Connecting Languages, Culture and Identity

Thank you so much, Tui Tuia and The Japan Foundation for such an awesome experience. I am so excited to use the activities and resources that were shared. The other teachers were great to meet and I look forward to keeping in touch with them.

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Jennie Sieczynski, John Paul II High School, Greymouth

I am able to improve my Japanese during the session but also we share some thoughts and ideas of teaching and experiences that I often apply to my classes.

I enjoyed listening to the Japanese language spoken, and trying to make myself understood in Japanese too. It gives me a greater appreciation of how difficult my students may find speaking Japanese too.

The reviews of the past lessons [from the online Chinese workshops] were very valuable as they helped me to regularly consolidate my new learning. The lesson content was very relevant to my daily life which helped me to grasp concepts faster. In my practice, I will incorporate this consistent repetition to help reinforce my learners' abilities and knowledge.

It was all so valuable! The workshop was interesting and practical. We left with great resources to use in the classroom as well. I wouldn't change anything - the variety of activities and presenters complemented each other. The location was comfortable and the food was delicious and generous.

During the workshop "Unpacking the story behind the Berlin Wall," the most valuable part for me was gaining a deeper understanding of the historical context and significance of the Berlin Wall. My light-bulb moment was realising the profound impact it had on the lives of countless individuals and how it symbolised the ideological division during the Cold War.

As for the workshop on "Tracking down German Castles," the highlight for me was learning about the rich cultural heritage and architectural marvels of these castles. Discovering the diverse histories behind each castle and their role in shaping Germany's past was truly enlightening.

I always love the padlets that go with those workshops. There are so many excellent ideas, it is hard to decide which one is the best one.

My lightbulb moment would be to link Matariki to kite flying. I had thought about the lantern parades before but not about the kites.

Listening to the natural Japanese of our Advisor and the other Japanese national teachers was very valuable.  I need that kind of practice.  Also enjoyed making the 'Teru teru bouzu' and will probably do that with my Year 9 class soon.

Interesting to see the NCEA changes - I am very new to NCEA so doesn't feel like a big leap to me but when they talked about comparing Maori cultural practices to Latin American cultural practices. I could see the value and ease in doing this in a languages class.

It was great to hear from Judith and Qué Onda radio programme. It will be very useful for students to have extra listening practice and also for us teachers, even for ideas for activities or texts for exams.

Even students could start their own short radio programme within their school, and prepare articles, news, etc. This would take time to organise but it can be beneficial too.

I recently had the privilege of hosting our Japanese advisor, Kaori Fukazawa, who introduced my high school Japanese classes to the fascinating world of furoshiki. She brought along an assortment of beautifully patterned furoshiki cloths and the highlight of the session was undoubtedly the hands-on activity that followed. Beyond the technical aspects, the furoshiki experience provided my students with valuable life skills. They learned about sustainability and the eco-friendly nature of furoshiki as a reusable alternative to single-use wrapping materials.

Meeting with other language teachers is always refreshing and reassuring. Great ideas to take away and can apply to your teaching.

I am excited to incorporate these new learnings into my teachings and continue to foster cross-cultural understanding and appreciation among our diverse student body.

[The workshop] was a great reminder to refer to the NZ Curriculum, the Ellis Principles, and the importance of the incorporation of cultural norms into my practice as well as the importance of making lessons 'real' for students and providing a gap for them to get information from each other.

Lots of the content from today's workshop I find very useful to me. Personally it was a great reminder to me that there is a lot more I can do in my classroom. Examples such as making tasks more meaningful and authentic, don't be afraid of making mistakes and increase the input of target language in teaching, and learning different cultures together with the kids ect. I will definitely incorporate many of the valuable ideas from today's PLD into my practice.

Spanish enables me to think from a different perspective allowing mental flexibility and different ways of solving problems for my work.

Initially I just thought it seemed like a fun language and a useful one to learn given the large number or countries where it's spoken, and then as I learnt more I just fell in love with how gorgeous of a language it is and wanted to keep discovering more of it and perfecting it.

Thanks so much for your support throughout this year and constantly adding more ideas or feedback with new resources or things I could try instead. It's great to receive information and ideas from yourselves and other language teachers. I will apply for another PLD for next year! Thanks again!

I plan to use reflexive verbs with the students for them to compare a day in the life of a New Zealander and someone from Latin America.

I plan to incorporate Maori legends into the Spanish classroom.

There was a number of activities that are really appealing and easy enough to implement, like the blindfolded food degustation to learn adjectives (describing texture and taste), introducing Handball (particularly good for last period) and putting a radio show together (for senior students). I really liked the movie about an escape from East Germany and plan to show it to my senior students when talking about German history.

I don't think you can describe an experience using just 2 or 3 words. I would say this year has been really exciting, I have developed a lot of teaching skills as well as coaching skills (coaching for one school's football team), and I got to meet new people.

The general discussion of the teachers who took part which led to the realisation that the difficulties I am experiencing are also shared by other teachers.

I enjoy having face to face contact with a facilitator in a group situation and feel that a full day is beneficial and allows plenty of time for discussion and activities without the presenter having to rush.

The whole presentation was engaging and the resources and activities presented were excellent. We had a lot of opportunities to try out, and understand the activities and discuss how we could apply them in our classes. I will definitely include many of them.

Know my students, help provide equity ensuring all students are seen as individuals who have potential and it is my job to help them reach their full potential.

I have increased the tools in my toolbox to help students who have learning difficulties. I hope to keep using and adding on to these.

Through the process, it helped me to think differently, plan more carefully, and respond to students more strategically. To keep thriving. To keep adding to my kete of knowledge. To be fierce in the education sector and fight for what's right for your language and culture.

Teaching is all about trying out new ways for the benefit of the learners. There isn't any one-size-fits-all method as our learners are all unique and different.

As a new teacher teaching the Tongan language for the first time, this really helped a lot with giving me some ideas to implement in my teaching and make the subject interesting for students.

My knowledge has vastly improved in terms of strategies I can use and that my students can use to use more spoken language in the classroom. The next challenge is to make it meaningful and not just do it for the sake of it.

I'm more confident now as the programme helped me to navigate multilevel classes, through interactive activities that the students are able to participate in using the Target Language.

The facilitators from Learning Circle helped my french become better than I had imagined I was capable of. I have a newfound confidence in how well I'll be able to interact with the public for my upcoming move to Lyon.

As a languages teacher, it is important for me to keep on learning another language so that I can explore various second language acquisition theories and put them into practice.