New Year's Resolutions - 2018

明けましておめでとうございます！ (Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!) Happy New Year!

Did you make any New Year's Resolutions this year?

January is a really good time to think about goals for the year ahead.  Apart from anything else, it's cold! And it's nice to be inside making plans.

Here are my New Year's Resolutions for 2018:

1) blog once a week

This one is easy (I hope!) and a continuation of last year.

In 2017 I aimed to publish a blog post a week. I actually did 26, which is one a fortnight.

That's not bad, but I definitely want to beat that in 2018.

2) play more games

In class, I mean. I want to work on making classes more fun, and one easy way to do that is more games.

My lovely students playing fukuwarai ("Lucky Laugh") game ↓　

When we laugh together, we learn together.

(Cheesy but true).

3) read every day

This is a personal one. Last year I tried to read more Japanese fiction, and kind of failed.

I did find, though, that once I actually start reading I'm ok. It's the getting started that's the tricky part.

This year, I'm going to read some Japanese fiction every day, and keep a note in my 5-year diary when I've done it.

(16 days in, this is going pretty well.)

4) go to more teaching events

This year, I'm planning to go to more Japanese teaching and education-related events in London.

I went to a couple recently - a Japanese grammar teaching workshop at SOAS, and a bunch of seminars at the Language Show London.

I found it super helpful to reflect on my teaching practice and discuss ideas with other teachers and linguists.

I definitely want to go to more events like this in 2018.

...and it's a good excuse to go to London for the day too.

5) track these goals

Waiting until the end of the year to see how your goals are going doesn't really work.

In 2017, I actually completely forgot about one of my resolutions (to watch more drama in class). I'm going to avoid that this time by pinning them above my desk.

I'd love to know what New Year's Resolutions you made. Let me know in the comments!

2017: A Round Up

I'll let you into a secret.

I wanted to write an end-of-year "round-up" post last year, but I didn't think I had enough to talk about.

This year there's too much! It's been a busy, brilliant year.

Here's what my students and I got up to in 2017.

I started the year off with a chilly trip to Namayasai, Sussex's very own organic Japanese vegetable farm.

↓　Photo by Shino. Daikon radish by Namayasai.

In March, students and I were invited to the Brighton & Hove Japanese Club Open Day.

We tried calligraphy, made kanji name badges, and ate a lot of Japanese sweets.

The first term of 2017 flew by. In the Easter break we had an impromptu school outing to Hove Park for hanami (cherry-blossoming viewing)...

...and to E-Kagen for noodles and Japanese beer.

May in Brighton brings the Brighton Festival and Fringe Festival. And this year there were a few Japanese events on!

We saw a show by the incredible Rakugo (traditional Japanese comic storytelling) performer Katsura Sunshine...

...and enjoyed the sunshine with a trip to the beach.

Students in my new Pre Intermediate class had an end-of-year visit from a special guest.

Haruna came to chat Japanese with students during the Free Talk section of class.

↓　Haruna-san, arigatou gozaimashita!

In July I also went to the Hyper Japan festival in London for the first time.

That was a frantic day full of shopping, different performances, and Japanese street food.

↓　Domo-kun (NHK mascot) and me at Hyper Japan.

Over the summer I also attended a number of brilliant workshops, as part of Ride the Wave, a business support programme run by the council and the Brighton & Hove Chamber of Commerce.

It was a great opportunity to meet like-minded small business owners!

↓　And I got to wear this red and white badge.

Students and I also went to the Japanese Summer Festival organised by Ohisama Ahaha, a Japanese kids group in Brighton and Hove.

We watched Japanese storytelling, made wishes for the Tanabata festival, and ate even more Japanese sweets.

Summer rolled by and I rolled off to Berlin on holiday.

This holiday is significant because its the first trip I've taken (since starting Step Up Japanese) where I put the "out of office" on and didn't check my emails while I was away.

Working hard is important, but we all need time off too.

Many of my students were off on holiday too, including Step Up Japanese student Daniel who spent the whole month of August in Japan. He documented his travels by taking over my Instagram with the hashtag #DanStepsUp.

In August we also had the first Step Up Japanese barbecue! Students brought lots of tasty food to share.

In October I attended the Language Show London for the first time, including language teaching seminars...

...and Japan Foundation events including a talk from Paralympic Gold Medallist (and fluent Japanese speaker!) Noel Thatcher.

In October half term we had the first Step Up Japanese Origami Night, a relaxed affair in one of my favourite pubs.

In November I went for Japanese Afternoon Tea at Portslade's Café an-an. This was a special event for World Vegan Day.

And before you know it, it's nearly the end of the year!

Students met for noodles and festive fun at the Christmas Party.

Like I said, it's been busy.

I'm really, really looking forward to see what 2018 brings!

Thank you so much to everyone who came to classes, took part in events, and supported me at Step Up Japanese this year.

良いお年を！

Have a good new year!