The Japan Foundation, Madrid
SHINOZAKI Setsuko

The Japan Foundation, Madrid (hereinafter “JFMD”) was founded in April 2010, with the first Japanese-Language Chief Advisor (hereinafter “Advisor”) dispatched in October of that year, and I am the fourth person to hold that position. Meanwhile, the Association of Teachers of Japanese in Spain (hereinafter “APJE”) was founded even earlier in February 2010, with the current chairperson also being the 4th person to hold the job, and both organizations are approaching our 10th anniversaries this year (2019). As mentioned in the reports of my predecessors, the Japanese language programs run by the JFMD were created and managed jointly with the APJE, and in this report marking our 10th year, I will write about the current state of that cooperation.

(1) General Conference and Training Session (Co-hosted)

The general conference and training session is held every year in February, and the 10th conference was attended by 68 of the 143 members. The JFMD always gives a report on our activities at the conference alongside the APJE. The JFMD is always in charge of inviting the instructor for the training session. For this year, we invited Professor Chihiro Kinoshita Thomson of the University of New South Wales who is currently residing in Europe to give a lecture and workshop on “The World of Japanese Discovered by Each Learner”. The conference next year is scheduled to be held in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the establishment of APJE.

General Conference and Training Session

(2) Symposium on Japanese-Language Education (Co-hosted)

This event is jointly hosted every other year, and the 5th symposium will be held in Alicante this June. The theme will be “What is Culture? –Cultural Diversity in Japanese-Language Education”, with the JFMD cooperating in theme selection, the invitation of keynote lecturers, and reviewing applicants who wish to give presentations. As in other years, there will be a total of nearly 20 presentations, including those submitted in poster form.

(3) Japanese Drama Competition (Co-hosted)

This competition has been held every other year in between Symposium years since 2014, and last year marked the 3rd competition. The event features teams of learners from each institution who perform Japanese plays competitively. It serves as an opportunity for Japanese learners from throughout Spain to gather at once, and the JFMD supports the travel expenses of the competitors and lead instructors. Last year’s theme of “next door to ○○” resulted in fun plays featuring Samurai (Japanese warrior) and Yokai monsters, but the most memorable work featured vignettes from daily life.

The Japanese Drama Competition

(4) Regular Training Sessions

We host training sessions in the spring and fall of each year for members, and each Advisor must serve as an instructor at least once during their dispatch. I am scheduled to teach in May of this year, and I have been requested to follow the theme of “culture” in line with the symposium. Other sessions are taught by teachers who are APJE members or teachers from neighboring countries, and the theme each time is set according to member needs. Training implemented last year also included a report on a project by the JF Nihongo Network (Sakura Network) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona entitled “An Analysis of ‘Barriers’ to Spanish Speaking Learners–Murmurs while Translating the Novel Hitori Biyori.”

(5) Study Groups and Projects

Member led study groups have been popular since the founding of the APJE. While these were held with participation by the Advisor at the JFMD offices in the beginning, they are now held online via Zoom with weekly attendance by teachers from not only Spain, but France and Portugal as well. The APJE has also worked on and completed all volumes of a manual of grammar to accompany the “Marugoto: Japanese Language and Culture,” a teaching material created by the Japan Foundation, and they are available on the JFMD website. I am currently working with the Kanji Study Group to create CEFR-compliant Kanji teaching materials, and I plan to give a panel presentation at the Alicante Symposium.

(6) Traveling Seminars

The JFMD holds a traveling seminar on Japanese-language education throughout Spain. In this past year, I have held these seminars in Alicante, Pamplona, Malaga, Santiago de Compostela, Salamanca, Valencia, Las Palmas, and Barcelona. In each case, APJE members in each city served as organizers, notified local teachers including non-members, listed the desired dates and themes, and arranged the venue and after reception. Reports of the seminars written by participants are also made available on the APJE website after each one.

(7) Board of Directors

There are currently 11 directors at the APJE including the Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, Treasurer, and Secretary. A board meeting is always held the day before the general conference and training sessions, and JFMD members also participate as observers. Passionate but well organized discussions take place at each meeting, and the sheer volume of the email exchange between board members before and after the meetings is overwhelming. But what most impresses me each time is the way that each director takes the initiative to speak out and take action, and the way they cooperate with each other to solve problems. I am reminded that it is this activity on the part of the directors that ensures the smooth operations of the APJE.

This completes my description of the level of cooperation between the APJE and JFMD, and it reaffirms to me the fact that the above comprises the vast majority of my activities. Cooperation with local teacher networks is an essential part of the Japanese-language education overseas programs of the Japan Foundation, and Spain is a good example of how that cooperation can be very successful. This is due almost entirely to the relationships of trust that have been developed by the APJE directors and JFMD Advisors, and my daily activities are constantly filled with gratitude for this.

Finally, let me note that the JFMD also provides support for Japanese-language education in Portugal, next door to Spain. To date, we have worked with a teacher’s network called the Portugal-Japanese Teachers Liaison Association, but at the general conference in March of this year, the association officially became a legal person and a proper organization. I hope to be able to work as closely with the Association in Portugal moving forward as we have with the APJE.