Welcome to Term 4 and the JLTAV Spring Newsletter. I hope everyone had a relaxing holiday break and you are refreshed and re-energised for Term 4. Term 3 was a busy term for the JLTAV as we organised different events for teachers and students. Reports from these events are below.
2026 Events Poster Competition winners
Congratulations to Phaedra Free from Monbulk College and Yi Yi Wang from Mount Waverley Secondary College for winning this year’s events poster competition. Their artworks were included on the front and back cover of the Year 12 Morning booklet.
2026 Model UN Conference in Japanese
Our 2026 Model UN Conference in Japanese was held over two days on Friday 24 and Wednesday 29 July at the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership in North Melbourne. This year we had 204 students participating over the two days, supported by 24 teachers across both days, 2 language assistants on each day and 3 staff on each day from the United Nations Association of Australia (Victorian Division).
This year’s theme was ‘Space Research and Sustainable Development: Improving life on Earth?’. The Model UN in Japanese provides students with an opportunity to use their Japanese language skills in an authentic context.
Many thanks to the teachers for preparing their students for the event. Many thanks also to Mr Satoshi Sanada for his amazing support as the Secretary General. We very much appreciate all the preparation Satoshi did leading up to and throughout the two days. Thank you also to Dr Sally Northfield, the Executive Manager from United Nations Association of Australia (Victorian Division) for all her organisation. We look forward to next year’s Model UN in Japanese.
Year 12 Morning – Online
On Sunday 23 August, Dr LuLu Vitali presented a two and a half-hour online session focusing on preparing for the oral and written exams for Japanese Second Language. Thank you to the 497 students and teachers from 62 schools who registered for this session. Many thanks to LuLu for presenting the online session. We sincerely appreciate LuLu’s support and the wealth of knowledge and VCE experience she brought to the session. Schools who registered for this year’s Year 12 Morning received access to a Google Drive folder of resources to use with their students as they prepare them for the end of year oral and written exams for Japanese Second Language.
2026 JLTAV Practice Exams
To support teachers of VCE Japanese Second Language in 2026, the JLTAV has produced two practice exams. Please click on the link below for information on how to purchase these resources.
https://forms.gle/qgRC8Esn83j6j2vY7
Practice exams from 2020 to 2025 are still available for purchase. Please go to https://jltav.org.au/services/ for information on how to purchase these resources. A PDF and Word file are available for each 2026 practice exam in a Google Drive folder. Please download the Word file rather than open it in Google Docs to ensure the formatting remains unchanged.
We extend our best wishes to all the students who will complete their oral and written exams for Japanese Second Language and Japanese First Language in Term 4.
2026 JLTAV Immersion Professional Learning Day
On Monday 7 September, the 2026 JLTAV immersion professional learning day was held at the University of Melbourne. We thank our 26 colleagues who participated in this event.
The aim of the day was to improve the language skills of non-native Japanese language teachers. The participants were divided into two groups, one for beginner/intermediate level learners and the other for advanced level learners.
We extend our sincere thanks to our presenters on the day: Naoko Nishikawa who led the beginner/intermediate level group, and Yuichi Deguchi who led the advanced level group. Sincere thanks to Ada Wang from the University of Melbourne who organised the spaces for us to use on the day.
Units of Work
Throughout this year, a group of Japanese teachers have been creating units of work for primary and secondary Japanese based on the Victorian Curriculum 2.0 for Japanese. Please click on the link below to register to receive access to these units of work when they are completed. The units of work will be made available for free to JLTAV members.
https://forms.gle/GZDVWUJ8AUGgCT5cA
2026 Junior Speech Competition
On Sunday 30 August, we held the Junior Speech Competition at the Hawthorn Arts Centre. Congratulations to all the participants and winners of each division. This year we had 32 schools participate in the competition. Below is the data outlining the number of participants in each division. It is pleasing to see such strong numbers of students participating in the competition.
| Division | Number of participants |
| Primary – Foundation to Year 2 (group) | 10 |
| Primary – Year 3 and Year 4 (group) | 12 |
| Primary – Year 3 and Year 4 (individual) | 2 |
| Primary – Open | 3 |
| Primary – Year 5 and Year 6 (individual) | 14 |
| Primary – Year 5 and Year 6 (pair) | 16 |
| Secondary – Year 7 and Year 8 (individual) | 11 |
| Secondary – Year 7 and Year 8 (pair) | 26 |
| Secondary – Year 9 and Year 10 (individual) | 14 |
| Secondary – Year 9 and Year 10 (pair) | 24 |
| Secondary – Open | 4 |
Many thanks to the teachers who supported their students to prepare for the competition, and to the families who came along on the day to watch their child present in Japanese. The competition is a great way for students to engage in their Japanese studies. The list of prize winners has been included in this newsletter.
2027 JLTAV Annual Conference
Our 2027 JLTAV Annual Conference will be held on Friday 19 and Saturday 20 March at the Catholic Leadership Centre in East Melbourne.
We are pleased to launch the expression of interest form for presenters at the 2027 JLTAV Annual Conference. We invite all colleagues with an interest to present, and encourage those who have never presented before to consider taking up this opportunity. There are so many inspirational teachers within our community with something to share and this is your chance. The link to complete the expression of interest form is below. Please complete this form by Friday 4 December.
https://forms.gle/kWkW4EYPia1YPwGo6
Thank you to the JLTAV Committee
The JLTAV Committee continue to work hard to organise events throughout the year and I thank them for all their hard work, generosity and commitment to the Association. Contact details of the 2026 committee have been included in this newsletter.
Our events for the JLTAV will be advertised through the following channels:
- The JLTAV website
- The JLTAV Facebook page
- The Japanese Language Teachers of Australia Facebook page
- The Victorian Department of Education Access, Resource, Collaborate (ARC) website
I wish everyone a successful Term 4 and thank you for your support of the JLTAV Inc. Take care and stay safe.
Nathan Lane
President, JLTAV Inc. (Reg. No. A0024691U)