From August 18^th – 20^th 2014, 13 intermediate and advanced speakers of Japanese came to the annual Japanese Refresher Course for Teachers  to refresh their Japanese before the start of the new school year. This year’s attendees were non-native Japanese language teachers from a wide range of teaching backgrounds, from private tutors to secondary school teachers.

This year’s  theme was 「学ぼう！教室活動のネタ」- "Tips for class activities." The aim of the course was to explore various classroom activities and ideas for teaching Japanese, while at the same time brushing up on the teachers’ own Japanese language ability. Lead by the Japan Foundation’s Japanese Language Advisors, Dr Seiji Fukushima, Ms Hiroko Tanaka and Ms Mio Tsunematsu, the course gave participants the opportunity to explore all different kinds of teaching methods.

The course began with a look at some of the useful resources available for teaching Japanese – Reading Tutor and OJAD – followed by an introduction to teaching Japanese onomatopoeia using manga. This was followed by sessions on teaching Japanese using kinaesthetic learning; employing movement, dance and songs in order to re-enforce learning. Finally, participants presented their own tips for teaching Japanese

All participants enjoyed not only exploring teaching methods, but also the opportunity to network and practice their Japanese with fellow Japanese teachers. Some of the comments we received from participants included:

“Very useful practice. Excellent tips from JF staff, especially on grammar and very resourceful participants.”
(Olga Saburova, Rochester Grammar School)

“Very good balance of activities: song/dance/manga/grammar etc, targeting a wide range of age groups and abilities.” (Forum Mithani, Westminster Kingsway College)

“Overall, this was an excellent course. I would recommend it to all teachers of Japanese.” (Robert Fox, Aston University)

We would like to thank all participants for coming to the Refresher Course, and really hope to see them again at future events. お疲れ様でした！

You can download files from the Refresher Course below