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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

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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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2025 JLTAV Practice Exams

To further support VCE teachers we have created two practice exams. Please click on the link below for information on how to purchase these resources. The resources will be sent to those who have purchased them during the week beginning Monday 28 July. 

https://forms.gle/63q5tUGR8jRupHk67

Practice exams from 2020 to 2024 are still available for purchase. Please email jltav@jltav.org.au for information on how to purchase these resources.

We wish all Year 12 students success as preparations for their end-of-year exams increase in Term 3. 

2025 Model UN in Japanese

On Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 30 July our 2025 Model UN Conference in Japanese were held. Many thanks to Madeleine Pickup from the Department of Education and Training, and Dr Sally Northfield from the United Nations Association of Australia Victorian Division for their support in organising this event. Many thanks also to Satoshi Sanada who has supported the Model UN in Japanese as Secretary General since the event started in 2019.

2025 JLTAV Junior Speech Competition

This year’s competition will be held on Sunday 31 August at the Hawthorn Arts Centre.

Please click on the link below for registration information and the set speeches for the competition.

https://jltav.org.au/events/#!event/2025/8/31/2025-jltav-junior-speech-competition

Please find here some advice to teachers to assist in this year’s preparations.

Please note that all contestants (students) and audience members (teachers and family members) require tickets for each division they are participating in or watching. This helps us to allocate the spaces we use for each division of the competition according to the number of registrations. All tickets are free, however, students need to pay the registration fee in order to participate in the competition. Please click on the link below to be taken to the Humanitix website to organise the tickets. The teacher in charge is responsible for organising the tickets on behalf of their school/students/parents.

https://events.humanitix.com/2025-jltav-junior-speech-competition

Participating schools will be informed of the start and finish times for each division closer to the day of the competition.

2025 Junior Speech Competition Judges

The JLTAV Committee is looking for judges for the 2025 Junior Speech Competition. If you are interested in being a judge, please email me at nlane@mackillopsh.vic.edu.au. Being a judge is a valuable professional learning opportunity.

2025 Calligraphy Competition

Our highly successful calligraphy competition will again be held during Term 3. Details of this competition have been included in this newsletter. Many thanks to the schools and students who will support this competition.

Looking for online presenters

In Term 3, we would like to offer a series of online professional learning sessions. If you would like to present, please email me at nlane@mackillopsh.vic.edu.au.

Yuichi Deguchi’s Resources

Our amazing colleague and Life Member of the JLTAV Inc., Yuichi Deguchi, has generously shared the resources he has created over many years with the JLTAV. Yuichi’s resources have been made available for free to JLTAV members only. In order to access Yuichi’s resources, if you have not done so already, please complete the form in the link below by Friday 29 August. The resources are most suitable for primary school teachers, however, secondary teachers will also find the resources useful. We extend our appreciation to Yuichi for his great generosity and creativity. We know his resources will be most useful to Japanese teachers. The link to the resources will be sent on Saturday 30 August.

https://forms.gle/oVd648kmPackqAbY6

Please note: Yuichi Deguchi has generously made his resources available for Japanese teachers to use. The copyright of the resources belongs to Yuichi. If you modify any of the resources, please acknowledge Yuichi as the original creator of the resource. The resources are not to be sold either in their original format or modified format.

Japanese at Uni promotion videos and information

Two short videos promoting Japanese language education and Japan Studies are now available on the JSAA (Japanese Studies Association of Australia) homepage:

https://www.jsaa.org.au

The videos are designed to appeal to mid- to senior-secondary level students, with testimonials from current tertiary students, graduates, teachers, and images of university classroom activities. We hope you can utilise them in your classes and for relevant events to promote Japanese language education. We thank the Japan Foundation for their support.

There is also a set of slides “Studying Japanese at Victorian universities” available on the JLTAV website via “Links“.

University Languages Portal Australia (ULPA) is also a useful portal for those interested in studying languages at university.

https://ulpa.edu.au

Looking Ahead – Dates for your Diary

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 28 November.

https://forms.gle/FvB4zxZLxrrgo3NF8

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

Term 3 is the time when secondary students make decisions regarding their subject choices for the following year. As a way to support teachers during this time, links to advocacy resources have been included on the JLTAV website. Information on studying Japanese at Victorian universities has also been uploaded to the links page on the website. We hope you find these resources useful. I wish everyone a successful Term 3 and thank you for your support of the JLTAV Inc. Keep warm and healthy over these winter months!

Nathan Lane

President, JLTAV Inc. (Reg. No. A0024691U)

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