June's 'Talking Contemporary Japan' course saw 20 advanced adult learners of Japanese spend four 2-hour sessions focussing on short stories written by popular Japanese authors. In the first session participants studied "真っ赤な芥子" (Makkana Keshi) by Haruki Murakami, before moving on to "肩の上の秘書" (Kata no ue no Hisho) by Shinichi Hoshi in the second session. In the third week they studied a short story from "つめたいよるに" (Tsumetai yoru ni) by Kaori Ekuni. In the final session participants studied a short story from "夢十夜" (Yumejyuya) by Soseki Natsume.

In each class there were activities such as voice projection, vocabulary and kanji pair work, small discussions using words from the stories, reading aloud, acting out scenes and discussion of interpretations. In the last session the participants creatively acted out scenes from 'The Fourth Night' by Soseki.

The course proved very popular with all participants, like Rachel Yokoo-Laurence, who had the following comments:
"The course was excellent. Middleton-sensei is a great teacher - very engaging and friendly".

Course leader Shoko Middleton also enjoyed the course, saying:
"Thanks to the enthusiastic and highly-motivated participants. I learnt a lot through the course and it was most fulfilling for me".

Click here for more information about Talking Contemporary Japan on the Japan Foundation London Language Centre website, including information on past courses.