Jim's awayday in Tokyo - challenging examiners

Limited thinking time for Speaking Examiners to consider lexical resource components (words!) into CEFR bands...if only there were a website for that? https://lnkd.in/gH_AYdaQ

Speaking Examiners vs CEFR on Wordwall

Interesting disagreement about 'brass' - common in Japan as it is a 'club activity' in JHS/HS (brass band)...and in Yorkshire our number one obsession (money!), and my age group who loved The Pretenders/Chrissie Hynde! High end phrasal verb 'brassed off', idiom 'brass neck', or 'top brass'.

Here's the link https://lnkd.in/gn5efxzT - if you can beat the high score & live in Japan/teach English, get in touch about joining the SE team ;)

Thank you to Chris & the JP040 SE team for your patience with my attempts to spice up/gamify certification & re-invent the assessment wheel. 

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 ;)

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.

Jim's weekend on the job - Tokyo

Delighted to report that I was involved with another training session for Cambridge Assessment English last weekend, as Team Leader for Kawaijuku JP026. On this occasion I was looking after A2:Key & B1:Preliminary levels

Speaking Examiner training team, July 2025 

I was annoyed that a couple of applicants didn't bother turning up (nor contacting us with an excuse/apology) as that robbed other people of the chance to join this otherwise fully booked event.

As it was, we had a very mixed group of English language teaching professonals join the team. Language school teachers,high school teachers, dispatch/ALTs, freelancers & directors of studies. Some people very new to the country, and other old-hands; some dedicated Tokyo-dwellers and others more transient - one participant actually living in Osaka made the trip especially. And six nationalities; more folks from Singapore & Atlanta Georgia than Yorkshire!

As ever, the various experiences of such a group only adds to the eventual outcome, with voices considering how to assess speaking tests vs standardised criteria; noticing different aspects of candidate output, removing personal bias/preferences; gaining exposure to other approaches & ideas...and also picking up best practice off each other in the interlocutor role, learning off each other & giving/recieving feedback.

It is never possible to cover everything an examiner needs to learn in the limited time available to us - a weekend seems like a long time, right? It isn't...Hence the very real need for all Speaking Examiners, globally, to recertify annually in order to build up layers or professional ability, fine tune perfomances and focus in more detail on certain aspects of interlocutor & assessor roles.

My next training session for Kanto area teachers will be Sept 20th, at B1:Preliminary & B2:First, which I'm really looking forward to!

Cambridge Speaking Examiners - high maintenance!

Unfortunately, with the upturn of 'you know what' cases in Japan lately, I'm looking at having to provide certification for our nationwide network of Cambridge Assessment English Speaking Examiners online again this spring.


Really grateful that our Preparation Centre in Akasaka, Tokyo (King's Road School of English) provided me with the chance to video record more than 50 candidates back in early January. This was a massive undertaking, arranged during the Christmas holidays.

Over a dozen experienced Speaking Examiners offered up their free time for this crucial project on the day - demostrating for the first time how to properly, fully, deliver all levels of speaking examinations with covid-precautions/altered scripts & procedures in play, including groups of three candidates.

All of which means that we can now show recently trained/not examined yet/less experienced/'not examined since covid started' SEs copper-bottomed examples of how to deliver (interlocute)...properly.

I exhausted my go-to box of online certification tricks over the last two years. I'm quite sure Japan's Speaking Examiner team will be delighted with the quality of refreshing, relevant, and recent procedural examples they will be able to discuss & learn from as we certify this year.

When? All times JST = GMT +9. For SEs in Japan (as well as our disapora denied the opportunity elsewhere):

Feb 26 9:00am - A2:Key + B1:Preliminary
Feb 26 1:30pm - A2:Key + B1:Preliminary
Feb 27 9:00am - A2:Key + B1:Preliminary
Feb 27 1:30pm - Young Learners
Mar 13 9:00am - A2:Key + B1:Preliminary
Mar 13 1:30pm - A2:Key + B1:Preliminary
Mar 20 9:00am - A2:Key + B1:Preliminary

Contact Jim George oyajim@gmail.com if you would like information on attending future Cambridge Assessment English SE training - across Japan.

New Young Learners - Certification workshop

Quick announcement for any Cambridge YLE speaking examiners who need to re-certify with 2018 materials - certification workshop being held in Matsumoto Jan 28th

See link for details

NB Only available to SEs who have already trained for YLE and examined within the last 2 years

Contact Jim to register (free to JP004 SEs)

So what does Jim do at the weekends when he isn't teaching?

BYOD solution to get SEs talking!

Last weekend I was looking after the Certification of speaking examiners for one of our fellow Cambridge Centres in Tokyo. This is a part of my job I really enjoy a lot, as I am working with professional teachers who are dedicated to the role they have chosen to pursue in their spare time - doing more teachery stuff! Speaking Examiners do not grow on trees; they need looking after, nurturing, and occasionally patting on the back! They need to know when they are doing a good job, and every year they need to freshen up their skills in delivering the speaking tests and to show that their assessment is in tune...matching Cambridge's worldwide benchmark.

We were fortunate last weekend to have half a dozen young CEFR B2 (FCE) level kids studying in the school, who were keen to have a couple of free practice 'goes'. One of the teachers was surprised one of the boys didn't start crying - so well done my team for not being scary & insensitive! Yes, it's a test, but you can still smile and be 'normal'. One thing I really do not want 'my' cadre to do is get all serious and high & mighty. Our job is to provide the candidates with the opportunity to display all that they can do....

This year I have been throwing my examiners into Quizlet Live games, competing with & against each other to tackle tricky topics like feedback commentaries. Rather than me stand there & bemoan this or that, the examiners themselves have to come to some sort of agreement as to how certain behaviour or outcomes should be considered. That in itself generates a lot of discussion - and consensus - and reinforces the message that regardless of location or circumstances, each & every candidate must have the same opportunity to be successful.

Ayako, Jim & Hiroshi - champions!

So I was delighted to be able to introduce the team later to Ayako & Hiroshi Nishizawa, both former Luna students now running a fabulous restaurant in Naka-Meguro ("Yakitori Champion"). Ayako took YLE while at Luna & has since home-stayed & studied in Warwick; Hiroshi was cool throughout our first 10-day farm-stay to Whangarei in New Zealand, 15 years ago. The food? Fabulous lamb, lots of lamb, and then more lamb. Excellent value, if a bit smoky!

For me, this was a 10 out of ten weekend. What do you think?

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.