The 9th NCEA Japanese Workshop attracted over 400 secondary students from 16 Canterbury schools on 9 June.
This workshop is a joint collaboration by the UC Japanese programme and the Canterbury Network of Teachers of Japanese, and it is the largest of its kind on Japanese language education in Oceania.
The day started with a warm welcome by Professor Peter Field, and greetings by Mr Tsuguyoshi Hada, the Director of the Consular Office of Japan. It was followed by a special talk by Ms Krystal Boland, a UC graduate and teacher at Ellesmere College, on her encounters and experiences with Japan and the Japanese language.
The secondary school students took part in three intensive language sessions joined by 25 UC students acting as teaching assistants and mentors. Year 13 students had a special Tuakana–Teina session where they interviewed the UC students on their motivation and strategies for learning Japanese in Japanese. In the closing session, all participated in a lucky dip, with prizes donated by the Consular Office of Japan and Education Perfect, followed by an energised, collaborative dance-off to the Japanese hit song The world is smiling at you. See the 2021 dance video here. https://youtu.be/WztduhXbtxc
The workshops promote interactions between secondary schools and the UC Japanese programme, to enhance and strengthen the Japanese learning community. There was overwhelmingly positive feedback from both the students and staff.
The Japanese programme is grateful to all the secondary school teachers who made a huge effort to make this event happen.
