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Towards the end of Term 1, we held our Annual Conference at a new venue, the Catholic Leadership Centre. The Annual General Meeting was held at the conclusion of Friday’s workshop program and I extend a very warm welcome to the new committee for 2026. The minutes from the Annual General Meeting can be found here. Details of the 2026 JLTAV committee can be found on the JLTAV website in the ‘About Us’ section.

As an Association, we are committed to supporting our colleagues and ensuring Japanese language education continues to flourish in Victoria. Throughout this year, we intend to organise a range of events for teachers and students including:

• Year 12 Morning (online resources and online session)
• Model UN Conference in Japanese
• Junior Speech Competition
• Calligraphy Competition
• a range of professional learning sessions for primary and secondary teachers in addition to our annual conference

As we continue our plans for these events, we will share registration information via the JLTAV website, JLTAV membership email list, the Nihongo Victoria email group, the JLTAV and Japanese Language Teachers of Australia Facebook pages, and on the Department of Education and Training’s ARC platform.

I would like to acknowledge our corporate members of the JLTAV for 2026. Details of our corporate members can be found on the ‘Links’ section of the JLTAV website. We are pleased to be able to support our corporate members and include their advertisements in this newsletter.

2026 JLTAV Events Poster Competition

I am pleased to launch the 2026 JLTAV Events Poster Competition. The winning entry will be included on the front cover of the 2026 Year 12 Morning booklet. Details of this competition can be found at: https://jltav.org.au/events/#!event/2026/5/4/2026-jltav-events-poster-competition.

2026 Model UN Conference in Japanese

This year the JLTAV is supporting the United Nations Association of Australia Victorian Division (UNAAV) and the Department of Education to organise the Model UN Conference in Japanese for senior students. The conferences will be held on Friday 24 and Wednesday 29 July in Melbourne.

We are looking for volunteer language assistants who will support the students participating in the conference. The UNAAV will hold a briefing for the language assistants closer to the commencement of the conference days.

Could you please email me if you are available to assist during one or both conference days?

Thank you for your support of the JLTAV Inc. I wish everyone all the best for Term 2.

Nathan Lane

President

JLTAV Inc. (Reg. No. A0024691U)

The post From the President, Autumn 2026 appeared first on JLTAV.

This year’s event was well supported with a large number of attendees from metropolitan and regional Victorian Government, Catholic and Independent schools, as well as a number of presenters from interstate in attendance. We are pleased to see the number of attendees at the conference increasing each year.

The keynote addresses on both days set the scene for some exciting professional learning. On Friday, we listened to Christopher Thomas provided an overview of Teach Like a Champion (TLAC) and its connection to Australian evidence. On Saturday, Dr Wes Robertson talked about changing trends in the Japanese language.

This year the format for the two days was again different. A range of workshops were offered which showcased contemporary approaches to teaching Japanese. In total, we had 60 breakout sessions. The Japanese teaching community in Victoria and Australia is fortunate to have such amazing teachers willing to share their knowledge. Sincere thanks to our colleagues who generously gave their time and graciously responded to our calls to present a workshop. With their support we were able to put together a varied program of professional learning for the two days.

The breaks throughout the day gave teachers an opportunity to network and to peruse the exhibitor stalls set up in the conference venue. As always, our exhibitors were very generous and contributed many prizes that we awarded to delegates. We greatly appreciate their generosity and support of the JLTAV. A list of our 2026 corporate members can be found on the links section of the JLTAV website.

This year the Annual General Meeting for the JLTAV was again held at the conference at the conclusion of Friday’s workshop program. We were pleased that a number of JLTAV members stayed for the AGM. We warmly welcome the JLTAV committee for 2026 and the list of committee members can be found on the ‘About Us’ page of the JLTAV website.

The success of the conference is attributed to the hardworking JLTAV committee members. Many thanks are extended to the committee who work tirelessly to ensure the success of all the JLTAV events. In particular, I acknowledge and thank Terue Kato, the JLTAV Office Manager and Bookkeeper, who spent a number of hours completing administrative tasks for the event. We greatly appreciate Terue’s support and thank her very much.

We acknowledge the support of the Department of Education and Training (DET). We have once again been fortunate to receive a substantial grant, enabling us to provide this professional learning and others at a much lower cost throughout the year. Just as importantly, we acknowledge the close relationship and support that we share with the Monash Japanese Language Education Hub (MJLEH), through Mrs Junko Nichols, Languages Teachers Victoria and The Japan Foundation, Sydney.

It was pleasing to see so many teachers, both new and experienced, in attendance at this year’s conference. We hope the event inspired everyone with new ideas for a great year of teaching Japanese in 2026. Plans are already underway for next year’s conference and we look forward to presenting another exciting conference in 2027.

Photos from the conference can be accessed from HERE.

Nathan Lane

President

JLTAV Inc. (Reg. No. A0024691U)

The post 2026 JLTAV Annual Conference Report appeared first on JLTAV.

The post 2026-1 Summer Newsletter appeared first on JLTAV.

In 2026, we have a range of exciting events planned for teachers and students. We will promote our events through the JLTAV website, JLTAV member email list, Nihongo Victoria email group, the JLTAV and Japanese Language Teachers of Australia Facebook pages, as well as through the Department of Education and Training’s Access, Resource, Collaborate (ARC).

Vale Jill Howie

The JLTAV acknowledges the passing of our valued colleague, Jill Howie. I first came across Jill when I was studying Japanese in high school in the 1990s and we used the textbook she co-wrote with Mioko Wood, Japanese for Senior Secondary Students. This would have to have been one of the few senior secondary Japanese textbooks written for an Australian audience at a time when Japanese language education was growing in schools across Australia. Jill made a significant contribution to this growth through the creation of her textbook resources. When I became a teacher, I had the privilege of working with Jill as an assessor for the VCE oral examinations for Japanese Second Language. Jill worked for a long time at Wesley College and Korowa Anglican Girls’ College, and her students benefitted greatly from her wisdom and passion for Japanese. Jill also generously hosted the JLTAV sushi party at her home for many years. The JLTAV extends our sympathies to Jill’s family and friends at this difficult time.

Advocacy Poster Competition

Thank you to the schools who submitted entries for the 2025 advocacy poster competition. Kristine Thanh Nguyen Ba from Keilor Downs College won the competition. A selection of posters to use in schools can be found on the JLTAV website. Please go to: https://jltav.org.au/services/.

Resource creation

We are fortunate to have amazing colleagues who are willing to share their wealth of knowledge with us. In Term 4, we invited VCE teachers to contribute resources to a shared Google Drive folder. Thank you to the teachers who created resources for this project. The resources are available to all JLTAV members. Please complete the form below in order to access the shared Google Drive folder.

https://forms.gle/MkL4zg9NQsC3ELsf9

Last year our amazing colleague, Yuichi Deguchi, also produced and shared many resources to support the teaching and learning of Japanese. These resources are also available through a shared Google Drive folder. Please complete the form below in order to access the shared Google Drive folder.

https://forms.gle/oVd648kmPackqAbY6

Calligraphy Competition Results

Thank you to the students and schools who supported our 2025 Calligraphy Competition. The ability for students to draw the Japanese scripts in both the brush and pencil categories is most impressive. Please click here for the results of this competition.

In 2025 we had the following number of entries:

Brush: 165 in total

Primary – 60

Secondary – 105

Pencil: 175 in total

Primary – 125

Secondary – 50

2026 JLTAV Annual Conference

We look forward to welcoming colleagues to our 2026 Annual Conference to be held on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 March at a new venue, the Catholic Leadership Centre, 576 Victoria Parade, East Melbourne. Please find here the program for the conference and the registration form here. Many thanks to our amazing colleagues for offering to present sessions at the conference. Through the generosity of our colleagues, we have been able to put together another exciting program for the two days.

Our Annual General Meeting will be held on Friday 27 March from 4.30pm to 5.00pm at the Catholic Leadership Centre. We encourage members to nominate themselves to join the JLTAV committee in 2026. One gains a lot of satisfaction from being involved in the Association and ensuring Japanese language education continues to flourish in Victoria. Please contact me at nlane@mackillopsh.vic.edu.au if you would like further information or you would like to join the committee in 2026.

Sincere thanks to the Department of Education for their great support and for providing a yearly grant to enable us to organise student events and professional learning for teachers. We look forward to the ongoing support from the Department of Education in 2026.

In 2020, we saw a new format for the external examinations for Year 12 Japanese Second Language. To support VCE teachers, the JLTAV produced practice exams from 2020 to 2025. These practice exams are still available for purchase. Please click on the information in this newsletter to place an order. We will be creating and selling practice exams for 2026 and will let colleagues know when orders are open. Later in the year we will also update our Year 12 Morning resources and make these available to JLTAV members. We wish all our VCE students great success in their Japanese studies in 2026.

As we start another school year, it is timely to remind colleagues of the best way to contact the JLTAV. The best email addresses are nlane@mackillopsh.vic.edu.au or jltav@jltav.org.au. Unfortunately the JLTAV Facebook Messenger account isn’t monitored often.

On behalf of the committee, I thank you all for your support of the JLTAV throughout 2025. We wish everyone all the very best for the start of the 2026 school year. Take care and stay safe.

Nathan Lane

President

JLTAV Inc. (Reg. No. A0024691U)

The post From the President, Summer 2026 appeared first on JLTAV.

In 2025 we had the following number of entries:

Brush: 165 in total

Primary – 60

Secondary – 105

Pencil: 175 in total

Primary – 125

Secondary – 50

The post Calligraphy Competition Results appeared first on JLTAV.

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The post 2025 AGM Minutes appeared first on JLTAV.

Sunday 31 August – Hawthorn Arts Centre

Prize Winners

The post 2025 JLTAV Inc. Junior Speech Competition – Prize Winners appeared first on JLTAV.

2025 Model UN Conference in Japanese

Our 2025 Model UN Conference in Japanese was held over two days on Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 30 July at the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership in North Melbourne. This year we had 217 students participating over the two days from 17 schools, supported by 23 teachers, 4 language assistants on each day and 3 staff on each day from the United Nations Association of Australia (Victorian Division).

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 27 July, Julie Devine 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 529 students and teachers from 69 schools who registered for this session. Many thanks to Julie for preparing the materials for the Year 12 Morning and for presenting the online session. We sincerely appreciate Julie’s support and the wealth of knowledge and VCE experience she brings to our Year 12 Morning each year. 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.

2025 JLTAV Practice Exams

To support teachers of VCE Japanese Second Language in 2025, the JLTAV has produced two practice exams. Please click on the link below for information on how to purchase these resources. 

https://forms.gle/63q5tUGR8jRupHk67

Practice exams from 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 are still available for purchase. Please go to https://jltav.org.au/services/ for information on how to purchase these resources.

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.

2025 JLTAV Immersion Professional Learning Day

On Saturday 16 August, the 2025 JLTAV immersion professional learning day was held at the Rendezvous Hotel in the city. We thank our 18 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 primary and the other for VCE/senior secondary.

We extend our sincere thanks to our presenters on the day: Yuichi Deguchi and Masae Uekusa who led the primary group, and Shingo Gibson-Suzuki and Hana Ueda who led the VCE/senior secondary group. 

2025 Junior Speech Competition

On Sunday 31 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 45 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.

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.

2026 JLTAV Annual Conference 

Our 2026 JLTAV Annual Conference will be held on Friday 27 and Saturday 28 March at a new venue, the Catholic Leadership Centre in East Melbourne.

We are pleased to launch the expression of interest form for presenters at the 2026 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 5 December.

https://forms.gle/vrFXFREU6ysa1vbE6

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 2025 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)

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