"The Breeze, the newsletter for The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles, will drift in with refreshing reports and facts of Japanese language education in North America. Publication of The Breeze is in part intended to help in developing strong regional and national networks in the teaching of Japanese."

Greeting from the Director

To all our subscribers and friends:

We have already turned over the 5th calendar for this year. It is commonly said that "Time and tide waits for no man (Saigetsu Hito wo Matazu)." This spring, I am pleased to enjoy the late blooming of the Jacaranda (the Angelino version of the cherry blossom), for the third straight year here in Los Angeles. In particular, the color of this flower is the same as the color for our Foundation's logo. This characteristic is strikingly charming to my senses; however, I wonder what our readers perceive as the coming of spring here in the United States?

After having a bird's eye view of the daily activities at the Los Angeles office for two years now, I have come to appreciate the support of my colleagues who I consider as a part of my extended family. As many of you might know, our office is primarily responsible for Japanese-language education across the United States while simultaneously promoting Japanese arts and culture exchange activities for the 13 states west of the Rocky Mountains. Without the hard work and dedication from our staff members, none of the programs we support would be as successful as they are now. Needless to say, we are always indebted to our supporters for the success of our activities no matter where we go.

Although the economic situation here in the United States has not fully recovered to its full potential, it is still necessary to carry out cultural activities during these difficult times to emphasize the importance of international relationships as it affects many aspects of our lives. Because of the unique relationship between the United States and Japan, it is vital to the recovery of both countries to further our relationships through any means possible. It is to this end that we continue to carry out our activities during this new fiscal year.

In 2010, we plan to advance multiple projects to boost Japanese language education and cultural activities here in the United States. All the activities sponsored by the Japan Foundation, Los Angeles, will appear on the main page of our website and I encourage you to check it frequently for new events.

Thank you for your continued support and I hope that you enjoy the current issue of Breeze.

[Breeze: 6/2/2010]

In this issue

• The Importance of Advocacy NOW
• 2010 CLTA Conference
• 2010 JLPT
• Japanese Language Learning Websites
• New Book and DVD Review

Download PDF Version (460KB)

The Importance of Advocacy NOW

By Thomas Lin

There is no better time than now to emphasize the importance of Advocacy for foreign language education in all levels of education here in the United States. Since the start of the recession in December, 2007, many state and local governments have been hit with massive budget deficits and the typical method city leaders concoct to reduce these deficits is by cutting spending in education, social services, and public safety. In the field of education, programs in the arts and foreign languages are typically the first to be targeted by the school board to be phased out. In addition to this, class sizes are increased, classified staff members are reduced, and vital afterschool programs such as sports are eliminated. These dire circumstances have forced educators into a difficult situation forcing them to fight for their programs and the education of their students. Through Advocacy, we hope to educate foreign language educators about the additional roles they have to take on so they can build a strong foundation necessary to weather through the current storm and any dark clouds in the horizon.

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2010 CLTA Conference

By Thomas Lin

The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles, hosted a booth this year at the 2010 CLTA State Conference in San Diego. This was their 40th year supporting foreign language education in the state of California. During the conference, JFLA alongside the Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles, organized booths promoting Japanese language education, as well as travel to Japan. Members of the Japanese language team and the Director of JFLA were present to hand out our award winning Erin goods as well as answer any questions visitors to our booth had about anything Japan.

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No. 40 - Winter 2009
http://www.jflalc.org/index.php?act=tpt&id=448
・Leadership and Advocacy: A Professional Educator's Responsibility
・Review of the Japan Foundation's Leadership Training Workshop
・2009 JLPT Update
・Library Acquisitions - Books on Japan
・2010 JLPT Information
・NO July JLPT in 2010
・JFLA: Fiscal Year 2010-2011 Grant Programs for the United States

No. 39 - Autumn 2009
http://www.jflalc.org/index.php?act=tpt&id=443
・Astro Boy Forever!
・Fireside Colloquium
・2009 Anime Expo - All Japan Booth
・The Japan Foundation Group-Tour Program for Educators (U.S. group) 2009

No. 38 - Spring 2009
http://www.jflalc.org/index.php?act=tpt&id=437
・Business Japanese Programs in the United States: 2009 Survey
・2009 JLPT Committee Meeting
・Bridging Japanese Langauge and Japanese Studies in Higher Education: Forum on Integrative Curriculum and Program Development

No. 37 - Winter 2009
http://www.jflalc.org/index.php?act=tpt&id=433
・アメリカの日本語教育が直面する問題
・2008 ACTFL Conference
・2008 JLPT Update

No. 36 - Fall 2008
http://www.jflalc.org/index.php?act=tpt&id=426
・Japanese-Language Education Leadership Workshop
・The Japan Foundation Group-Tour Program for Educators (U.S. group) 2008
・Language Policy in the U.S.: An Overview of JNCL-NCLIS’ Role and Recent Developments

No. 35 - Spring 2008
http://www.jflalc.org/index.php?act=tpt&id=400
・Survey Report on Japanese-Language Education 2006
・How to save your Japanese Program
・2008 Fiscal Year Grant Recipients

No. 34 - Spring 2007
http://www.jflalc.org/index.php?act=tpt&id=367
・Features: Credential & Licensure Programs (list of programs and contacts)
・Starting Japanese-Language Education in K-5
・"Why not Spanish?" A parent's perspective

No. 33 - Fall 2006
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE33.pdf
・The Intensive Training Program for teachers of the Japanese-language for the US/Canada/UK – In Japan
・New Acquisitions at the Nihongo Library
・JFLA Conference Report
・JFLA Workshop Report
・ANNOUNCEMENT - The 3rd Annual JFLA Symposium
・JF Japanese Language Education Programs:
Awarded for JF Fiscal Year 2006-2007
Guidelines for JF Fiscal Year 2007-2008
・Graduate Program on Japanese Language and Culture
・Cultural Announcement
・修士課程「日本語教育指導者養成プログラム」のご案内
・New School Matching System for Educational Trips to Japan

No. 32 - Spring 2006
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE32.pdf
・The 2nd Annual Symposium on Japanese Language Education in the US, by The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles
・Awards in the US for Fiscal Year 2005/06: Japanese-Language Education Grants
・Fiscal Year 2006/07: Japanese-Language Education Grants
・Fiscal Year 2007/08: Japanese-Language Education Grants
・AP Japanese Language & Culture to Debut in 2006-2007
・The Japanese Language Proficiency Test
・New to the Japan Foundation

No. 31 - Spring 2005
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE31.pdf
・1st Symposium on Japanese Language Education in the US
・Meeting on the NCLB Challange: The Role of Local Organizations
・New Trends in Professional Development for World Language Teachers
・Personal Advocacy
・AP Japanese Language & Culture to Debut in 2006-2007
・Current Conditions of Japanese Language Education (regionally)
・AATJ's Summer Institute in Japan
・Japanese Language-Related Grant Recipients for Fiscal Year　2004/2005

ADDENDUM: To download the JTAT report on Japanese language education, please visit http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/JTATreport.pdf

No. 30 - Spring 2004
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE30.pdf
・A Critical look at the Study Abroad Experience
・Planning an Exchange
・Perspectives from a Japanese High School Exchange
・Taking Students to Japan
・The New Perspectives: Japan Program
・What is Beneficial for Study Abroad Students
・The Japan Foundation Advocacy Kit and other Japan Foundation　Announcements

No. 29 - Fall 2003
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE29.pdf
・Keep the Airplane Flying: Japanese Language Program Advocacy
・Endangered Japanese Program Eliminated
・Considerations for Advocacy
・An Introduction to Advocacy
・Do Japanese Teachers Take Advantage of Technology?
・Report on Summer Workshops in Urawa, Japan
・Japanese Language-Related Grants Recipients for Fiscal Year　2003/2004
・Japanese Language Grant Programs for 2004/2005

No. 28 - Special Issue 2003
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE28.pdf
・Call for NBPTS Japanese Language Teacher Candidates　National Board for Professional Teaching Standards and
・Certification (Y.-H. Tohsaku)
・NBPTS basics
・NBPTS Funding opportunities
・Japanese Langauge Proficiency Test 2003 announcement
・Mini grants announcement

No. 27 - Spring 2003
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE27.pdf
・The Current Status and Future of Professional Development for　Teachers of Japanese (Y.-H. Tohsaku)
・What is INTASC? (Lynn Sessler-Schmaling)
・State Teacher Certification and K-12 Japanese Language Education (Shingo Satsutani)
・NCATE Program Standards for Foreign Language Teacher Education (Ryuko Kubota)
・Workshop Report
・JFLALC's Projects
・そのまま使える教材シリーズ 2

No. 26 - Fall 2002
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE26.pdf
・Renewal of the official website of the JFLALC
・Webring: Online Community for Japanese Language Educators (Yasuhiro Omoto, Mayumi Ishida, Keiko Schneider)
・Japanese Langauge-Related Grants Recipients
・Japanese Langauge Grant Programs for 2003/2004
・そのまま使える教材シリーズ 1
・Workshop Report

No. 25 - Spring 2002
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE25.pdf
・JF Relocation News
・Japan Foundation London Nihongo Center (Mary-Grace Browning)
・Japanese Teacher Certification Program at Arizona State University (Miko Foard)
・2001 Japanese Language Proficiency Test Report
・2001 ACTFL Report
・Survey on Learners of Japanese in the U.S.
・Online Copyright Issues

No. 24 - Fall 2001
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE24.pdf
・Overview of Japanese Language education in Australian schools (Himiko Neghishi-Wood)
・My Experience in Saitama (Faye Valtadoros)
・Japanese Language Grant Programs for 2002/2003
・Mini-Grant Programs
・Summary Results of Japanese Foundation Audio-Visual Survey
・Japan in a Suitcase

No. 23 - Summer 2001
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE23.pdf
・Redesigned www.jflalc.org
・Awadees of the Japanese Language grant programs
・Mini-grant update
・In Introduction to Japanese language teaching through a cyber world (Maki Watanabe)
・Websites on Study in Japan

No. 22 - Spring 2001
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE22.pdf
・Strategy for the support and promotion of Japanese Language Education in the U.S.
・Heritage Japanese programs in the southern California
・Japanese language grant programs for 2002/2003
・Japanese Language Proficiency Test 2000

No. 21 - Spring 2000
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE21.pdf
・Japanese teaching credential programs in the U.S. (Kataoka, Furuyama and Tohsaku)
・2000 summer workshops
・Japan Foundation Los Angeles grants programs
・Niihongo Library now open on weekends, too!

No. 20 - Fall 1999
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE20.pdf
・Japanese language field meeting in DC.
・Japanese language statistics in 1998
・Mission statement of Alliance of Associations of Teachers of Japanese
・Language grant programs for 2000/2001
・Awadees of language grants (1999 - 2000)
・Awadees of arts & culture programs (1999 - 2000)

No. 19 - Spring 1999
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE19.pdf
・JLPT test results in the U.S.
・A study of Japanese FLES programs in the U.S. (Kataoka, Furuyama and Fretz)
・Seventh summer workshop for pedagogy
・National heritage Japanese language education conference
・The days of discovery: Japanese genre films (Chris D.)

No. 18 - Fall 1998
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE18.pdf
・Japanese language teaching in the U.S.: A historical overview (Akira Miura)
・Language grant programs for 1999/2000
・Awadees of language grants (1998 - 1999)

No. 17 - Spring 1998
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE17.pdf
・Filed Meeting in Tenneessee.
・From ATJ and NCJSTupdate (Laural Rasplica Rodd and Kyle Ennis)
・The Japanese language network: A strategic proposal for the Japanese field (Richard D. Brecht)
・Sharing beauty: Masterpieces in Japanese Art (Joe D. Price)
・Japan Foundation arts & culture grants (1997 - 1998)
・JLPT results (1997)

No. 16 - Fall 1997
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE16.pdf
・Colorado Springs Meeting for Japanese Language Teachers (Laurel Rasplica Rodd)
・Call for Input: Standards for Japanese Language Learning (Hiroko C. Kataoka)
・Teachers' Training in Santa Monica (Yasu-Hiko Tohsaku)

No. 15 - Summer 1997
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE15.pdf
・Japanese language meeting, April 1997
・Grantee list of Japan Foundation programs)

No. 14 - Spring 1997
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE14.pdf
・The Japan Foundation in Los Angeles
・Guide for the Nihongo Library
・Grant programs
・Japanese films available to nonprofit film festivals

No. 13 - December 1995
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE13.pdf
・Third annual summer workshop for secondary school teachers (Yokoyama, Furuyama and Kabutomori)
・Report on the national standards and Japanese language education conference (Hisako Kataoka)
・Japanese magnet program (Deanne Balzer)

No. 12 - September 1995
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE12.pdf
・Survey on the status of teachers of Japanese in the United States.
・Result of the JLPT 1994
・Discussion lists on the internet
・On articulation between pre-collegiate level s and post-secondary levels (4) (Patricia M. Thornton)
・Indiana articulation efforts in Japanese (Kurt Bringerud)
・Recipients of the grant programs (1995 - 1996)

No. 11 - July 1995
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE11.pdf
・Teaching Japanese as a second language in Japan (Ronald A. Walton).
・What textbooks are used at the secondary level in 1994 - 1995
・ATJ/NCSTJ joint meeting on articulation (Patricia Wetzel)
・The Michigan Project and articulation (Motoko Tabuse)
・Articulation in the State of Utah [The status quo] (R. Clark Tenney)
・The sixth International Colloquium on Program Management in Japanese Language Education (Leslie Okada Birkland and Ronald A. Walton)

No. 10 - April 1995
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE10.pdf
・Japanese language learning in the United States - Survery (1994 - 1995).
・Reports from the Kyoto Conference on Japanese studies (Cliff Darnall and Seiichi Makino)
・Reports on teacher training course at Urawa (Natalie Hoyer, Cyrus Rolbin, Karen Hendrickson and Yukie Aida)
・JP-Net: Building a global virtual community for Japanese language and culture specialists (Shigeru Miyagawa)

No. 9 - December 1994
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE09.pdf
・Communicative framework for introductory Japanese language curricula in Washington State high schools (Chris Brockett).
・College Board Test and curricula framework (Mari Noda)
・Making of textbooks (2) (Hisako Yoshiki)
・Technology yes, but student centered (Kazo Tsuda)
・Yookoso: A textbook as a tool to create an enriched learning environment (Yasu-Hiko Thosaku)
・Making of chu, jyokyu kyokasho (Yoshiko Higurashi)
・The making of an intermediate-lever textbook (Akira Miura)
・The Austorarian language levels (ALL)guidelines
・Yooroshiku: national curriculum guidelines for Japanese, K-12

No. 8 - September 1994
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE08.pdf
・On articulation between pre-collegiate level and postsecondary level (2) (Takuo Kinoshita and others.)
・Making of textbooks (1) (Seiichi Makino)
・Tanabata: the star festival (Shigeru Miyagawa)
・Japanese language textbook compilation for high school students in America (John Young)
・Report on the second Princeton Japanese pedagogy workshop (Seiichi Makino)

No. 7 - June 1994
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE07.pdf
・Textbooks for Pre-Collegiate Level (6)
・In search of articulation between secondary level and college level Japanese (Yukiyo Moorman, Yasuko Ito Watt)
・Follow-up workshop
・List of colleges offering master's degrees in teaching Japanese or related studies
・Results of the 1993 Japanese language proficiency test in Los Angeles
・Survey: grade 7-12

No. 6 - April 1994
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE06.pdf
・Endorsements on teaching certificates: K-12 Japanese in Washington language endorsements (Yumi Toma)
・California Association of Japanese Language Schools survey
・Japanese Language School Unified System survey of 217 families
・Textbooks for pre-collegiate level (5) - supplementary material part 2
・SATORI: national network for Japanese language teachers in the elementary school (Tim Hart)
・The Japanese language proficiency test
・Recipients of the Japan Foundation Language Center grant programs

No. 5 - December 1993
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE05.pdf
・Introducing satellite programs : SERC STEP, University of Alabama.
・Textbooks for pre-college level (4) - supplementary material part1
・Fourth Washington State Japanese language and culture camp
・Recipients of the Japan Foundation Language Center grant programs
・On the teacher training course held at the Japanese Language
・Institute in Urawa (Diane M. Gulbronson)
・Report: JFLC workshop for secondary teachers of Japanese
・NEH Summer Institute for secondary school teachers of Japanese(Toshiko Mishima)

Special Supplement, October 1993
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE04b.pdf
・Reflections of the state of Japanese language education in the United States (Hiroshi Miyaji).
・Current reports of Japanese language education in several states(Texas, Carl H. Johnson; Washington, Joe Dial, Mike O'Donnel; Wisconsin, Paul Sandrock, Madeline Uraneck)
・Recipients of the Japan Foundation Language Center grant programs
・Reports of the recipients of JFLC grant programs (Mutsuko Endo Hudson, Kenichi Ujiie, Nobuko Sugamoto, Fumiko Grant, Ritsu Shimizu, Kimiko Nakayama-Nordstorm, Yukiyo Moorman)

No. 4 - September 1993
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE04.pdf
・Textbooks for pre-collegiate level (3)
・The meaning of teaching Japanese in the U.S. (Senko K. Maynard)
・First achievement test in Japanese attracts 1,804 students
・Workshop for secondary teachers of Japanese - session 1 (Toshio 　　Tatsuta)
・Progress report: national in-service training program for secondary school teachers of Japanese
・Recipients of the Japan Foundation language-related programs 1993/1994

Special Supplement, August 1993
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE03b.pdf
・The first implementation of the Japanese language proficiency test in Los Angeles.

No. 3 - June 1993
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE03.pdf
・The current state of U.S. pre-collegiate Japanese language education: a statistical update from year end '92 to mid-'93
・The Japanese language proficiency test
・Textbooks for pre-collegiate level (2): romanization, hiragana, katakana, Kanji?

No. 2 - May 1993
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE02.pdf
・Japanese language in U.S. high schools: a new initiative (Ronald A. Walton)
・How to conduct effective classroom instruction (Akira Murasawa)
・Textbooks for the pre-collegiate level (1)

No. 1 - December 1992
http://www.jflalc.org/download/publication/BREEZE01.pdf
・Japanese language learning in the United States : statistics from the most current sources
・Programs of the Japan Foundation
・Library service
・Breezy messages