Meg is now in her second year of teaching the subject, having taken over the program after it was introduced three years ago by another staff member.
With just one session per week for students in Years 7 to 10, she makes every moment count.
Meg’s approach is highly visual and oral-based, helping students grasp the challenges of a language that uses three scripts – hiragana, katakana and kanji.
“The script is quite hard,” she said.
“So, we focus on memorisation, learning words in a group, and using lots of pictures and flashcards.”
In class, students are introduced to vocabulary through visual prompts and repetition, often tested as a group and then individually.
“I say to them, you don’t have to be perfect,” Meg said.
“This is not a live or die test environment. This is about being engaged, about having fun and having a go.”
To keep things fresh, Meg adds cultural elements such as sushi days once a term and has plans for excursions where students can practise ordering food in Japanese.
“They actually really love it. I think the fun part is learning it in a group though,” she said.
Her classroom philosophy emphasises encouragement over pressure, with Meg saying that teenagers can often opt out as soon as they feel they’re going to be tested in a make-or-break kind of way.
“I just try to put the emphasis on fun participation over everything,” Meg said.
“It really works, and the students really enjoy the subject.”
Meg also encourages peer learning.
If a student doesn’t know an answer, they can pass and listen to their classmates before getting another chance.
And even while teaching, Meg continues to study Japanese herself.
“I still do online classes, and I’m always learning,” Meg said.
“I remind students that learning a language is ongoing – just like how they learned English growing up.”
– Kelly Lucas-Carmody
8°C