INSIDE... NEW YEAR ACTIVITIES • E-READING • PRIMARY UPDATE

MADOVOLUME 15 • JANUARY 2003

THE JAPAN FOUNDATIONNIHONGO CENTRE NEWSLETTER

More than 150 teachers of Japanese from allsectors gathered at the Japanese Embassyon November 11 to celebrate theconsiderable achievements made in the fieldof Japanese language education in the UK inrecent years.

Welcoming guests, Minister Seiji Kojimaexplained that the purpose of the receptionwas to “honour the wonderful contributionall of you have made to Japanese languageteaching in the UK – and therefore tomutual understanding between our twocountries and peoples.” He also paid tributeto the key role played by the Nihongo Centreand congratulated all those who had helpedto create Tobu: Learn Japanese, whichreceived an award at the British InteractiveMedia Awards in October 2002.

Speaking on behalf ofteachers from the

secondary sector, Mary-Grace Browning saidthat in spite of theenormous changes thathad taken place in

Japanese languageeducation since she began

teaching the subject 32 yearsago, the support of the Embassy had

remained constant. The number of pupilslearning Japanese at UK secondary schoolshad increased dramatically during thisperiod, she noted, rising from 18 in 1970 tomore than 9000 today.

Kazuko Sorensen, Chairof the BritishAssociation forTeaching Japanese asa Foreign Language(BATJ), added amessage from theHigher Education sector,noting that she wasencouraged to see the steady growth ofJapanese at British universities, more thanhalf of which now teach the language, aswell as the rising popularity of Japanesewithin Adult Education. She stressed the needto create stronger links between schools anduniversities teaching Japanese and said thatBATJ would welcome any suggestions andadvice on this issue.

The reception provided a valuable opportunityfor teachers from different sectors to network.Information on Club Taishikan, the Embassy’sschool visit programme, was also on displayand guests were invited to sample Japanesetea and sweets in the Tea Ceremony corner.

Celebrating Japanese Language Teaching in the UK

Taking tea at the Embassy during the reception for Japanese language teachers

An INSET day on the Japanese for EverydayCommunication (JFEC) Certificate, held atthe Nihongo Centre on October 8, attractedover 40 participants, reflecting the growinginterest in the course since the CambridgeCertificate in Japanese was discontinued lastyear.

The JFEC is accredited by the Welsh JointEducation Committee, which co-organisedthe event. Although originally designed as aone-year introductory course for sixth-formclasses in Wales, JFEC is increasingly beingused as a ‘stepping stone’ to GCSE by pupilsin Key Stage 3 (KS3).

The course is currently undergoing a processof redevelopment with the aid of a grantfrom the Japan Foundation and is close toreceiving approval from the QCA for inclusionon the Section 96 list, which means that itwould be officially recognised for use instate schools with KS3 and 4.

Lydia Morey, who has been involved in thedevelopment of JFEC from the beginning, isnow Moderator for the Certificate. She gaveparticipants an overview of the course,focusing in particular on marking andmoderation. She also gave an indication ofhow the course was likely to change, and

asked for feedback from teachers as to whichaspects they found most valuable. Practicalteaching ideas were then presented byTatsuya Nakagome, Miwa Moriwaki and Lydiain a series of three workshops focusing onindividual units of the course: Introductions,Shopping & Restaurants and Daily Life.Teachers had ample scope during the plenarysession to ask questions about existingresources and proposed changes.

For further information about the JFEC course,contact Jean Rawlings, Subject Officer at theWJEC, by email at: jean.rawlings@wjec.co.ukor by telephone on 029 20265000.

Japanese for Everyday Communication

E-Reading pilot launchedIn October, the Nihongo Centre launched anexciting new pilot course designed to helpnon-native teachers to improve their readingskills in Japanese. Initiated by our Advisorfor Secondary Education, Miwa Moriwaki, E-Reading allows teachers to work at their ownpace in a structured and supportedenvironment. Reading materials are tailor-made and based on GCSE topics, whichmeans that they can also be adapted for usein the classroom. Each half term participantsare sent a short reading passage or article inJapanese by email. They are then asked toanswer some simple comprehension questionsin English and email them back to the e-tutor, Moriwaki Sensei, who monitors theirprogress throughout the year and is on handto help with any difficulties. An on-line kanjilist has been set up as a resource for theproject, enabling teachers to test themselvesin the comfort of their own homes.Participants are also provided with a kanjimultiple choice quiz.

So far the 14 teachers trialling the project,which is targeted at lower-intermediate level,have given very positive feedback. CliveWarlow from Cantonian High Schoolenthused: “This development in NihongoCentre support for teachers is brilliant!”while Alison Safadi from Jack Hunt Schoolparticularly liked the on-line kanji support:“I am really enjoying this – it doesn’t taketoo long but keeps me doing something!”

The E-Reading pilot will run until July 2003,covering topics such as introductions,shopping and eating out and school life. If itcontinues to be successful, the NihongoCentre hopes to expand the scope of theproject, as part of our aim of supportingteachers’ language development throughoutthe school year. Miwa Moriwaki and Hugh deSaram will be giving a presentation on E-Reading at ALL’s Language World 2003 in April.

Taking Control

Moriwaki Sensei leads a Japanese crafts session

Jle-uk keeps teachers in the loop

NIHONGO CENTRE NEWS PAGE 3

“Can anyone help me with the words in Japanese to a Christmassong such as Jingle Bells or point me to a website, perhaps?”asks Mary Grace Browning one Thursday morning. Within minutes,the jle-uk network has swung into action and responses withlong-remembered lyrics and websites with downloadableChristmas music are flying through the ether.

Set up by the Nihongo Centre in July 1999 as an email discussiongroup for teachers of Japanese and others involved in Japaneselanguage education, jle-uk now has over 150 members whoregularly discuss a wide range of issues and provide mutualsupport and advice, sharing information and practical classroomtips. Jle-uk, which focuses primarily on the secondary and adultsectors, also serves as one of the main mechanisms for findingjobs for teachers of Japanese in the UK.

Links created through the network over the last year include thecase of two teachers of Japanese from Melbourne who sentmessages to jle-uk on being transferred to the UK only todiscover that they would be based within a few miles of eachother. Teachers have found jle-uk a useful means of sharingresources, many of which are now available on the Nihongo Centre

website, and regularly exchange views on issues of mutualinterest. A recent exchange on the subject of Japanese anddyslexia led to the idea of setting up a group to discuss the issuefurther. Michiko Harwood, who has taught dyslexic pupils atMillfield School, is keen to hear from any teachers who might beinterested in joining such a group and can be contacted by emailat michiko@talk21.com. Michiko Harwood and Chieko Tateno willbe giving a presentation on Dyslexia and Japanese at LanguageWorld 2003 in April.

To subscribe to jle-uk, go to our website(www.nihongocentre.org.uk) and click on jle-uk in the right-handmenu for full joining instructions.

As noted in the last issue of Mado, there hasbeen a significant increase in the interest inJapanese at primary level in the UK over thepast year. There is also a growing desire onthe part of secondary schools – LanguageColleges in particular – to develop theiroutreach work in Japanese to feeder primaryschools.

In response to these developments, a newproject focusing on Primary Sector Japanesewas launched in November by the NihongoCentre in partnership with the School ofEducation, University of Nottingham, andJFET (Japan Festival Education Trust) withsupport from The Japan Society. The aims ofReady Steady NihonGo are to research thecurrent state of Japanese language teachingin the context of primary language teachingas a whole and to create a network ofteachers with both primary and Japaneseexpertise, to act as ‘pioneers’ in thisemerging field. Initial research will bedesigned to suggest a strategy for pilotingJapanese at primary level as well as toidentify resource and training needs.

Central to the project will be the input ofthe Primary Japanese Pioneers’ Group,consisting of a team of teachers includingprimary-trained Japanese speakers such asex-JETs; secondary teachers who do outreachin feeder primary schools; trainee teachersof primary Japanese; and primary languagespecialists who would like to start Japanese.If you feel you have a particular

contribution to make in this context, pleasecall Sally Lewis on 020 7838 9955.

The first phase of the project will culminatein a one-day conference at the NihongoCentre on 13 March 2003, to disseminategood practice at Key Stage 2. Primaryteachers will be invited to present casestudies; key specialists on early languagelearning will be invited to speak; and theevent will provide an opportunity forresearch findings to be discussed.

BLAZING A TRAIL IN PRIMARY JAPANESEFigures for Thought

Did you know......that there are currently 293 schoolsteaching Japanese in the UK?The breakdown by region is 86%England; 4% Wales; 7% N Ireland; and3% Scotland.

...that the number of learners ofJapanese in secondary schools is now9,050?This figure has more than doubled since1997 when there were an estimated4000 learners.

...that the total number of teachers ofJapanese at secondary level is 234?38% are native-speakers; 62% are non-native speaking teachers.

...that 68 out of 157 LanguageColleges now teach or are planning tointroduce Japanese? This amounts to 43% of the totalnumber.

...that the record number of learnersat any one school is 1,134?Tavistock College in Devon holds thecurrent record. There are now 13 schoolswith over 200 learners in the UK.

Primary pupils hard at work - in Japanese!

PAGE 4 TEACHER’S PAGE

HAIKU FOR THE NEW YEAR

AimsTo familiarise pupils with the haiku andsenryu forms

To create a greater awareness in pupils ofthe sound of Japanese

To enable pupils to express their ideas andfeelings concisely in Japanese, using simplewords

To introduce the concept of seasonalreferences in poems

LevelGCSE (example 1) AS/A (example 2)

ProcedureGo through the examples of haiku andsenryu on pages 4 and 5 with your pupils.

Hand out copies of the worksheet and askpupils to write down a thought, situation orfeeling which could form the subject for asenryu or haiku. You may like to suggest atheme such as the Winter Holidays; or theycan choose a season-word from the table asa topic if they prefer.

Get your pupils to brainstorm and writedown key words in Japanese – don’t worryabout full sentences at this stage.

Ask pupils to count the syllables of thewords they have written down. They can usethese as a starting point to create a poemto express their chosen theme using the5/7/5 model.

ExtensionAsk pupils to explain their haiku or senryuto the class in Japanese, using completesentences. They could also produce a shortwritten piece.

Get pupils to translate their work into English.Compare versions to see the expressionaldifferences between the two languages.

Encourage pupils to use photographs andimages as a stimulus for writing haiku andsenryu.

ExamplesSee below for two examples of senryu – youwill notice that they don’t contain kigo. Aftereach poem, I have explained the thoughtprocess behind it in Japanese and English.

Happy New Year! What better time to encourage your pupils to try their hand atcomposing haiku and senryu? Haiku is a traditional Japanese form of poetrymade up of 17 syllables (arranged in lines of 5, 7 and 5) which usually containsa kigo (seasonal word). One famous example is Matsuo Basho’s Furu-ikeya/kawazu tobi-komu/mizu no oto (which can be translated into English as: Anold pond/A frog jumps in/Sound of water). Senryu are even easier to write thanhaiku and are usually more humorous – you don’t have to worry about a kigojust express a thought or feeling in 17 syllables. In fact, as long as the poemhas a certain rhythm, you don’t need to be strict about the 17-syllable rule.Writing haiku and senryu is in fashion again at schools in Japan, so there arelots of useful websites you can use – see below left for a selection of these. We are always delighted to see samples of your pupils’ work!

1

2

1

1

2

3

2

3

4

For my son, who is still learning to speakEnglish, having to take on Latin and Frenchat his new school is really a struggle!

The sight of Big Ben makes me think abouthow much of the city’s history the clockmust have seen, while keeping time.

Teachers’ Pages SurveyA big thank you to all those who returned the survey forms with feedback on the Teachers’Pages. Your comments have already proved extremely useful for us in planning future topics forthese pages. Everyone who responded feels that the current format works well and more than80% find that the materials are pitched at the right level (mainly GCSE). However we do realisethat some of you need materials for AS/A2 level, and we will try to accommodate these needsas well. Do keep sending in your suggestions: these are your pages, and we need your input!

Websites for haiku/senryu

The following are just some of the websites you might find useful for teachingabout haiku and senryu:

Children’s Haiku Gardenwww.tecnet.or.jp/~haiku

Association of Japanese Classical Haikuwww.haiku.jp/haiku/nyumon_English.htm

Haiku contest Itoenwww.itoen.co.jp/new-haiku/index_e.html

BBCwww.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A222922

Sharing ResourcesWe have recently revamped the Teaching Resources section on our website, which now featuresa variety of useful resources that can be downloaded for use in the classroom. All resourceshave been created by teachers of Japanese or Nihongo Centre advisors. We welcome furthercontributions which can be sent in by post or as attachments. Log on to www.nihongocentre.org.uk and click on Teachers Resources for further details.

Worksheet - Haiku for the New Year

TEACHER’S PAGE PAGE 5

Context GCSE levelI have discovered that English chocolates are delicious; but eating too many might make me put on weight.

AS/A levelI have received lots of New Year greeting cards, but I haven’t sent any out at all. I know! I’ll send e-mail cards – it’s quicker and cheap!

Key words

Senryu & Haiku

(season-words)

1

1

2

12

2

PAGE 6 NEWS UPDATE

Tobu – Learn Japanese, created by the BBC and Diverse Productions with supportfrom the Nihongo Centre and funding fromthe DFES, won the BT Award for BestBroadband Content at the British Interactive Multimedia (BIMA) Awards onOctober 3, 2002.

One of the most prestigious new mediacompetitions in Europe, BIMA‘s annualawards set the standard for the industry,celebrating creative excellence within digitalmedia. This year, competition was fiercewith a total of 275 entries and websitesshortlisted from major retail and mediagiants including Habitat, Levi Strauss,Microsoft, MTV, Channel 4, Nike, Sainsburysand HSBC. For the BT Award for BestBroadband, judges considered nominees inall 17 categories (including Education) toselect the one which they felt had bestexploited the broadband platform.

Tobu is the first language-learning programmeever to have won a BIMA award, which is agreat achievement for Japanese languagelearning in the UK as well as much-deservedrecognition for the efforts of all involved inthe pilot. Congratulations to Steven Fawkes atthe BBC, who led the project, LinguisticEditor Claire Dugard and Davie McGirr, DanielCreasey and Ken Kawamoto at Diverse (nowknown as Illumina) who designed andproduced the site. The project could not havetaken place without the help of a dedicatedteam of Teacher Consultants (Gina Edens,Helen Gilhooly, Sian Hanlon, Anu Jain, JaneRutherford, Ben Stainer, Yuka Yokozawa, LizParke and Victoria Folkard), scripting supportfrom Sarah Haigh, or the invaluable input ofNaoyuki Kitani and the Nihongo Centre staff.Finally, a big thank you to all theparticipating pilot schools and independentlearners who made time in their curriculum totrial Tobu.

The fifth annual conference of theBritish Association for TeachingJapanese as a Foreign Language (BATJ)took place at Manchester MetropolitanUniversity on September 13 and 14and was attended by as many as 70teachers of Japanese from the highereducation sector.

In the keynote speech, ProfessorHaruo Kubozono discussed a generaltendency in language education toplace less importance on the teachingof pronunciation as opposed to that ofgrammar and vocabulary. Outlining thebasic structure of Japanese phoneticsand phonology, he pointed out thatthe system underlying Japanese accentand intonation was not as complex asit might first appear.

The conference featured presentationsand workshops on a wide variety ofthemes including Coping with diversityin students with prior knowledge ofJapanese ; Communicative functionsand the meaning of silence ; and TheApplication of the European LanguagePortfolio to the Japanese LanguageClassroom. Professor Kubozono gavevaluable feedback and encouragementto presenters and was kind enough todonate a number of his recentpublications to BATJ.

Forthcoming events include aworkshop led by Miyuki Nagai at theUniversity of Sheffield on January 18and another on the subject of Kanjiand Vocabulary led by Yoko Gutch inOxford in February (date to beconfirmed). On May 17 and 18 we willbe holding a two-day workshop onSpeech and Grammar at RoyalHolloway, University of London, towhich Professor Kubozono from KobeUniversity, Professor H Sukegawa fromTohoku University and Dr S Tanaka fromKobe Jogakuin University have beeninvited.

To find out more about BATJ’sactivities please visit www.batj.org.ukor contact the Chair: Kazuko Sorensen,Japanese Studies, Language Centre,Royal Holloway, University of London,Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX; tel: 01784 443812; fax 01784 477640; email: K.Sorensen@rhul.ac.uk.

BATJ Update

JLC News

Tobu wins BIMA award

The newly elected Japanese LanguageCommittee (JLC) of the Association ofLanguage Learning met in September. DavidFarrell from Ballyclare Secondary School, CoAntrim, is the new Chair and Claire Dugardfrom CILT has taken on the role of Treasurer.Other members of the committee are: SuzukoAnai, Helen Bagley, Sally Benson, Mary GraceBrowning, Helen Gilhooly, Michiko Harwood,Lydia Morey, Akemi Solloway, JaneRutherford and Yuka Yokozawa.

Regrettably the Sixth Form Languageweekend due to take place in March has hadto be cancelled due to circumstances beyondour control. We are now exploring thepossibility of running one-day revisionevents for pupils as a partial substitute forthis academic year and will keep youinformed via the jle-uk network.

JLC will again be organising a day ofJapanese-specific workshops at LanguageWorld 2003, ALL’s Annual Conference whichthis year will take place at the University ofBath from April 4 to 6. On Saturday April 5,

presentations will be given by YukaYokozawa on Let’s Sing and Dance inJapanese, Miwa Moriwaki and Hugh de Saramon E-Reading, Michiko Harwood and ChiekoTateno on Dyslexia and Japanese, andTatsuya Nakagome, Anne Rajakumar andGordon McBurnie on Ready Steady NihonGo.

The JLC is also in the process of seekingsponsorship to establish a National AnnualJapanese Speech Contest, building on thesuccess of Flights of Fancy, held last year aspart of Japan 2001.

JLC encourages teachers of Japanese to joinALL so that they can access the JLC HomePage for Japanese Teachers and use the on-line teaching material which we aredeveloping at the moment.

To find out more about JLC, contact theChair David Farrell by email atRdfarrell@aol.com or on 028 9332 2610. You can also visit the website atwww.jlcweb.org.uk (contact ALL for apassword).

Mana Takatori, Davie McGirr, Claire Dugard and Steven Fawkes with the BIMA trophy

LIBRARY PAGE PAGE 7

Japanese Culture Resources & Activities Author: Karan Chandler; Publisher: Nelson (1996)ISBN: 0-17-009118-X; Shelf No: 360 CH

Skills: Reading, Writing and Cultural StudiesLevel: Primary, Key Stage 3

This book is a fun-filled activity andexercise book, suitable for primary level toearly Key Stage 3. Japanese customs andlifestyle themes are introduced for teachingin English and Romaji. Out of the tendifferent topics covered, the following areparticularly useful for New Year’s activities:Traditional Japanese clothing, whichincludes the kimono, Things Japanese,which includes kites and the Januarysection of Monthly Events, which includes

activities such as Fukuwarai, a New Year game similar toPin the Tail on the Donkey.

Karuta Karuta is a Japanese card-matching game often played as part of NewYear celebrations. Karuta is ideal for language learning because ithelps pupils learn and revise vocabulary and sentence patterns whilehaving fun at the same time! The Nihongo Centre library has severaldifferent sets of Karuta (using both kana and kanji). The following areexamples of sets which you can use for kanapractice:

Nihongo Karuta(60 picture cards and 60 text cards)Author: Nobuko MizutaniPublisher: Bonjinsha (1988)Shelf No: 810.7 MI

Level: Beginners

Designed for learners of Japanese,this set is suitable for beginners ofany age who are familiar withhiragana.

Kotoba no Ehon - Aiueo Karuta(46 picture cards and 46 text cards)Author: Taro Gomi; Publisher: EhonkanISBN: 4 87110 194 0 Shelf No: 810.7 GO

Level: Beginners

Although originallydesigned forJapanese children,this karuta set can beused with beginnersof any ages who arefamiliar with hiragana.The cards also includekatakana, which makesthe game a good way forpupils to familiarisethemselves with thesecharacters too.

Irasuto katto mini hyakka Author: Hideki Yamashita; Publisher: Seibundoo shinmitsusha (1986)ISBN: 4 416 78610 7; Shelf No: 726 YA

This is a series of ten books,each containing drawingsand images which arecopyright free (foreducational purposes). Theseries provides ideal materialfor making Japanese-styleworksheets and the images canalso be used to make flashcards.Below, we’ve listed the volumeswhich are particularly useful forcreating materials to teach aboutNew Year and other annual events:

No.3Nihon no junikagetsu henManga-style pictures illustrate the festivals and events in Japanmonth by month. The ones for January could be used to make NewYear cards with your pupils.

No. 5 Sumie saijiki henThis volume contains a variety of sumie paintings for each season aswell as the twelve signs of the zodiac.

No. 8 Fudekaki nihon no egoyomi henThis book contains beautiful brush paintings arranged by monthlythemes. The images are more casually drawn than those in volume 5.

No. 9 Zoku nihon no junikagetsu henSimilar to no. 3, this volume contains a wide range of imagesarranged by month. It also includes seasonal words, which can beused for making school magazines or newsletters.

Kisetsu de manabu Nihongo Japanese Through the SeasonsAuthors: Kyoko Ishizuka et.al; Publisher: ALC (2000)ISBN: 4-7574-0391-7; Shelf No: 810.7 IS

Skills: Speaking, reading, writing and listening(includes cassette tape)Level: Beginners (Higher Education and Adults),possibly AS/A2 level

This book is a collection of seasonal articleswhich appeared in The Nihongo Journal betweenApril 1999 and March 2000. There are 12 units inthe book, each focusing on a different month.Each unit contains passages in English andJapanese, accompanied by a photograph andtwo keywords which link to the events describedin the article. The keywords for January, for example,are shinshun (New Year) and oshogatsu (New Year’s Day). Passages arefollowed by a range of set tasks such as reading comprehensions,exercises to reinforce grammatical points and graphs and surveyswhich encourage learners to come up with their own answers toquestions on Japanese society and culture. Dialogues are alsoincluded for listening comprehension practice.

This issue’s Library and Resources page has a seasonalfocus to help you celebrate the New Year inJapanese style. Our Advisor for SecondaryEducation, Miwa Moriwaki, has selected fourmaterials which link to the New Year theme butwhich hopefully will come in useful throughout theyear. All the resources listed are available from the

library and can also be borrowed through our Loan byPost service. If you haven’t yet had a chance to try out

our on-line catalogue, why not make a New Year’sResolution to explore our virtual shelves by clickingonto the library section of the Nihongo Centre website(www.nihongocentre.org.uk). Library holidays in thecoming months are March 21, April 18 and 21.

For general library enquiries, contact the Librarian on020 7838 9955 or by email:francoise@nihongocentre.org.uk.

2

3

4

1

UK Japanese Speec

h Award

This speech compe

tition is open to 15

-18 year old stude

nts

whose native langu

age is not Japanes

e and who have no

t lived

in Japan for more

than 3 months. Ca

ndidates will be ju

dged on

a five-minute spee

ch in Japanese on

a topic of their ch

oice,

followed by a two-

minute interview. T

he winner will rece

ive an

invitation to the 8

th JSA Internation

al Competition inc

luding a

two-week cross-cul

tural programme in

Japan. Students w

ishing

to participate shou

ld send a taped sp

eech in Japanese w

ith a

letter of recommen

dation from their J

apanese teacher to

the

address below by M

onday February 10.

The finals will be

held at

Eton College, Wind

sor, on Sunday Mar

ch 2.

For further details,

contact the JSA Co

mmittee Office (JO

BA

International), 1F L

awford House, Albe

rt Place, Finchley,

London N3 1QA. Te

l: 020 8343 4332,

email: m.ishikawa@

etoncollege.org.uk

or visit the websit

e

(Japanese only) at

www.iware.ne.jp/js

a/.

JAPANESE DEGREE COURSES

2001-2002

In November, the Japan Foundation and T

he Daiwa

Anglo-Japanese Foundation published Jap

anese

Degree Courses 2001-2002, which provides

a

comprehensive overview of Japanese degr

ee

courses at 54 higher education institutio

ns across

the UK, including information on course c

ontent,

graduate numbers, financial provision, an

d student

and staff ratios. The new edition, which i

s an

update of the original 1996-97 publication

, can be

downloaded free of charge from the Nihon

go

Centre website at www.nihongocentre.org.

uk.

Please note that although, as reported in

Mado

13, the University of Stirling and the Uni

versity of

Ulster have made the decision to withdraw

Japanese, both institutions will continue

to teach

Japanese to existing students.

The reception held atthe Japanese Embassyin November(featured on thefront cover)provided afitting occasionto celebrate the great strides thatJapanese language education has made inthe UK in recent years – thanks to theefforts of teachers in all sectors. With thelatest figure for school learners in the UKnow over the 9,000 mark, there is a realsense that Japanese has gained a firmfoothold in UK schools. It is importantnot to be complacent, though, as theupdated University Guide shows a slightdecrease in the number of undergraduatestaking accredited Japanese courses. It istherefore essential to seize theopportunity for expansion that recentdevelopments in the Primary sector areoffering and we hope that many of youwill be involved in pioneering a strategyfor teaching Japanese at this level. Wehope you enjoy the New Year’s activitiesfeatured in this issue and wish you all the best for 2003.

HEAD STARTWednesday 22 – Friday 24 January An intensive introduction to Japanese

and the issues associated with teachingit for Heads of MFL and senior managersin secondary schools and language co-

ordinators at primary level.

TSUGI WA? WHERE NEXT FORJAPANESE?

Wednesday 12 February (note change of date)

A CILT/Nihongo joint INSET dayexploring how recent initiatives and

policy changes could impact positivelyon the teaching of Japanese in the UK.

READY STEADY NIHONGOThursday, 13 March

Disseminating good practice at primarylevel with primary ‘pioneer’ teachers

presenting various case studies,supported by findings from the project’s

research.

JAPANESE SIXTH FORM WEEKEND Please note that this event has had tobe cancelled (see JLC News on Page 6).

ALL LANGUAGE WORLD 2003 Friday 4 – Sunday 6 April

ALL’s Annual Conference, University of Bath (see page 6 for Japanese-

specific programme organised by JLC or call ALL for further information on

01788 546443).

JAPANESE A-LEVEL REVISION COURSETuesday 22 – Friday 25 April

To be held at Durham University. Forfurther information contact the

Department of East Asian Studies on0191 374 3231.

Unless otherwise stated, all events takeplace at the Nihongo Centre. Please callus on 020 7838 9955 for further details.

THE NIHONGO CENTRE NEWSLETTEREditor: Caroline Lewis Design: François Hall

Published byTHE JAPAN FOUNDATION

LONDON LANGUAGE CENTRE27 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7LY

Telephone: 020 7838 9955 Fax: 020 7838 9966

Website: www.nihongocentre.org.uk

Dear Mado ReadersI wanted to tell you about some of mythoughts, prompted by a recent tripto Japan, during which I retraced myfirst journey there 50 years ago. In1952 when I went to study at KyotoUniversity, the number of Britishpeople who could speak Japanesehardly reached double figures – itseems incredible that our universitiesnow teach the language to morethan 2500 students each year.During my stay I spent a day at theJapan Foundation’s JapaneseLanguage Institute in Urawa and wasmost impressed by the facilities,including the wonderful library. Ienjoyed catching up with KitaniSensei and had a long talk withDirector Hidetoshi Kato, both of usthinking back to people and eventswhen we were graduate studentstogether in Kyoto University in 1953.I also met up with ProfessorTakamizawa, who has long been adriving force in the promotion ofbusiness Japanese. When he told methat the new e-learning courses he isdeveloping were proving extremelypopular in China and South EastAsia, it made me realise thathowever much progress we have made in the UK over thelast 50 years, wemust keep up withdevelopments inJapanese teaching – let’s make sure wedon’t get left behind!Professor GeoffreyBownas

READY STEADY NIHONG

O!

Ready Steady NihonGo o

n 13 March will be the

first

comprehensive Primary

Japanese Day to be he

ld at the Nihongo

Centre. Presentations in

clude the first results f

rom in-depth

research into the UK Pr

imary Sector and feedb

ack from a newly-

established network of

teachers with primary

and Japanese

expertise. Other topics

to be covered are: link

s between the

secondary and primary

sector, disseminating g

ood practice and

successful primary mod

els of Japanese from th

e US and

Australia. For further i

nformation call the Ni

hongo Centre on

020 7838 9955.