Speaking in Sapporo

I was very happy to be asked to present at Hokkaido JALT's Teaching Children Mini-Conference over the weekend. Organiser Peter Schinkel, asked me if I would do it, the last time I was in Sapporo (last October) to train OEs. Of course I agreed, but the last week has been rather stressful actually putting the presentation together & figuring out how to get the most from Power Point without overdoing it.

Unfortunately, I presented in the graveyard slot - first thing on Sunday morning, so my audience wasn't huge. However, I think it went down well enough, despite the speakers I was given being as useful as bacon at a barmitvah...my audience couldn't hear a thing. Also unfortunately, I couldn't stick around to see many other presentations which looked really interesting - couldn't afford to miss my flight again or miss classes today.

I did get the chance to catch up with a couple of colleagues in Sapporo, which is always nice, and to make a few new connections; the Hokkaido EFL scene seems to be very healthy and enthusiatic, and I am really looking forward to going back again in July. With any luck, this will coincide with the Beer Festival (or is that such a good idea?) ! And I am really hoping I'll be able to give my presentation elsewhere too, after fine tuning it a bit and making sure I have louder speakers next time.

I should thank OUP for sponsoring my presentation, btw. Thank you Colin & Kayo for your help.

Jim

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The sound of pens and pencils furiously scribbling as the clock counts down. Oh yes, exams again!

Luna's venue in Hokuriku hosted its first KET & PET session on November 23rd. Jim drove through the very early morning freezing rain and sleet to be there help the school get started, and also to conduct the speaking tests with one of our recently trained new oral examiners. Jim had to let her do all the hard work as he had a bad cold and could barely speak - well done Mo!
Meanwhile our Tokyo venue once again ran a smooth session concurrently, for which we need to give a lot of credit to Trevor and Chie, and thank Reiko at Westgate for helping us sort out OEs. We are going to be on a big OE recruiting drive in 2009, which will be an exciting year for us (more news on that soon).

The first weekend of December means First Certificate of English (FCE). The Gold Standard!My favourite exam for several reason, two obvious ones being it is the reason I got interested in Cambridge (UCLES) exams in the first place, and that I believe it is an achievable goal for all of our students at Luna. This is the first time we have run FCE on a Saturday at two venues; with Yukari's help, Eleanor's co-operation, and Tana's generousity with her free-time, candidates sat the test in Matsumoto. Hijiri also spent his first day without mum Yuki, who left home at 4.30am to supervise the Tokyo sitting at Oxford University Press's headquarters, driving down with Jim; a busy day for Luna's family!

OUP looked after us superbly, and we are very grateful to Colin for all his help, and to OUP as usual for their kindness and generosity.