Past Events

JLTASA were pleased to provide five grants for members to attend the 2022 NSJLE. We are also very proud of our SA presenters, Tom Dawson, Mel Watt, Kate Satomura, Ilana Nicolle and Simon Carey. You can read all the reports here: NSJLE 2022 Reports – All.  

Our Southern Area Hub Group’s Annual Hiragana Reading Competition was held for the 18th year on Wednesday September 14th. This year we had 22 teams of 4 entered which is a total of 88 students! We started by dividing into 2 groups in a round robin playoff. Teams played off, competing in 4 rounds each. This round had students reading the single 46 hiragana characters. From here the top 4 teams from both groups went on to take part in the finals. The top 8 teams had to read words consisting of 2 characters in the first final round, then 3 character words and then for the 1st through to 4th place positions teams had to read 4 character words. The competition was fierce! It came down to the wire in many cases and the judges had a very difficult job. It goes to show that our students are working really hard and enjoying the challenge of their Japanese learning. Woodend PS took out 1st and 2nd place, with Glenelg PS coming 3rd. Schools participating this year were Woodend PS, Sheidow Park PS, Woodcoft PS, Blackwood PS, Calvary PS, Hallett Cove East PS, Seacliff PS, Warradale PS, Reynella East College,…

Hiragana Contest JLTASA Report 7/9/22 It was with great excitement that the Western Primary Schools’ Hiragana Contest was held after a 2 year hiatus at Kidman Park Primary School. Year 5/6 students from Flinders Park PS, Kidman Park PS, North Haven PS, West Beach PS and Westport PS entered the competition. In teams of 4, students participated in a heated round robin competition to determine the Western Suburbs champion school. Students competed at reading both individual Hiragana and 2 character words. After 12 rounds, Flinders Park’s Nihongo Hoshi took home the trophy with Flinders Park Hiragana Tatsu 2 coming in second place and West Beach Sakura Dragons coming in third. A great day was had by all and thanks to a grant from JLTASA every student went home with a prize they could tell their classmates about when they returned to their schools. “It was really fun. Everyone had lots of turns and improved as the day went on.” Tyla “I liked the prizes.” Jack “Yummy pocky!” Evan “All the teams showed great sportsmanship and were encouraging, even when you made a mistake.” Nate “Some of the other kids were as fast as lightning.” Imogen

On Thursday 7th October, the JLTASA hosted the annual Stage 2 Kaiwa no Hi at Nazareth Catholic College. More than 20 SACE Stage 2 Beginners and Continuers students from 8 different schools attended the event. Students participated in a variety of station activities with small groups of students from a mix of different schools. Students also practiced their conversation skills with different teachers throughout the morning.  This was an excellent opportunity for our senior students to practice their Japanese speaking and listening skills ahead of their final exams as well as meet other like-minded students.   The JLTASA Committee would like to sincerely thank the teachers and volunteers who kindly came in during the school holidays to support the students. We could not run events such as these without their generous support.

It is not an understatement to say that Hiroshi Haga (1946-2018) was a shining beacon of light to the Japanese teachers of South Australia. As one of the founding members of the JLTASA nearly 50 years ago, and through his teaching at Northfield and Norwood Morialta High Schools (amongst others) and his position as a Languages Advisor with the Department of Education, Hiroshi touched the lives and hearts of literally thousands of South Australians.  He played a pivotal role on the JLTASA Committee for many years from 1973 to 2018, both as President and Committee member, even after his retirement from teaching. In 2000, he was chosen as the inaugural Life Member of the JLTASA. Hiroshi’s generosity has made it possible to share his impressive collection of resources with many schools in the past. We are grateful to Hiroyuki Yamamoto and Coromandel Valley Primary School for the care and stewardship of the resources in recent years. Earlier this year the JLTASA was tasked with finding an alternative way for these resources to be appreciated and we are delighted to be able to further Hiroshi’s legacy in donating these resources to the following schools: Aldinga Beach B-7 School Birdwood Primary School…

Justine Talbot of Rivergum Christian College recently received a JLTASA Grant for a School Based Advocacy Project. “The school has offered Japanese as a subject for a long time, but there has never been a Japanese classroom until 2021. Previously, the Japanese teacher went from class to class. I would like to set the room up with a tatami style mat. If funds allow, I would also like to add some low tables, screens (to hide the wet area at the back) and cushions. My classroom needs to cater for foundation to year 10 level, so it will need some work to get it set up accordingly.”

This year we had students from eight schools enter the recital from Blackfriar’s Priory School, Golden Grove High School, Immanuel College, King’s Baptist Grammar School, Mount Carmel College, Parafield Gardens High School, Rivergum Christian College, and St John’s Grammar School. As always, judges had a challenging time deliberating on the results due to students’ high efforts. First Place awarded to Mount Carmel College Second Place awarded to Mount Carmel College Third Place awarded to Immanuel College Students from King’s Baptist, Mount Carmel, Blackfriar’s, Golden Grove, St John’s and Immanuel placed in the Top Ten. We congratulate all students whom have participated. Student certificates and prizes have been posted and should arrive at your school very soon!

On Tuesday last week, the JLTASA hosted the annual Year 10 Japanese Commercial Making Day at St John’s Grammar School. This was the 6th year that we have hosted this event for our Year 10 students. 70 students and 10 teachers from 8 schools attended the event. Students were put into 14 teams made up of at least 2 different schools. We started with having some time to get to know each other through Japanese conversation and fun Katakana and Kanji team games. Then we watched a few Japanese commercials to start to understand the themes genres and language used in the wild, crazy and heart-warming Japanese commercials. From here students were given Japanese products, and challenged to create an authentic Japanese style commercials in a set timeframe. As always, the final products were of a high standard and tapped into student’s language and cultural understanding along with collaboration and entrepreneurial skills. The winning commercial as voted by the judges included students from Unity College St John’s Grammar School and is attached here for you to see. The people’s choice award was given to a group of students from Immanuel and Westminster. Well done and thank you to everybody involved. With…

A chance meeting between Jarrod Hoare and Jen Gilbert at Monarto Safari Park in August 2020 sparked an idea that finally came together in May 2021: A Japanese language immersion tour of Monarto. Most members of the JLTASA are familiar with Jarrod’s wonderful Japanese/English bi-lingual performances of Rakugo and kyogen, but he is a man of many talents: Jarrod is also an experienced tour guide at Monarto. With his customary enthusiasm for promoting Japanese language and cultural exchange, Jarrod readily agreed to conduct a Japanese language tour of Monarto for JLTASA members. The logistics were complicated – a big enough bus to go through the lion enclosure, getting the required minimum number of attendees for a private tour and making sure that Jarrod was on the roster for the day of the tour – to name a few. Immanuel College supported the event by providing access to car parking and the departure point for those taking the bus from the city. It was a unique opportunity for all the members who came on the tour and it really was a fabulous day. We had 20 members, including native speakers of Japanese and second language learners of varying levels of fluency….

Thank you to all the schools and students who submitted their entries for the 2020 Yura-kyara competition. The entries were all very high level. Our guest manga artist judge was very impressed with the talent and creativity from all entries. Based on the criteria of connection to the yura kyara theme, artistic style, creativity and language, the list of winners is as follows. Year 3/4 1st Blackwood Primary School, 2nd Blackwood Primary School, 3rd Blackwood Primary School Year 5/6 1st Blackwood Primary School, 2nd St Peter’s Woodlands, 3rd Blackwood Primary School & St Peter’s Woodlands Year 7/8 1st Nazareth College, 2nd Blackwood Primary School, 3rd Gleeson College   Year 9/10 1st Nazareth College