – Sean Bullock, Dame Alice Owen’s School
Speech Title: Studying Foreign Languages
3^rd Place – Hannah Dobb, Campion School
Speech Title: My 2010
Other Finalists:
Areekul Bunprakob, Brittons School & Technology College
Jessica Leeson, Weald of Kent Grammar School
Amelia Underwood, Stratford upon Avon Grammar School for Girls

Key Stage 3 (all speeches entitled ‘My Favourite Person’):
Winner – Jonah Allen, Aylesbury Grammar School
2^nd Place – Nketia Obed-Arthur, Whitgift School
3^rd Place – Phoebe Ball, South Wolds School
Other Finalists:
Kirsten Bergfors, St. Helen’s School
Ellie Oaten, Tavistock College
Jenny Robinson, Queen Mary’s High School

The event was organised by the Japanese Language Committee of the Association for Language Learning, in association with the Japan Foundation London and Embassy of Japan in the UK. We are very grateful to Toshiba of Europe Ltd, JSA (the Japanese Speech Awards), Ricoh UK Ltd, JP-Books (JPT Europe Ltd) and the Japan Centre for sponsoring the event and donating prizes, and also to Sumisho Computer Systems for their generous sponsorship and to Soho Japan for contributing to the evening reception.

On 9^th June 20 teachers came to learn more about the volunteer opportunities available through the Japan Foundation’s StepOutNet Programme. Through this programme, fluent speakers of Japanese can volunteer to give one-off Japanese language taster sessions at schools in the UK.

At the training day the participants listened to a report by Kayoko Fujii about her recent visit to Chafford Hundred Campus Secondary school. They also received lesson ideas based around simple greetings and the Tanabata festival.

If you would like more information about the StepOutNet Programme please click here.