INSIDE... BBC UPDATE • MANGA RESOURCES • JLC SPEECH CONTEST

MADOVOLUME 10 • APRIL 2001

Japan 2001– All Set to Go!

THE JAPAN FOUNDATIONNIHONGO CENTRE NEWSLETTER

After many months of planning and preparation, Japan 2001 –the biggest celebration of Japanese culture in Britain for over adecade – will be officially launched on May 1. The flagship ofthe opening events Matsuri – Japan in the Park, which takesplace in Hyde Park on May 19 and 20, is an ideal opportunity toexpose your pupils to a wide range of modern and traditionalJapanese culture and what’s more, it’s completely free!

Another highlight will be a spectacular season of kabuki,presented by the legendary theatre company, Chikamatsu-za, led byLiving National Treasure Nakamura Ganjiro III. Look out for theirimpressive performances of Love Suicides at Sonezaki by ChikamatsuMonzaemon, often referred to as the Japanese Shakespeare. BothSadler’s Wells in London and The Lowry in Salford will be transformedinto traditional Japanese playhouses with an authentic hanamichi,bringing actors right into the audience, as well as Japanese stylerefreshments and foyer entertainment.

Those of you with a taste for consumer culture should head forSelfridges, which is turning itself into a Japanese department store,complete with vending machines, expert gift-wrappers and a series ofcutting-edge installations specially commissioned from up andcoming Japanese artists. Tokyo Life, the biggest in-store promotionever carried out by Selfridges, will continue in London andManchester throughout May, with Japanese fads, fashions and foodand even a 24-hour Convenience Store.

Events and activities taking place throughout Britain include a UKtour by Tozai Ensemble, a group specially formed to promotecollaborations between British and Japanese composers andmusicians, and a Japanese school lunch day, with caterers Castle ViewServices supplying Japanese meals to 88,000 schoolchildren inBrighton, Hove and beyond. Meanwhile, as part of a whole series ofJapan 2001 events, the Barbican Centre in London presents JAM:London – Tokyo, which brings together art, music and fashion fromaround fifty artists in London and Tokyo to provide a unique overviewof the globalisation of urban culture in the 21st century.

Wherever you’re based and whatever your interests, Japan 2001 hassomething for you! To find out more, visit the official website atwww.japan2001.org.uk, where you can search for events by categoryand region or contact the Japan 2001 Secretariat on 020 7499 9644(tel) or by email: info@japan2001.org.uk. For details of Japan 2001core Education Programmes, contact JFET on 020 7630 8698 (tel); 020 7931 8453 (fax) or by email: jfet@jfet.org.uk.

Experience Tokyo Life at Selfridges this May as part of Japan 2001

PAGE 2 NIHONGO CENTRE NEWS

The Key Stage 3 Japanese Pilot funded byDfEE and managed by the BBC in partnershipwith the Nihongo Centre, is now well underway. In this issue, we report back on thecontent of the course being developed aswell as some of the issues which thisinnovative project is uncovering.

The project aims to provide resources via theInternet for Year 7 beginners, using theparticular strengths of interactive media,such as graphics, animation, quiz activities,sound and video. The website is not yetpublic but is being piloted by teachers andlearners in 20 schools. By the end of thecurrent school year, 12 units of work willhave been completed, covering topics suchas Myself and Friends, Home Life, School Lifeand Free Time.

The whole resource is designed toappeal to young learners ofJapanese through brightlycoloured graphics, lively audio, acast of animated characters anda range of activities. All fourlanguage skills are developed,using printable worksheets forwriting skills and ‘look / listen andrespond’ online speaking activities.Hiragana, supported byaudio, is introducedfrom the outset. Specialfeatures to encouragethe fast acquisition ofscript knowledge willinclude a hiragana chartwith sound links, whichincludes pictorialmnemonics specially devisedfor the project and usesanimation to illustratestroke order; a similarkatakana chart; and a kanjireference section for the first35 kanji, which also usesanimation to support themnemonic feature.

Bill Oliver, Headteacher at PontelandCounty Middle School, new toJapanese at the start of the pilot, isdelighted with the response frompupils. “The children areuniversally enthralled with Tobuand his escapades,” hecomments. “If they could, someof them would stay every nightafter school to do Japanese.” Liz

Parke, who teaches Japanese at KatharineLady Berkeley’s School describes the courseas a “fantastic tool for both teachers andpupils alike,” adding, “Tobu has proved to bea really useful and accessible interactive aidwhich has given confidence to all of ourlearners of Japanese.”

Developing a comprehensive languageteaching resource, particularly for a

non-Roman script language suchas Japanese, raises many issuesfor the Internet medium.Among the solutions whichare being piloted to meetthese challenges are the

extensive use of sound, linkedto Japanese script appearing in

learning material, and theprovision ofexplanations inEnglish in places

where a teacher wouldusually be on hand to

advise. Learners are alsoencouraged to repeatextensively and interactwith the characters onscreen. Although thecourse activities areplanned in sequence,pupils can also follow aless prescribed route,

while their progress istracked and displayed on a

scorecard. As well as unit notes onthe language and grammarcontent, the course also providesvideo clips filmed in Japan tosupport language learning andcultural activities.

The extent to which thesesolutions are effective willbecome clearer as the projectand evaluation proceed. We

will follow Tobu’s progress inthe autumn issue of Mado.

Focus: Higher EducationAccording to statistics compiled by theNihongo Centre in December 2000, there arecurrently 52 Higher Education institutionsoffering Japanese as part of an accreditedcourse in the UK. Of the 150 languageteaching positions in this sector, 76 are fulltime and 69 part time, while 102 teachersare Japanese native speakers.

The Nihongo Centre held its first seminartargeted at teachers in Higher Education inFebruary. Over 20 people attended the one-day event, which centred on issues relatingto the Year Abroad. Centre DirectorTsuneyuki Osato explained that the seminarwas being held as the result of fact-findingvisits by NC staff to universities teachingJapanese. The Year Abroad also emerged asan important issue for teachers surveyed aspart of the Nihongo Centre Review held lastyear, he added.

The Nihongo Centre and BATJ are planning ajoint seminar to continue the debate on theYear Abroad and are delighted to haveProfessor Machiko Netsu from ICU in Tokyo tospeak at the event, which will be held at theNihongo Centre on Saturday July 7. Herlecture will provide insights into how UKstudents are hosted by Japanese universities.For further details, call Etsuko Yamada at theNihongo Centre on 020 7838 9955 or send anemail to etsuko@nihongocentre.org.uk.

The Nihongo Centre and the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation are currently updatingJapanese Degree Courses in Universities andother Tertiary Education Institutions in the UK,1996/7. The guide lists institutions offering aJapanese module or unit which can count asa credit towards an undergraduate orpostgraduate degree. If your institution meetsthis criterion and was not included in theprevious edition, please call Carolyn Gallop on0208 892 4770 or send an email tok.gallop@compuserve.com. There will also bea separate listing for institutions offeringnon-accredited courses. It is hoped that thenew version will be published in early 2002.

Key Stage 3 Japanese on-line:Learning with Tobu

After an intensive filming schedule in March, we will be editing the ClassActs video in May and June to produce the final version by September2001. The video – which highlights best practice in the teaching ofJapanese in UK schools – will be launched at the Symposium onJapanese Language Education, organised by BATJ, on September 8.

The Class Acts team would like to say a very warm thank you to thoseof you who will be starring in the video, namely teachers and pupilsat the following schools: Colston Girls’ School in Bristol, CountyUpper School in Bury St Edmunds, Ballyclare Secondary School in

Belfast, St Vincent College in Gosport, Aldercar School in Nottingham,Cantonian School in Cardiff, Tile Hill Wood School in Coventry, SirJohn Colfox School in Dorset, Dinnington School in Sheffield,Tavistock College in Devon, Impington Village College in Cambridge,Whitgift School in Croydon, Wolverhampton Girls’ High, Bradford Girls’Grammar, Queen Mary’s High School, Walsall, Elliott School andHendon School in London, Millais School in Horsham and KatherineLady Berkeley’s School in Gloucestershire, not forgetting participantsat the Japanese Language Weekend in the New Forest.

CLASS ACTS

PAGE 3

As many of you will know, the NihongoCentre was asked by the Japan Foundationheadquarters in Japan to commission anexternal assessment of our services inorder to determine the extent to whichthey were meeting the needs of teachersof Japanese in the UK.

The review was carried out from July toDecember 2000 and involved in-depthinterviews, focus group discussions, email-based surveys and a questionnaire whichwas sent out to over 750 practisingteachers. We are extremely grateful toeveryone who took the time to participatein the Review, which suggested that themost important needs of teachers ofJapanese in Britain at the moment are theavailability of and access to resourcesappropriate to the UK context,opportunities for professional developmentand the ability to network with otherteachers of Japanese.

The vast majority of teachers whocontributed to the Review believe that theNihongo Centre has played a key role inthe development of Japanese languageteaching in the UK. Many felt that thedramatic expansion of Japanese in thesecondary sector could not have happenedwithout the support and encouragement ofthe Nihongo Centre.

Of the 178 teachers who responded to thequestionnaire, 90% had used at least oneof the Centre’s services and as many as61% had used more than five services.Services considered most useful byteachers were the INSET Training Courses,the Library and Loan by Post Service andMado. In terms of quality, over threequarters of teachers who had used NihongoCentre services rated them as excellent orgood. By far the most important factoraffecting teachers’ use of the NihongoCentre was distance. Opening hours,particularly of the library, were also citedas an issue by the majority.

Suggestions for the development ofNihongo Centre services included thecreation of a more extensive regionalprogramme and more flexible access to thelibrary. As Japanese language teaching inthe secondary sector continues to expand,many teachers felt that the Nihongo Centrehad an important role to play infacilitating a dialogue between sectors. Anumber of teachers in Higher Educationwere also keen to have more coursestailored specifically to their needs.

The Nihongo Centre is keen to adapt itsservices in response to the findings of theReview and a number of steps have alreadybeen taken. As a direct result of commentsfrom teachers, we have decided tointroduce a weekly late-night opening ofthe library on a trial basis (see page 7 forfurther details). We hope that our new on-line library catalogue will also make iteasier for teachers based outside Londonto access the Centre’s resources.

The recent expansion of the GraduateTeacher Programme (GTP) to include teachersof Japanese has created a new opportunityfor teachers to acquire Qualified TeacherStatus (QTS) via an employment-based route.

On successful completion of the one-yeartraining programme, co-ordinated by CILT,participants are able to work as a NewlyQualified Teacher (NQT) in a secondaryschool in England. This year, three Japanesetrainees have joined the course, attendingsessions alongside French, Spanish andAustrian teachers. Trainees are matched to aschool where they work alongside anexperienced mentor, gradually assuming moreresponsibility in the course of the year. Theprogramme includes 14 topic-based sessionsacross the academic year with threeindividual tutorials and three full-day visitsto the school as well as material provisionand written assignments.

Course Tutor Bernadette Holmes believesthat the GTP provides a valuable opportunityfor Japanese teachers to gain experience ofthe socio-cultural context in UK schools andthe requirements of the National Curriculum.“I would like to see the Japanese programmeexpanding in the future,” she comments,“and as part of this year’s course Iincorporated a series of Japanese modules,taught by Yuka Yokozawa, which helped toremind the European trainees of how it feltto be in their students’ shoes and alsoprovided a very effective practicaldemonstration of what they were learning.”

Yuka Yokozawa, who currently teachesJapanese at Impington Village College inCambridge, feels that the GTP course providesmore practical hands-on experience in theclassroom than teaching training in Japan.

She has found the sessions on pedagogy atCILT of particular interest and believes thatalthough conditions vary from school toschool, she is learning skills that can beadapted to any situation.

For Misa Nakano, who had taught Japaneseat the City of Bath College for four yearsbefore starting GTP, the placement atTavistock College in Devon provided her firstexperience of the secondary sector andhelped her to understand issues which shehad come across in Adult Education. For her,the mentoring sessions are the most usefulpart of the programme, giving insights intoaspects of her teaching which she might nototherwise have become aware of.

Masayo Ward, also based at Tavistock, hadpreviously taught in the private sector forover seven years. For her, it is theopportunity to share experiences with othertrainees that makes the programmeworthwhile. “When I listen to the otherteachers describing problems that come upin their schools, I feel less isolated and ithelps me to think of how these issues mightrelate to Japanese and how they can besolved.”

With the future of OCR’s CambridgeCertificate in Japanese and Japanese Studiesseriously in doubt, teachers may be relievedto learn that the WJEC is currentlyredeveloping the Certificate in Japanese forEveryday Communication. The certificate isan introductory course of Japanese, originallydesigned as a stand-alone one-year coursefor pupils in the lower sixth, but also idealfor pupils in KS3 as a stepping-stone on theway to GCSE. The course, which involves thestudy of up to five units of Japanese, gentlybuilds pupils’ knowledge of vocabulary,grammar and script, and is assessed in sucha way as to reward what a pupil has learntand can do. Each unit (Introductions, DailyLife, Shopping & Restaurants, Travelling &Finding the Way) includes a specified list ofvocabulary and grammatical structures andconcludes with an assessment of reading,writing, speaking and listening.

The re-development is not likely to alter thenature of the course significantly although itis envisaged that in the future the writingcomponent will be sent off by the teacher forexternal marking, while tests for the otherthree skills would still be carried out by theclass teacher in lesson time underexamination conditions. This change wouldallow the WJEC to seek approval from QCA forthe certificate to be on the Section 96 list(currently known as the Section 400 list),which will mean it is recognised for use instate schools with KS3 and 4.

The current plan is to have the revisedspecification in schools for teaching tocommence in September 2001. Pupils alreadystudying the course may continue to use thecurrent syllabus and assessments until July2002. Further information may be obtainedfrom Jean Rawlings, the Subject Officer atthe WJEC on 029 20265000.

New training opportunity forteachers of Japanese

Nihongo CentreReview

Re-development of WJEC Certificatefor Everyday Communication

l to r: Masayo Ward, Yuka Yokozawa & Misa Nakano

PAGE 4 TEACHER’S PAGE

Manga are part of Japaneseculture, enjoyed by adults andchildren alike and they are alsostarting to become popular inthe UK, particularly amongschoolchildren. There must bemany pupils who decide totake up Japanese partlybecause they love manga. Whatbetter way to motivate them –and the rest of the class – thanthrough manga? In this issue’sTeachers’ Pages, I am standingin for Kitani sensei who iscurrently away filming withClass Acts. I hope you enjoy mysuggestions for using mangaresources in the classroom.

B can also ask questions such as:

Introducing cultureYou can also use manga to introduce yourpupils to elements of Japanese culture. Forexample, frame 1 on page 5 shows differentways of sleeping in Japan (although youcertainly won’t find many people inhammocks!) while you can use frame 2 toteach about eating and food and frame 5 toexplain Japanese bathing habits.

Tips for making your own mangateaching materialsManga consist of pictures and a story. Firstof all, make up a story that incorporateswhat you want to teach. As for the pictures,you can draw them yourself, or ask anartistically inclined friend. You can alsoadapt published manga, especially thosepopular with your pupils. You could eventake photographs to create a manga photostory. Why not have a go at creating yourown manga-based materials?

Motivating through Manga Writing & ListeningWhite out certain words in the speechballoons or in the sentences below eachframe and ask your pupils to fill in the gapswith appropriate phrases. With moreadvanced pupils, you can white out all thetext and get them to make up completedialogues. For listening and dictationpractice, record the dialogue from the mangaonto a tape and get your pupils to listen toit and fill in the gaps.

Speaking & ListeningManga are particularly well suited toinformation gap activities. For example, you could put pupils into pairs, giving pupilA a copy of the manga on page 5 with 2frames blanked out and pupil B another copywith two different frames blanked out. Aexplains to B what is happening in theframes B can’t see and what the charactersare doing. For example:

B listens to A’s explanations and draws in themissing scenes. A and B then swap roles.Afterwards, pupils can compare the mangathey have drawn with the original on page 5.

This activity can also be used to revisegrammatical forms such as:

In addition, each frame of the manga onpage 5 can be enlarged to make a stand-alone flashcard, which could then be used tointroduce forms such as

You can make up your own questions for theclass, or get pupils to ask each otherquestions in pairs.

Advantages of using manga-basedteaching materialsyou can convey much more informationvisually than with words alone

by using characters popular with your pupils,you can increase their motivation

pupils tend to pay more attention to teachingmaterials which look exciting and fun

manga can be adapted for use with any level

Ideas for using manga as teachingmaterialsOn page 5, I have created an example of amanga resource called A Day in the Life of aTrainee Ninja, which illustrates the dailyroutine at a boarding school for aspiringyoung Ninja. You don’t have to be a greatartist to create materials like this and theycan be used in lots of different ways if youuse your imagination.

Reading Copy the manga onto an OHP transparencyand cut it up into individual scenes. Projectindividual frames onto the OHP in randomorder and get your pupils to describe whatthey see in each scene. Then ask pupils toput the scenes in the right order. Finally,project the whole manga onto the screen,drawing attention to the strip at the top,which introduces the characters that appearin the manga.

Distribute photocopies of page 5 and askpupils to read the dialogue in pairs. There arelots of questions you could devise to checkunderstanding. See below for some examples:

TEACHER’S PAGE PAGE 5

6.30 7.15

8.30

10.00

*

* =dormitory

The highlight of BATJ’s activities this yearwill be the 2001 Symposium on JapaneseLanguage Education at the University ofCambridge from September 7 to 9. The themeof the event is Multi-dimensional JapaneseLanguage Education: Developing closer linksbetween the secondary and tertiary sectors,and speakers include Professor Tazuko Uenofrom Tokyo Women’s University, RobynSpence-Brown from Monash University inAustralia, and Professor Yoshikazu Kawaguchifrom Waseda University. There will be a paneldiscussion on Opening the Dialogue: What canthe secondary and tertiary sectors learn fromeach other? as well as workshops focusing onteaching Japanese in secondary schools;teaching speaking skills; and making the bestuse of your textbook. As the symposium isbeing organised in conjunction with both theAssociation of Japanese Language Teachers inEurope and ALL’s Japanese LanguageCommittee it will provide a valuableopportunity for Europe-based teachers ofJapanese across different sectors to exchangeinformation and share ideas. Further details,including application forms, are available onthe BATJ website. The closing date forapplications is May 25.

June will be a busy month for BATJ, asKitani sensei from the Nihongo Centre willbe holding teachers’ workshops in Edinburghand London while the Association is alsosupporting the Second Language AcquisitionConference, which will be held at DurhamUniversity from June 23 to 24.

For further information about BATJ pleasecontact Kazumi Tanaka at: Department ofEast Asia, SOAS, University of London,Thornhaugh Street, London WC1H 0XG; fax:020 7898 4239; e-mail: kt2@soas.ac.uk orvisit the BATJ website at www.batj.org.uk.

JLC celebrates Japan 2001with BA Japanese SpeechContest for Schools

Living andLearning together

PAGE 6 NEWS UPDATE

As announced in the last issue of Mado,ALL’s Japanese Language Committee (JLC) isorganising a nationwide Japanese speechcontest for secondary schools as part ofJapan 2001. We are delighted to havereceived sponsorship from British Airways,who have generously donated flights toJapan for the three winners. The contest hasalso received support from the Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation and the JapanFoundation and there will be a range ofother prizes for runners-up.

Flights of Fancy: The British Airways JapaneseSpeech Contest for Secondary Schools is awonderful opportunity for your students topractise their spoken Japanese with thegreat incentive of winning a trip to Japan.Open to all non-native students of Japanesebetween the ages of 11 and 19, the contestis divided into three categories WorldTraveller (Years 7-9 in September 2001); ClubClass (Years 10-13, pre-GCSE) and Top Flight(Years 10 onwards, post GCSE). Studentshave to send in a 2-4 minute tape on thetheme Perfect Day, which they are free tointerpret in any way they choose.

Further information about the contest,together with an application form and aposter are inserted into this issue of Mado.The deadline for entries is October 15, sonow is a good time to encourage your pupilsto start thinking about their speeches. Thebest entries in each category will be invitedto present their speeches at Finals Day onMonday December 10. Hosted by BritishAirways at Heathrow Airport, this will be anevent not to be missed, with an excitingprogramme of workshops and activities topractise and celebrate speaking.

For further information about JLC, contact Helen Gilhooly, Chair, JLC, fax: 01773 531969; email:helengilhooly@nottingham.ac.uk.

For the third year in a row, Avon Tyrrell in theNew Forest was the venue for a packed

programme of learning fun in Japanese. TheJapanese Sixth Form Weekend, organisedannually by Lydia Morey and Mary-Grace

Browning, was extended to include otherage groups for the first time this year,

making the event bigger than ever.

Three consecutive residential coursesfor pupils of different ages took place.

From March 18 to 20, participantsfrom Years 7 to 9 mixed with pupilsfrom The Japanese School in Acton,

sharing experiences and learningfrom each other as well as the eight

volunteer teachers. Each Englishpupil was paired with one or moreJapanese partners and friendships

developed fast. Together, they tookpart in activities such as the

production of a group presentation, game playingand preparing a diary on their stay.

Laura Sturgeon from County UpperSchool said, “I learnt a lot ofJapanese in only a short amount oftime; I have made lots of friends –English and Japanese – and I planto keep in touch with them.” By theend of the three days, “Can’t westay longer?” and “Can we comeagain next year?” were typicalcomments from participants. Giventhat the programme included morningexercises at 8am and shared ‘chores’as well as lessons, this response trulyreflects the success of the event.

BATJ Update

Short SummerTraining ProgrammeWe are delighted that five teachers fromthe UK will be attending a new three-week training programme for non-nativespeaking secondary teachers of Japaneseat the Japan Foundation’s JapaneseLanguage Institute in Urawa this July.The programme will concentrate onimproving both language skills andunderstanding of Japanese society andculture. Participants are: Sian Hanlonfrom Hendon School, Gina Edens fromWhitgift School, Margaret Teasdale fromAldercar School, Joanne Longster fromHockerill Anglo-European College andSally Benson who joins Tavistock Collegein September.

We are very grateful to the Great BritainSasakawa Foundation for their generoussupport of this programme.

LIBRARY & RESOURCES PAGE 7

Nihongo Bunpou Handbook Matsuoka Hiroshi (3A Network, 2000)

Review by Jonathan Bunt, Associate Director,Japan Centre North West, University ofManchester

This book serves as a splendid resource forteachers who have students with awkwardquestions or who simply want concise,comparative explanations of grammaticalissues. For the non-native Japanese teacher,there is always a temptation to rely on Englishlanguage materials written for students. Therecent arrival of two new English languagereference publications (Japanese – acomprehensive grammar, Kaiser et al, fromRoutledge, and Using Japanese, McClure, fromCambridge – see alongside for review) allows agood comparison and it is interesting to seewhat are, on the surface, the same thingscovered in very different ways.

The Handbook however has the advantage oflimiting itself to the elements found in thefirst 2-3 years of learning and, mostcrucially, teaching. This is a teacher’s toolnot a student reference. This is most clearlyshown by a special index linking thecontents of the handbook to the relevantchapters of a number of commonly usedtextbooks (Shin Nihongo no Kiso 1 & 2,Minna no Nihongo 1 & 2, Nihongo Shoho,Shingaku suru hito no tame no NihongoShokyu, Shinbunkashokyu Nihongo 1 & 2 andShokyu Nihongo). It thus has the hugeadvantage of being very firmly grounded inpractical JFL classroom experience andrequirements while at the same timeproviding enough ‘background’ in linguisticsand theory to give those wanting detailedconsideration something to bite on.

The division of the information is clear andthe explanations are relatively jargon-free.

The book is organised in two parts with thefirst taking grammatical issues such asversus , tense and aspect and comparingtwo things and three or more things. Thesecond section looks at conjugations andusages of individual parts of speech. This islikely to be particularly helpful for thosenon-natives who have no grounding inJapanese grammar and don’t know theJapanese parts of speech - an area thatmost texts and references for Englishspeakers avoid (wrongly so in my opinion). A particularly nice touch is to furthersubdivide the information contained in eachsection into ‘at least this much (you shouldknow!)’, ‘a little bit more information’ and‘taking it further’.

This book is a valuable reference book forteachers. The terminology it uses is clear andthe organisation systematic. It could alsoserve as a useful double check for teacherspreparing classes with more friendly Englishlanguage sources and an accessible source forthose who would like to know more aboutJapanese in order to help their students. Ishall be using the new English publicationsbut when issues about what an adverb isand why is non- , non- yetstill an adjective arise, I will go to theMatsuoka, where I know a clear answerawaits me.

Using Japanese: A Guide toContemporary Usage William McClure (Cambridge)

Review by Gillian Hall, freelance teacher ofJapanese

Although aimed at the higher educationsector, this reference book also has much tooffer teachers with post-GCSE students. It isprobably best read from cover to cover inorder to glean the most practically usefulinformation as I found it difficult to dip into

and find a quick answer or suitableexplanation of a particular word or grammarpoint which my students may come across.

For example, looking up ‘comparisons’ (oftena stumbling block for English speakinglearners of Japanese) in the English indextakes us to the page where isexplained in reasonably complex linguisticterms which I believe may go over the headof readers with no linguistic background.McClure goes on to define on thefollowing page and give plenty of examplesbut perhaps not enough of an explanation,given that the usage is quite different toEnglish.

Teachers whose students have completed,say, Shin Nihongo no Kiso or Minna noNihongo Book I or are studying at post-GCSElevel, would, I believe, find this book auseful reference as it gives a fullerexplanation than the average textbook ormore basic grammar book. There is anexcellent ten page section on the differentconditional forms used in Japanese,contrasting their use with English in manycases, which must be read in its entirety inorder to be most useful. In this section,grammatical terms that may be unfamiliar tosome readers are used, but they are oftendefined using an English sentence as anexample, which will help to make sense ofthe information available.

This book has some excellent content forreference, and I am sure that every non-native teacher of Japanese will find it veryreadable and helpful at explaining grammarpoints which they may confidently use buthave forgotten (or maybe never knew) thelogic behind. I certainly muttered“Naruhodo” to myself more than once whilstreading it! My guess is that it might beslightly less accessible to native teachers ofJapanese unless their English wasexceptional or they had a good knowledge of linguistics.

Our resource focus this term is on grammarreference books, and we have selected one

written in Japanese and another inEnglish. We are very grateful to ourguest reviewers Jonathan Bunt andGillian Hall for taking the time to giveus their feedback.

Virtual Library! You can now visit the Nihongo Centre

Library online! Our web-based catalogueincludes cassette and video tapes, cards

and CD-ROMs as well as books and journalsand it can be searched by title, author or ISBN

number. Further search options such as levels, skills and resourcetypes will be added later this year. Although you need to use romajito search the catalogue, materials published in Japanese will bedisplayed in Japanese characters. Go to www.nihongocentre.org.ukand click on the link on the Library page to try it out for yourself.Once you have found the material you are looking for, we can send itto you free via our Loan by Post service.

Time to Renew? From April, fines will be introduced for overdue books. For the benefitof all library users, please make sure that you renew your books orsend them back in time.

Late Night Opening In May, the Nihongo Centre isintroducing a weekly late-opening night in the libraryon a trial basis. This meansthat you will be able towork in the library andtake books out until 8pmevery Thursday. We hopethis will make it easier forteachers to come in afterschool to visit the library.After two months, a decision willbe made as to whether to continue thispolicy, based on the uptake. If you thinklate night opening is a good idea, thenvote with your feet and put Thursdayevenings in your diary!

For general library enquiries, pleasecontact the Librarian, FrançoiseSimmons on 020 838 9955 or send anemail to francoise@nihongocentre.org.uk.Library holidays this term are: April 13and 16, May 7 and 28, August 27 andSeptember 24.

After months ofpreparations, Japan2001 will be officiallylaunched in May –see our coverstory for some ofthe highlights. Ithas certainly been a busy year for theNihongo Centre so far and in this issue ofMado, we report back on several currentprojects, including Class Acts and the KS3Digital Resources pilot, which we areworking on with the BBC. As you may know,an independent review of our activities wascarried out last year and you will find asummary of the key findings on page 3. Wevery much appreciate the fact that so manyof you took the time to respond to thesurvey and we hope to continue to tailor theNihongo Centre’s services to meet yourneeds. In this issue’s Teacher’s Pages,Enomoto sensei shows you how to usemanga to motivate your pupils, while theLibrary and Resources page focuses on tworeference texts for teachers. We’re delightedto announce that our library catalogue isnow on-line, and we hope to see you at thelate night library openings, which begin inMay on a trial basis.

PAGE 8 EVENTS & NOTICEBOARD

THE NIHONGO CENTRE NEWSLETTEREditor: Caroline Lewis

Design: Francois Hall • Printing: Delta Press

Published byTHE JAPAN FOUNDATION

LONDON LANGUAGE CENTRE27 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7LY

Telephone: 020 7838 9955Fax: 020 7838 9966

HOMESTAY UKMay onwards

There is still time to apply for theHomestay UK programme, which matcheslearners of Japanese aged 11 to 19 with

Japanese families in the UK for aweekend homestay. For further details,

contact Homestay UK Co-ordinatorKazuko Sato at JFET on 020 7630 8696

or by email to hsuk@jfet.org.uk.

BATJ/NIHONGO CENTRE JOINTSEMINAR

Saturday 7 JulyProfessor Machiko Netsu of ICU will give

a lecture on the Study Seminar (YearAbroad) at the Nihongo Centre in

London. For further details, contactEtsuko Yamada on 020 7838 9955 or byemail to etsuko@nihongocentre.org.uk.

SUMMER REFRESHER COURSEMonday 16 – Friday 20 July

The Nihongo Centre’s annual intensiveimmersion courses for non-nativeteachers of Japanese. Beginners/

Intermediate/Advanced. Exclusively forsecondary teachers of Japanese, these

free courses provide the perfectopportunity to enjoy small group tuition

in a supportive atmosphere. Call 020 7838 9955 to request an

application form, which must be returnedby Friday 29 June.

2001 BATJ SYMPOSIUM ONJAPANESE LANGUAGE EDUCATION

Friday 7 – Sunday 9 SeptemberThe 6th European Symposium on

Japanese Language Education and 4thBATJ Annual Conference will be held atthe Kaetsu Educational Cultural Centre,

New Hall College, University ofCambridge. See the BATJ Update on

page 6 for further details.

JLC JAPANESE SPEECH CONTESTMonday 15 October

The deadline for the nationwide Japanesespeech contest for schools, organised byALL’s Japanese Language Committee aspart of Japan 2001, and sponsored byBritish Airways. See JLC News on page

6 for further details.

A/AS Level – Stop Press!

In response to queries by teachers,

Edexcel would like to clarify that this

summer’s A and AS level papers have

been printed with lines rather than genko

yoshi for candidates to write on. This is

the format which was given in the

specimen papers. Candidates may turn the

page through 90 degrees to write down if

they prefer this to writing across.

Candidates may also write in pencil.

We’d love to hear from you! Eachletter published will win you a Japan Centre book token.

Dear EditorI was very distressed to learn from OCR that theCertificate in Japanese is currently under review.During the seven years that I have taught for thisexam, all my students have found the syllabus andcourse materials fascinating and challenging.Students at St Paul’s welcome both the opportunityto study Japanese and the break this course givesthem from AS and A levels. A good number havegone on to study Japanese at university level andit would be a matter for huge regret if this‘passport’ were to be denied them, for reasons ofsmall numbers or failure to meet QCA approvalwithin the new National Qualifications Framework.It would simply not be feasible to fit the GCSEJapanese into our sixth form curriculum for reasonsof time, and I imagine that many schools are inthe same situation. The Certificate delivers anenormously useful introduction to Japaneselanguage and culture, with a thematic andidiomatic content appropriate to senior schoolstudents or adults – in this way it is a breath offresh air after GCSE. Paul Collinson, St Paul’s School, Barnes, London SW13