January, 2014: Breeze Issue #75

A Free Monthly E-Newsletter for Friends of Japan & Teachers of Japanese

Japanese-Language Education Update 2: 2012 Survey and Advocacy Page Updates

by Amanda Rollins, Japanese Language Program Coordinator

Greetings, educators!       

We have recently updated our Survey Report on Japanese-Language Education Abroad 2012 page to showcase the final results of the 2012 survey: Japanese learners have increased by 9.2% in the last three years! On this updated page you can find the answers to questions like: What textbooks are American teachers of Japanese using in the classroom? Have the numbers of Japanese language learners increased or decreased in my state? What problems and concerns are facing teachers of Japanese today? Please feel free to download the PDF graphs of the collected data and share them with your students, parents, and administrators in advocacy presentations and reports.
The physical copies of the Survey Report are currently only available in Japanese through Kurosio Publishers, and an English versions of the summary booklet will be available soon. An excerpt of the Japanese summary is available for download here.

But that’s not all! After the advocacy-themed ACTFL conference we attended in November, we are all fired up to bring you the latest advocacy resources. Please check out our updated advocacy page, Useful Resources, for the latest information about the Japanese economy, a list of federal agencies which recognize Japanese as a “priority language,” and other data that will help you advocate for Japanese at your school. Every link has an explanation about how the information could be used to convince people to learn or support Japanese. It also has PDFs of PowerPoint slides which you can easily use in a meeting or at an open house.

Speaking of ACTFL, their Lead with Language campaign came up with this engaging, fun video about the importance of learning a foreign language for students in America. Share it on Facebook, twitter, or put it in your newsletter!

Do you know any Japanese college students interested in coming to America to discuss peace and culture with American students? If you do, please tell them about the 66th Japan-America Student Conference (JASC 2014). For a full month, 36 Japanese students will study, travel, and talk with 36 American students through this amazing, long-lived program. Please send this recruitment link to anybody who might be interested in becoming a delegate.