PPLI Annual Report 2018 - Flipbook - Page 24
Curriculum languages: Japanese and Russian (2.A.6, 2.C.1)
‘
‘
Support for Japanese (and) Russian... will be continued under this Strategy,
in order to build on the successes achieved to date.
Japanese
In 2018 PPLI provided Senior Cycle (TY, 5th and 6th year) Japanese classes in 32 schools in Dublin, Cork,
Wexford, Sligo, Meath, Kildare, Limerick and Clare with a total of 2,573 students. Japanese classes are also
available as an additional subject for Leaving Certificate in Dublin and Cork and afterschool in Sligo and these
classes cater in total for nearly 150 students. 17 Japanese teachers are employed by PPLI.
Comments from students in Japanese Saturday class
The classes are always fun, and I never leave without learning something new. I think it's great that, by the time I
finish the Leaving Cert, I will have a working knowledge of a language that continues to grow in importance as
Japan becomes an even greater player on the world stage.
I enjoy the classes. We have two teachers, one native Japanese and one Irish, and that allows for both to improve
each other significantly, thus having both classes means double the quality. Both teachers don't put pressure on us
and always make the experience relaxed. The weekly emails and updates help a lot too, and the teachers help with
anything possible.
It's the only Leaving Cert subject I like, and even if I didn't, the atmosphere would still draw me to the class because it
doesn't feel as stressful as normal school. Even though we have fun, we cover so much. And because all of us having
an interest anyway, we all engage in the class, so nothing is 'forced'. If school was like this every day, I wouldn't dread
going to it - that is if we could just study lots of weird languages.
School Outreach for Japanese
During College Awareness Week, PPLI representative Claire
Long gave talks on ‘Studying Languages in University’ to
senior cycle students of Japanese in schools in Dublin,
Wicklow and Wexford. Students asked about the difficulty
level of the Leaving Cert exam and the subjects that can be
studied with Japanese at third level. These talks were
effective in showing students the possible pathways to
higher education and beyond with Japanese and other
languages. Practical, first-hand tips on studying for the
Leaving Cert, travelling to/in Japan (WWOOFing, working
holidays) available scholarships (EIL, SUSI, JASSO, MEXT,
MIRAI) and programmes (JET Programme) were also shared
and students were encouraged when they saw that there are
a variety of alternatives when it comes to getting to Japan.
Students reported that they found the talks informative and
enjoyable.
Claire Long, PPLI, and Mika O’Loughlin,
Japanese teacher with PPLI
24