On Saturday September 20^th 2014, 37 teachers of Japanese and other individuals in the field of Japanese language education came to the Japan Foundation London to take part in a seminar by Prof. Koichi Nishiguchi of the Center for International Education and Exchange, Osaka University. Prof. Nishiguchi has produced several well-known Japanese textbooks, including books in the Perfect Master Kanji and Minna no Nihongo series.

The seminar was co-organised by the Association of Japanese Language Teachers in Europe e.V.and  Japan Foundation London as part of the JGap project to investigate articulation problems and possible measures within Japanese language education, using the UK as a model. It explored the theme “Self-Expressing Activities and Elementary Japanese Language Education.” In the first part of the seminar, Prof. Nishiguchi outlined the importance of social communication verses practical communication in terms of conveying one’s sense of “self.” This was followed by a workshop in which all participants discussed the issue and how they can effectively create their own self-expressing activities for their students within their classrooms.

Some of the feedback from participants included:

「とても勉強になりました！！」
(“It was really useful!!”)

「早速、使わせて頂きます。」
(“I’ll be using these ideas in the very near future.”)

「大変勉強になるセミナー、ワークショップを参加費無料で開催していただき、感謝しています。ありがとうございました。実践での活用、実際に使えそうなアイディアがたくさん盛りこまれていたのがよかったです。」

(“I’m so glad this really useful workshop and seminar was held for free – thank you. It was great that there were so many practical ideas that I can put to real-life use.”)

We would like to thank Prof. Nishiguchi and all the participants for contributing to such a lively and inspiring workshop.