PPLI Annual Report (2019) - Flipbook - Page 44
Trips to Japan organised in schools where PPLI delivers Japanese
In 2019 two schools made a trip to Japan: Ashbourne Community College and Mount Temple Comprehensive
School. Students in Ashbourne Community College travelled to Japan for 10 days, working as a team while
being immersed in the Japanese language and culture.
The students experienced a phenomenal range of activities. Crucially, the students found themselves outside
their comfort zone in real-life situations which opened their eyes to what they can do and achieve.
‘The Japanese trip was absolutely amazing. It was the best ten days of my life.’...
It was probably one of the highlights of my life.’
Mount Temple students visited the town of Oita in June 2019 for two weeks. They attended the local school
where they had an opportunity to try out Japanese school books, observed a Japanese tea ceremony, had a
taste of traditional sweets with the matcha they made (and getting pins and needles in their legs as they sat
with their legs folded), took part in a judo club, and of course spoke Japanese.
TY Japan Quiz and the Speech Contest
PPLI collaborated for the third year with DCU to deliver the annual TY Japan Quiz. The event was held
simultaneously in DCU in Dublin, Ennis, Gorey and Cork. 18 schools with a total of 166 students took part. PPLI
produced a video introducing Japanese language options offered by DCU, UCC and UL to raise interest in the
possibility of Japanese language learning at third level. Very positive feedback was received from teachers
and students who joined the event.
Impact
Expansion of Japanese into Junior Cycle and the addition of Leaving Certificate Japanese in a new school
provide more students with the opportunity to study Japanese. Several new schools also came on board
with TY Japanese, and have enjoyed the classes. Hundreds of students are exposed to Japanese and learning
about the importance of Asian languages.
Student Feedback
‘It is a very good
language which will help
you in the future, what I
like about Japanese
are the letters.’
‘The teachers are clearly
passionate about what they do
and make sure that it reflects
within the class, which makes it
a fun and involved
atmosphere.’
Supporting students with oral workshops, the TY Quiz, the Speech
Contest, school trips to Japan, website resources and school
outreach creates a vibrant, exciting community of young people
immersed in Japanese.
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‘I really enjoy
learning Japanese,
it’s so interesting to learn about
how different non-European cultures
and languages are like, I hope to
continue studying Japanese
after secondary school
as well.’