Dear Japanese teachers,
​
We are excited to launch the Nihongo Tanken Centre's new 'survival' excursion – A day in Japan.
This excursion enables small groups of Year 10 students (12-15 students) to engage in real life scenarios, such as what it would be like when visiting Japan, and to explore the Japanese language and culture.

The day leads students through a simulated home stay, including:

• - meeting your host family at the airport
  • - settling in at your host family’s home
• - learning about your host family 
• - shopping
• - finding your way around
• - travelling by train
• - being interviewed by the local TV station.


• Throughout the day, students work in teams to complete tasks in which they showcase their ability to use Japanese in authentic situations.

This program is now open for bookings. For more information, and to help you select the best option for your class, see attached image.
To book an excursion for your class, visit the Tanken Centre website. 
 
Kind regards,
Mieko and Taka
Nihongo Tanken Centre
Email: nihongo.tanken@det.nsw.edu.au
T: 02 9542 5745

Dear Japanese teachers,

We are excited to announce that we have made some changes to our booking system. To arrange a visit:
- please complete the initial booking request form
- once we receive your booking request, we will email you to confirm the date of your visit
- approximately 3 weeks prior to your visit, you will be emailed a Google Form, asking you to confirm final details of your excursion, including student names and groups.

​For teachers bringing Stage 4 students, you now have the option of selecting some of your own activities for your school's program, or allowing the Tanken Centre officers to fully design your program.

We have also aligned all of our activities to syllabus outcomes for Stage 4, and are currently working on Stage 5. Download our Stage 4 outcomes document to learn more.

We look forward to seeing you in 2021,
Mieko and Taka

Our talented Tanken Centre team has just released their third activity pack to support teachers of Japanese – Japan!

This activity package introduces students to the culture of Japan through a series of stunning images, as a short video with interactive worksheet. It may be used as a stand-alone activity at the start of a course or embedded into existing units of work.

You can download the resource, with all relevant links, from the Stages 4 and 5 Japanese section of our website – scroll to the bottom of the page. You'll also find the Tanken Centre's other activity packs there too – 'Japanese house' and 'Making onigiri'.

The Tanken Centre has created a video with highlights of Japan, including:
- what Japan is known for
- famous sites
- food in Japan.

The Tanken Centre team is also working on an accompanying activity package in the near future, however we wanted to release the video quickly for subject selection or just as a beautiful classroom resource.

You can view the resource below, or download it from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BfMTUEwoUqeBbjeXTbJ1BAPkC83dNsfc/view?usp=sharing

The Tanken Centre has launched a new Facebook group to share centre happenings and Japanese resources sourced or created by the Tanken Centre team – Mieko Shida and Taka Yoshino. Please join for regular updates regarding the centre, resources and ideas.
​
​There is already a great housing activity package there to check out and try with your classes. Please join the Tanken Centre Facebook group at this link.

Mieko and Taka from the Tanken Centre have created videos of HSC speaking sample questions for Year 12 Japanese Beginners and Continuers courses. They have also created lists of sample questions. Please share these resources with your students to assist them with practising their speaking skills.

Continuers – personal world, education
Continuers – daily life, health
Continuers – leisure
Continuers – future plans, miscellaneous
Beginners – family, neighbourhood, education
Beginners – friends, holidays
 
Continuers sample questions
Beginners sample questions

Mieko and Taka from the Tanken Centre have created this video to support practice for the HSC oral examinations in Japanese for Year 12 Continuers. It includes a range of sample questions and answers in random order. Please note, this video is not the mock HSC oral exam. Please share it with your students.

The Tanken Centre will host a workshop for beginning Japanese teachers on Friday 8 March 2019.

This workshop is to support new secondary Japanese teachers in:

• - building their skills in using Japanese in the classroom
• - learning more about the Tanken Centre
• - networking.

 
Date: Friday 8 March 2019
Time: 9:30am-2:30pm
Venue: Tanken Centre, Kirrawee HS
Target audience: Beginning (in their first 3 years) teachers of Japanese
Cost: $55 (including lunch)
 
This workshop is designed for you to experience the activities run by Tanken Centre, with the aim of using the ideas and strategies in your own classroom. You will also have the opportunity to network with other Japanese teachers.
 
Please refer to the attached program for full details.
 
Travel and accommodation subsidies are available for temporary/permanent rural and remote teachers, through the department’s Rural and Remote strategy. To apply for a subsidy, please email aris.cao1@det.nsw.edu.au with your details.
 
This workshop has 20 places, allocated on a first-come first-served basis. If you are interested, please resister:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1C6Br0C49yWnbOHzGl-SQeCkv6_zxkX78Ed313Ba4tQ0/edit
When your place is confirmed, we will contact you via email.
 
For more information contact:
Nihongo Tanken Centre
Email: nihongo.tanken@det.nsw.edu.au
T: 02 9542 5745
 
Standards
Attending this meeting will contribute 5 hours of Teacher Identified professional development towards maintaining Proficient Teacher accreditation in NSW, meeting standards 6.2, 6.3 and 7.4 from the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.

The Tanken Centre is offering a 30 minute Adobe Connect webinar for teachers of Japanese to share their ideas regarding Strategies to use the target language in the classroom. 
13 March 2017 from 3:30 – 4:00pm
You can log in using any computer with Internet access: https://connect.schools.nsw.edu.au/nihongo/
Speakers are essential to hear or a headset with mic. A webcam is optional. 

​This webinar is for any Japanese teachers who would like to be exposed to some professional learning in Japanese, focusing on strategies to use Japanese in the classroom. This is a great opportunity for teachers who are the sole language teacher in their schools.

If you would like answers to specific questions about Japanese language and culture, please send the questions before the session to Mieko.Shida4@det.nsw.edu.au.
All questions are welcome, including questions regarding intonation and pronunciation.
 
The following strategies will be covered:

• - increasing the use of Japanese in the classroom
• - broadening students’ interest in Japanese culture and motivating them to study beyond HSC
• - organising engaging classroom activities and providing clear directions.

 
The session can contribute 30 minutes of teacher-identified PL addressing Standard 7.4.2.