This project was partially funded by a Hub Group Grant provided by the JLTASA.
On 21st October, Open Access College hosted the North East Hiragana Competition. 32 students from 8 schools in the North East of Adelaide participated in a competition to recognise the 46 characters of the hiragana alphabet, including more complex characters and reading words. Schools that participated with their Japanese teachers cheering them on were: Tea Tree Gully (Elin Gubbin), East Para (Eunkyoung Kim), One Tree Hill (Carmen Kowalski), Keithcot Farm (Lou Hanna and Jodie Wallace), Redwood Park (Jenny Liivamagi), Greenwith (Kym Toomey) and Open Access College (Kazuko Glass, Christina Challinger and Casey Hall).
Students also participated in alphabet games and activities between competition rounds. Students wore hachimaki and were treated to a sushi morning tea to celebrate. Congratulations to all that participated; as always, scores were very close. Redwood Park placed 1st with 36 points and took home the impressive perpetual trophy. One Tree Hill came in 2nd place with 30 points, and Keithcot Farm came 3rd on 27 points. As in previous years, the students and teachers put in a lot of their own time to practice, and showed an impressive mastery of the hiragana alphabet. It was a fantastic competition and celebration of languages, and the North East Japanese Teacher Hub Group and all participating schools and students would like to extend their thanks to the Japanese Language Teachers’ Association of South Australia for their support.
– Casey Hall (Teacher at Open Access College)
Above: Students who participated in the North East Hiragana Competition