Postcard from - Asama Onsen, Matsumoto, Japan

This was a lot of fun!

In all the years (decades) I've lived up here in Central (and rural) Japan, I've always managed to miss this really cool, really local, really smoky festival. Stupid me!

The Taimatsu Festival is a really traditional festival through the narrow streets of Asama Onsen, nestled above Matsumoto city. Local groups/clubs/businesses/neighbourhoods drag/haul/carry or wheel their huge straw bundles up the hill to Jinguji Shrine - usually utterly deserted & unvisited...I don't think I've ever been up this particular little hill myself.

Faces blackened with soot, straw bales kindled & fanned into life, and the air full of encouraging taiko drum beats - and welcomed to the destination bonfire beside the shrine by the firefighters' bugles!

The usual matsuri yatai selling takoyaki, grilled squid, okonomiyaki etc + less traditional 'doner' kebabs (sic), and the chance to bump into ex-students in the dark...sights & sounds of the lesser travelled parts of Japan well-worth discovering & exploring, photographing & enjoying. 

My photographer advice = come early, scope out a decent perch or two - a small pair of steps will give you excellent above head-height vantages. And walk about, talk to folks, get fun-groupies - this yomp up the hill stops every couple of minutes - migrate down the hill & 'do' a different group at each rest stop. Forget the fireworks though - a distraction. Once a year this shrine is the focus - grab a free sake and enjoy the buzz. Let the town come to you on a lovely autumn night!

Sound negotiating

I've found that the best arbiters in any dispute about sounds are my students themselves - their ears are as finely tuned as mine, and their 'varieties' of prounciation tend to merge towards 'an average' = where they probably need to be...provide a really good model/template first of course, and let them 'explore options' > then make sure they insist on each other complying with their consensus.

That way, it's not the teacher helipcoptering during a game (ha, a drill by any other teacher's book?!) but students paying attention when 'it's not their turn'...they're the referees. Unresolved? OK, ask the supreme authority if you need to!

I try to also apply this approach to letter writing. Coming down too heavily on an oversized/wonky/backwards/miniscule/mangled letter with the dreaded teacher's red pen can be detrimental. Instead, ask them to look at each other's output carefully...everything OK? High 5. 

Revisiting Sapporo - a Cambridge weekend

It's been quite a while since I last visited Sapporo for work, and many things have changed - Centres have openned (and closed), people have moved on - physically and/or professionally. 

So quite a bit of trepidation 'going back', as a lot of water has passed under the proverbial bridge, and an existing team of Speaking Examiners were probably not too excited about the organisational changes that have taken place. Maybe so, but I was relieved to meet a really nice team of  really 'can do' teachers who obviously care about the bigger picture of delivering Cambridge exams in Sapporo, and not carrying any grudges - just getting on with things.

Some of this group I have come across online through zoom certification meetings during covid, so this was a welcome opportunity to actually meet & get to know people, find the rugby/BBQ fans, establish who knows who & for how long, what the various hierarchies are & the employment faultlines etc.

I was very grateful to be accepted into the general flow of things, with JP026 Kawaijuku/Keiko Ohashi integral to making things go smoothly. We added new members to the team as well as re-certifying existing SEs across a number of levels - in all we tackled Young Learners Starters & Movers, A2:Key, B1:Preliminary, B2:First and C1:Advanced over the weekend, with folks coming & going like musical chairs.By the end, a bit of a blur, but a very good one. A number of new friendships established, I hope, and one in particulr rekindled.

Last of the Summer Wine - Tokyo training

Two clocks, two scales...two candidates

I ran my final 2025 Speaking Examiner training session for Kawaijuku (JP026) recently in Tokyo, for B1:Preliminary and B2:First levels. 

Some of the trainees were completely new to Cambridge Assessment, so it was a balancing act with other recruits familiar to another level 'joining in'. Although the exams are similar in design and task types, each level is unique and needs to be administered in its own way - to script, within time parameters and levels of examiner participation (or not!).

Practicing with fellow teachers is somewhat unrealistic, but a necessary short-cut given the time & logistal issues of going to a school, for example & using 'real' students. The main focus is on making sure procedures are standardised, and that interlocutors realise they have to pay attention to what is, or what is not, happening bewteen the two (occassionally three) candidates in front of them. Must be familiar with the speaking test process to recognise & react to non-verbal clues across the table. Need to encourage? Need to provide support? Need to prevent collusion?..and need to consider overall candidate performance as well. Remember names? Watching the clock (only need one, by the way!)...

What do you think? Why?!

Every single recruit comes to training with unique teaching experiences and in-work roles. Only through open, honest and varied discussions with peers and (some gentle guidance from the side) can we all align our assessing around Cambridge's criteria. Everyone tunes in to different "bits"...its making sure we tune in to 'all the bits' without comparing or applying personal bias which is the learning!

It's always a professional pleasure to meet so many English language teachers who are keen to deliver, and assess, globally recognised standardised speaking tests - and who after a long weekend "Can Do". I love the diversity of our team, the camaraderie & trust established....and adding to SE Team a fresh group of enthusiastic 'newbies'!

Applying the Standard

I'm already looking forward to enhancing my training sessions in 2026 with lessons learnt this year. Stay tuned ;)

My mum thinks I can't read or spell!

Refereeing each other!

Delighted to share the news that mummy is horribly mistaken, and that her soon to be 10 year old is battering all the reading & spelling challenges I can think of!

The pathway has been - not trying too hard at the start...on the carpet variety rug-rat class to get used to just doing 'different' stuff, being brave, singing out loud, jumping about & being a 'whole' learner. Making mistakes, exploring words & having fun.

Pushing on now with Oxford Phonics World (3) and Everybody Up series + Oxford Read & Imagine graded readers > sky is the limit. A 'bullet-proof" class as they dive into any & all activities beyond the predictable. Makes my Friday afternoons a lot to look forward to and always a challenge to come up with something new & challenging!

Being bold readers

Game in play today - first time my class had seen it = Chip-O

Fantastic outcome (no idea who won!) with reading skills above level; helping each other out, and also asking for help when a bit stuck (not really stuck, just unable to decode eg consonant clusters like 'truck' or 'flag' etc which we have not got to yet). When a game is not a waste of time!

Make your own game, kiddo!

Trying to make a game...the lad succeeded but I need to go back to the drawing board slightly!

I made this game!

Two ways of trying to achieve the same thing - read! Acquiring the vocab relatively 'easy' given the fun presentation tools in Oxford Phonics World...I really wanted to make sure we implement 'look at the words' and 'flip between the pages' fluency.

Personalised art work was lovely (but a week later "What's this?" had us both a bit stumped - bear?!)

Obviously, I've nicked this idea from somewhere (apologies & willing to add a mention but I've forgotten where the brain wave came from!). I do recommend it as a way to slow down a class/build in solid review (yeah, the old drill baby drill concept!). 

Game 1 was to match a word against his drawings (my writing, 1st letter in red, as I also 'edit' the class books/workbooks) from a choice of 16 word cards...intended to be unique so each card could only go in one place (top/bottom/left/right - but I messed up!).

I can do this!

Game 2 was the other way around. Match the book's flashcards to the four templates. No children were harmed making this game - but many brain cells were fired into learning mode :)

Give me a thumbs up if you like this idea?!

An away day - Cambridge in Nagoya

I don't recommend insisting on a formal dress code in Aichi/Gifu/Chubu region in the middle of summer - quite likely to have people passing out on parade, even with the air-con turned up...step outside you you melt like a cheap ice cream!

The Chubu SE team with Hyogo assist

Nevertheless, great to see speaking examiner team that has been together for quite some time now, tackling ALL levels between them from Young Learners to C2:Proficiency. Obviously, YLE is close to my heart as we at Luna offered these exams for 20+ years to our students in Matsumoto & around the country to numerous schools & venues; a whole generation of learners across Japan. Sadly no nore.

OK from the boss!

Our team 2025 also briefed on how to potentially deliver & assess exams remotely, in case of emergencies or unavailable local staff. Not easy to achieve, for technical & logistical reasons, but another 'can do' we have made sure we can provide if necessary.

As you can see, Jim's boss at JP026 is pretty happy with things - so let's hope Jim gets asked back to Nagoya next year?! Good news too - looks like candidature will be rebounding 2026, so I hope we will also be recruiting new talent to join the team. Get in touch if you are interested in examining for Cambridge.