Postcard from...Yamagata, Japan

It was a pleasure to spend an afternoon with Ryan Hagglund's experienced staff at MY English School in Yamagata on Tuesday. It IS a long journey from Matsumoto, whichever way you slice it, but being able to hit the ground running makes the day easy to prepare for. Throw in a couple of pizzas and the odd donut...

SEs using Quizlet Live

Using Quizlet Live has proved to be a really enjoyable tool to get teachers working together quickly, and discussing aspects of eg performance feedback that might ordinarily not strike much of a cord. Getting examiners to argue the toss on courtesy or security for example, usually takes quite a lot of doing.

Grateful that even a teacher on paternity leave would give up some of that time to keep his credentials current, and for everyone's time in a week obviously crammed with interesting PD. Kudos to Ryan on pointing his school & staff in a very professional direction. Delighted we can continue to contribute to that bench-marked success with Cambridge Young Learners.

From Yamagata - examiner training weekend

Our great northern venues in Yamagata & Fukushima have been co-operating with each other since adopting Cambridge exams, and last weekend the fine tradition continued. MY English Schools in Yamagata are very keen on Cambridge Young Learners, and it was a pleasure to deliver examiner training to their staff on Saturday.

The following day, we had a whole day of Professional Development, which included opportunities to practice & hone our interlocution skills with volunteer candidates. This puts examiners under 'real' exam pressures and is invaluable experience - helps me identify possible areas that need fine-tuning or showcase good habits. The volunteer candidates can enjoy two or three 'practice' goes for free, to help get them in the mood for the actual exams which will be taking place in November (details below). I'd like to thank Ryan's school & staff for their help in organising the weekend, and for all their hard work.



I actually enjoyed the long drive, as the nights' on the expressway coincided with live commentary on the cricket between England & Australia in London...meaningless for most people I know, but blissfully enjoyable for me, and made the 1,100km slip by relatively quickly - just like the Aussie innings!

YLE in Yamagata city: November 10th

Apply to MY English School rhagglund@myeigo.com or via Luna at luna.JP004@gmail.com

YLE in Aizuwakamatsu city: November 17th

Apply to Windmill English Centre windmill@akina.ne.jp or via Luna at luna.JP004@gmail.com

September 11th - a positive story

September 11^th was an important date for our examiners recently trained/professionally developed in Yamagata, Niigata and Fukushima. They got to get their teeth into some candidates – not literally of course. At least, not that I’ve heard!

Our examiners also had another hat to wear, as the nature of their examining was a co-operative deal with other school owners/venues running Young Learners….which is exactly the way I saw this working when the idea was conceived in a cross country drive with Steve Holland to Sendai nearly two years ago. I do like it when ducks get lined up – doesn’t happen too often, and the Tohoku disaster did put a rather large wrench in the works (Tomomi is still our hero for her examining in April).

Steve’s school (Windmill English Center) in Aizuwakamatsu became a venue for the first time back in June, offering KET & PET to Fukushima. Disco Paul was my co-pilot for that rocket drive, where we were able to help Steve “cross the t’s and dot the i’s”, besides interview the speaking candidates. Steve showed us the field next to his house where he could not stand up during the earthquake March 11^th. We know it is not easy to get everything right first time as a venue – but it is very important that things are done by the book. We even translated the book (it is the fifth Gospel, ‘according to Yuki’). It was our privilege to get WEC on the map.

Alan Morrison’s school (Sunshine English) in Ojiya, Niigata, also became a YLE venue for the first time. Mark & I drove down the river, quite literally from Luna to his school two hours downstream, a couple of years ago when they had KET & PET. We might be repeating that journey in November now, by the way – great! Another town, incidentally, with considerable earthquake issues of its own.

Both of Ryan Hagglund’s schools (MY English) in Yamagata (Yamagata city and Sakata) were very first time venues, so particular congratulations to Ryan and his staff. I am hoping to visit their venue soon – not least because I have very fond memories of a motorbike trip through beautiful Yamagata year gone by!

Thank you Stephen, Alan, Ryan for getting organised & working together to make this unique session successful. Not quite a profit turner for any of you yet, but obviously an immediate pay off for the students at your schools and an indictment of the professional approach you take to teaching English. I sincerely hope your first YLE sessions are the thin end of the wedge. Let’s plan your 2012 session now, and get Mike, Anna, Ben, Mario examining too!

We are proud of you!

Young Learners - in Fukushima, Niigata, Yamagata

We are delighted to announce that children will be taking their Young Learners examinations in the above prefectures on September 11th

Last month we hosted a YLE training session at Luna, with teachers coming from very far and wide to make sure this event would be viable. Hats off to Mario from Sendai, Ryan from Yamagata, Stephen from Aizuwakamatsu, Mike from Sakata, Alan from Ojiya, Anna from Ueda for the miles you covered. They will be on the road again to conduct the speaking tests...

So, which are the very good schools where these exams are on offer?

Image via Wikipedia
• Windmill English Centre in Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima-ken.
• MY English School in Yamagata city and Sakata, Yamagata-ken
• Sunshine Learning Center in Ojiya, Niigata-ken

What is the connection with all these schools? Well, they all have very committed, professional owners who recognise the importance of internationally bench-marked examinations which are suitable for their young students. Jim knows these owners pretty well too, having met them here and there at JALT/ETJ/publisher events over the years. So, if you teach kids up north and want to prove how well your students are doing, why not get in touch with the nearest venue - they are still accepting external entries. Hurry, hurry!

(Want to become a venue? Want to become an examiner? Drop Jim an email)

Tohoku training

About this time last year I drove overnight from Kanazawa to Sendai - quite a long way which my knee still remembers painfully. So, driving only six hours to get there this time was relatively easy, especially as I stopped to pick up a colleague Steve in Aizuwakamatsu ("Aizu"). As I got there early, I treated myself to a quick exploration of T Castle - itself a disappointing concrete replica, but man oh man, what fabulous buttressed walls?! Wow! Very impressive fortifications indeed.

The team assembled in Sendai had come about as far and wide as I, which is humbling, and fills me with ecouragement. I am condident a year from now YLE will be taking place in four new venues in this part of Japan - my guess in three new prefectures. We are already planning a 'full on' training session come the spring.

I need to thank Ben for setting things up, Steve for keeping me awake on the way home (and the pizza pit-stop), and all the well travelled OEs (as they indeed now are) for their Sunday trapped indoors listening to me.

Thank you very much indeed, guys.

The place where I live - Yamagata

I live in Yamagata, which is a small village neighboring southwest Matsumoto city. It has a population of about 8000 people.

There are mountains and houses to the west of the village, and a farming area spreads to the east. There is good nature in this village, and I can look at mountains and the Matsumoto Plain around here on fine, clear days. Autumn colors of mountains and yam farms are also very beautiful.

The weather in Yamagata is similar to Matsumoto's. Yamagata is located a little higher above sea level than Matsumoto city, so the temperature is a little lower than Matsumoto.

Agriculture is the most active industry in this village. There are plenty of farms which produce many kinds of vegetables and fruits, - yams, apples, water melons, soba, and so on. Good things for a lot of people is good farm products, and a beautiful view.

I think the best things about Yamagata village are the comfortable climate and the peace and quiet, and the good location near Matsumoto or Shiojiri city, and the helpfulness of local people. I think this is why the population increased recently.

Junji

Another roadtrip

Last weekend was another busy one, as Tana's posting below also mentions.

King's Road English School in Tokyo was the venue for Cambridge ESOL KET & PET examinations on Saturday, and I need to thank Trevor for his professional approach to this important event for us. Hokuriku Gakuin University in Kanazawa also had KET & PET exams on the same day - their first Lower Main Suite session so an exciting, newsworthy event. Gavin & Sakiko were suitably nervous & well-prepared; candidates looked a bit nervous!

I drove over to help the school cope with their first time, but also to be one of the two oral examiners along with Maureen, who trained up earlier this month in Sapporo. Afterwards we were able to relax with a couple of staff, which was nice but frustrating - surrounded by inviting Scotch whisky and unable to partake - I hade to drive to Sendai that night!

OK, so I slept in the car near Niigata...Sunday I met a lot of interesting folks from Sendai itself, Miyagi, Yamagata and Aomori prefectures, plus my performing friends Kaj & Kevin, who you can see on the right here. Kevin is the best presenter I know, and you'll notice he is also a fan of the Reading/Story Tree which we use at Luna. One day we'll get him to come up here...I also met a Canadian lady who shares my surname, which is very unusual - especially in Japan. Maybe we're related?

I hope our KET & PET candidates all enjoyed their exams (?!) and that they are satisfied with their results when they come. Thanks to our OEs & invigilators, and hopefully next year we will have a few new venues around the country for more candiates to take the exams conveniently. Here's hoping - it won't be for lack of trying!