The National Symposium on Japanese Language Education was held at the University of Technology, Sydney, on 2 and 3 Nov. The symposium is a biennial event held alternatively in Melbourne and Sydney, which makes this year’s event the first one in Sydney in four years. This symposium targets Japanese language educators of all educational stages across the entire country, and is the only symposium of its kind in Australia for Japanese language educators to come together.
The theme of this year’s event is “Bigger, Broader, Better!”, as the symposium hopes to contribute towards the increase of Japanese learners (Bigger), the provision of diverse and innovative programs for students (Broader), and the improvement of the Japanese language educational system in addition to the further development of the skills of educators who support Japanese learners (Better).
It was very remarkable that more than 40 sessions on different topics were held over the two days, topics such as schools that conduct Japanese language classes through Japanese poetry. CLAIR Sydney staff who attended the symposium was impressed by how the symposium participants were proactively asking questions, and was able to witness the intense enthusiasm in Japanese language education in Australia.