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There will be an information session for students interested in participating in the new Semester in Japan exchange program with Kanazawa University.
When: 15 October (Thurs), 4-5 pm
Where: Staff Common Room, BPB 4th floor (follow the smell of coffee)
Who: Anyone interested in going on the 1 semester exchange program to Japan
As the deadline for applications to the program will be 14 November, it is strongly recommended that all interested students attend. The information session will address issues related to eligibility, the transfer of credits to your degree program, expenses, housing, coursework available in Kanazawa, application procedures and any questions you might have. Application forms will also be distributed at the info session. If you are unable to attend you should ask a friend to take notes for you and/or make arrangements with the SIJ coordinator to discuss your application.
For further information contact: yearinjapan@anu.edu.au
Andy Petredis, First place
Continuing last year’s winning streak, Japan Centre students took first and third place in the open division
of the Canberra division of the Japan Foundation’s 40th annual Japanese Language Speech Contest. Andy Petredis and Maya Siyi Chen (both students in Mark Gibeau’s Written Japanese D class) took first and third places respectively. Andy will go on to participate in the national competition to be held in Sydney on October 10 & we wish him the best of luck.
Maya Siyi Chen, Third place
Altogether nine students from the Japan Centre presented speeches on a range of topics from issues in Japanese education, the Japanese immigration system and discrimination to Japan’s shoe culture, the benefits of being stingy and a virtual tour of Uluru. A big thanks to postgrad student & Japanese tutor Jun Imaki who volunteered her time to help the WJD students revise & practice their speeches.
Students in the high school and beginning divisions also performed remarkably well and we congratulate all of the participants on their strong performances.
Each year the Japan Foundation sponsors a Japanese language speech contest with a wide range of categories from beginners to background speakers. The contest is a two-stage affair, with a local competition in Canberra (date TBD) and then a national competition in Sydney for the winners of the local events. Last year ANU students swept the ACT contest and made a very strong showing in the national event. So give it a try and take your Japanese out of the classroom and into the real world! Deadline for applications is 11 Sept, 2009 but don’t wait till the last minute!
Download the application form, guidelines and letter to apply.
As the attached indicates (click on the pretty picture), we will be holding an information session for all students interested in participating in the Japan Centre’s Year in Japan program from 2-3 pm in the Staff Common Room (BPB 4th floor) on Thursday April 2nd. In addition to a short talk by the coordinators of the program several recent participants of the program will be on hand to answer questions and talk about their own experiences. Anyone interested in participating is strongly urged to attend.
A selection of advanced, graduate level courses is now also available in online format. Offerings include a variety of advanced Japanese language classes, Japanese law, Japanese economic development, and modern Japanese society. Click below for more information.
Students from Mark Gibeau’s Surasura Japanese class swept away the competition in the ACT speech contest.
The annual competition was held at the University of Canberra on August 23rd and saw over fifty speeches presented in high school, open beginner, open and background speaker divisions. Japan Centre students Bethany Clark, Madeleine Firth and Chris Higgins beat out a field of nearly thirty contestants in the open division to take First, Second and Third prizes respectively while Karlis Tebescis took First prize in the background speaker division. A panel of Japanese language teachers and representatives from the Japan Foundation and the Japanese Embassy rated speakers on the basis of the content of their speeches, presentation and language ability.
As a part of the Japan Foundation’s 39th National Japanese Language Speech Contest the two first place winners will go on to the national competition to be held in Sydney in October. We wish them the best of luck and our congratulations go out to all of the ANU students who participated in the contest & a special thanks to Jun Imaki for all her help in correcting and critiquing the speeches.
In semester one of 2008 students in Dr. Carol Hayes‘ Advanced Japanese class were given the task of rewriting or continuing some of the most famous works in modern Japanese literature such as Natsume Sôseki’s I Am a Cat, Kawabata Yasunari’s The Izu Dancer, Tanizaki Junichirô’s Tattoo and several others. You can see the fruits of their labours here:
Students in Mark Gibeau & Mari Miki’s 2007 Written Japanese D class composed tanka, a form of traditional Japanese poetry in 5-7-5-7-7 format, as part of their class assignment. Enjoy!