I was sent to the New South Wales Department of Education and Training (NSW DET), then was assigned to Fort Street High School and the Nihongo Tanken Centre as a Japanese-language assistant.

There are many Japanese people in Sydney. However, not many students have the opportunity to talk with native Japanese speakers. Yet even in a city like Sydney, how to teach a new language as a way to communicate is a challenging task. I sense the desire of local Japanese teachers to expose their students as much as possible to real Japanese. And also I sense their great expectations of the JENESYS Young Japanese-Language Teacher Dispatch Programme.

Back in my hometown, Fukushima, I worked for about 10 years at an international association while I taught Japanese to people from overseas. Teaching in Australia was very different from what I did in Fukushima, and I was puzzled initially. But now I know that it was a very rewarding challenge in my life. I also had many opportunities to talk to people who are involved in Japanese Language Education in NSW. Although it was only for 10 months, it was a great teaching experience and I learned a lot about Japanese Language Education in NSW.

I am so grateful to the staff from the Nihongo Tanken Centre and Fort Street High School, and also the staff from the NSW DET for their hospitality and generosity. I heard many local Japanese teachers say that they want to work with schools in Japan to let their students interact with Japanese students. Unfortunately, they don’t know how to find such opportunities. I hope I can work for them as a bridge between Japan and NSW when I go back to Japan.

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