|
Activity for Education
【Japan-New Zealand
Teachers Interchange】
********************************
2009 Intensive Japanese Language Training Programme
for New Zealand Teachers
********************************
"The Intensive Japanese Language Training Programme" in 2009 was carried out a 13-days programme from Saturday 11 April to Thursday 23 April 2009.
The programme is supported by the KNZC and the Asia New Zealand Foundation (ANZF), a crown entity organization for exchange. While the ANZF recruited and selected New Zealand teachers of Japanese language for this exchange, KNZC coordinated all of the training programmes in full collaboration with the Japan Foundation Japanese language Institute Kansai, where the programmes were carried out.
The Japan Foundation is the specialist of teaching Japanese to the non-native Japanese speakers and their training results get high evaluation also in the foreign countries. The participants for the 2009 programme were from Auckland, Lower Hutt and from Capiti Coast. The New Zealand teachers began their programme with a one-day tour to Kyoto with the KNZC members, followed by Socio cultural programmes, Osaka orienteering, school visits and a two night home stay at KNZC members' homes.
The Japan New Zealand Centre would like to continue this programme into the future as all participants of this programme appraised it highly. We would like to ask you all for your understanding and support in the promotion of this programme.
Courtesy call on the pricipal
**********************
Participants comment:
**********************
Ms Debbie Wilson: Hutt Intermediate School My 2 week stay in Japan was kicked off by sightseeing at a famous temple called Kinkaku- ji. We were hosted and shown around by some wonderful people. We were audience to members of the Kansai Centre who gave us background information about the temples we visited. This was a very enjoyable day. The next day we went to the famous Osaka Castle Museum, Namba Parks, sightseeing and shopping at in Namba. My host family Misao and Hitoshi Omori were very kind, generous and patient with the answering the many questions that I had of Japan. Misao-san is a very clever person and gifted in craft making. I was fortunate enough to have her show me how to make ohashi holders, flower brooches out of newspaper, and she was a fantastic cook. At Chonan Elementary School, we observed, took notes and pictures on how to teach hiragana. This was something I specifically wanted to gain from this experience. I will now return to NZ and follow the same lesson structure for my own Japanese lessons. Although I am looking forward to returning home to my family and students with great enthusiasm, I am very grateful for the opportunity I was given to meet so many helpful people. Thank you all so much. Kind regards.
***********************************************************
Ms Megan Nelson-Latu: Otaki College
This trip to Japan has been one of the most fantastic and interesting experiences of my life. Being in Japan has bought back a lot of the language I learnt as a teenager studying Japanese in high school. This has increased my confidence and I know that when I return to New Zealand I will be able to put in to practice so much of what I have learnt and experienced. Our trip to Kyoto to see two of the beautiful temples in Japan was amazing. It is incredible that you can go from the hustle and bustle of the busy city streets to areas of such beauty and tranquility. The language classes at the institute were well prepared and aimed at our level. The sensei were able to meet our needs and cater to the varying abilities within the classes. The Socio-Cultural programme at the institute providedus with an opportunity to experience a few of the many facets of Japanese culture. From the delicate calligraphy to the tea ceremony and then being dressed in full kimono we were given an insight in to what traditional Japanese society may have been like and some of the customs and traditions that continue, even today. Home stay was another opportunity to experience life with a traditional Japanese family. The hospitality and warmth I was shown is something I will treasure and remember for a long time upon my return to NZ. The 2 night home stay was an experience I will not forget. I had the pleasure of being able to sleep in a traditional Japanese Tatami Room, experience a Japanese bath, eat real Japanese food (using chopsticks!!!) and converse in a language that I am not so familiar with. Visiting Japanese schools was another opportunity to really experience the culture. The schools are very different to NZ and it was interesting to note many of these differences. We were also able to see Hiragana being taught by an expert. Overall, my visit to Japan has been an experience I will never forget.
|
At KNZC office
from left: Ms Kim Mackrell, MurraysBay Intermediate School, Auckland
Ms Megan Nelson-Latu, Otaki College, Kapiti Coast
Ms Debbie Wilson, Hutt Intermediate School, Hutt
New Zealand teachers dressed with Kimono
At Osaka Castle
Welcomed by the primary students' flower gate
Observing the year 1 Japanese class
Calligraphy class
At the tea ceremony class
**********************************************************
Ms Kim Mackrell : MurraysBay Intermediate School
Thank you for providing the opportunity for me to come to Japan and learn more about your culture and language. I really appreciate been given the opportunity. The first trip to Kyoto helped to set the scene in our minds of Japans great history. The two temples we visited exemplified different aspects of design and beauty and also different influences on Japanese society. It was extremely beneficial to be given ideas and resources of us to take back to New Zealand and implement straight into our lessons within our class. This experience has aided me with numerous tools to enhance my teaching back in New Zealand. The programme provided a great balance between culture, language, history and discovery. The lessons at the Japan Foundation provided us with great preparation of the tasks ahead – Osaka orienteering, school visits, home stay and our final speech. The sensei were extremely helpful and generous with their time and resources which allowed us to ask the many questions we had. The Shodo, Chado and Kimono sessions where a wonderful introduction to Japanese cultural history. We were provided with great insight into how each element evolved and how they now fit into current Japanese society. Osaka orienteering was extremely fun and gave us the opportunity to go out and explore Osaka firsthand. With the subway map in hand and some key phrases at the ready, we all relished in the opportunity to see some of the beautiful sights that Osaka offers. It was a great sense of achievement that we could find our way around a new city with ease and great enjoyment. The school visits gave us great insight into how Japanese students learn. It was wonderful to see how Year One students learn hiragana. The opportunity to speak with teachers and students about educational issues was extremely helpful.
|
