VOICE OF ALUMNI

I have been running a Japanese language school and its affiliated business in Myanmar since the past five years. I decided to enhance my teaching and management skills for my school business in 2022 and chose to study at BIL's Japanese Language Teacher Training Course. At BIL, I was able to deepen my knowledge about Japanese Language, including the essential information for being a Japanese language teacher such as educational theory, pronunciation, Japan’s geography, history, and culture, even how to handle for those whose native language is not Japanese. During the program, I received meticulous and spectacular guidance from the in-charged teachers when I was creating designing courses, lesson plans and developing teaching materials. This enabled me to complete tasks with attention to detail. I believe that the knowledge and skills I gained from BIL will allow me to review and improve the courses at my school when I return to Myanmar in the future. One-year study of Japanese culture feels like, it's worth ten years of living in Japan. After returning home, I am confident that I can apply what I learned from BIL to teach my students more effectively and efficiently.

I studied in Japan from 2003 to 2013. After coming back to my home country, I became a Japanese language teacher to make use of my experience in Japan. Ten years have passed since then and Corona pandemic occurred during that time. I believe that the whole world has reached a turning point of great change. Seeing is believing. I wanted to brush up my Japanese language skills in Japan as of 2023, then planned to study abroad for the second time. The days at the teacher training course were harder than I had imagined but I think I gained a lot. First of all, I made friends who shared the same goal. Even though they were from different countries, we had the same feeling that we wanted to teach Japanese language. Also, I had teaching practice session twice and believe that what I learned through the sessions will be very useful for teaching Japanese in the future. I was able to learn not only the Japanese cultural aspects such as geography and history, but also learn Japanese language from various angles such as the history of Japanese language education, the history of notation, and phonetics. Thanks to that, I think I am now able to teach Japanese from a different perspective than I did before my study abroad. This one year at BIL will be a meaningful year for those who are interested in teaching Japanese.

I think this one year at BIL was very fulfilling and broadened my horizons. Here, I met people who love the Japanese language and it was interesting that I often saw people from other countries speaking in Japanese. 　In addition, the Japanese language teacher training course emphasizes not only learning theory, but also emphasizes practical training. Through the comments I received from the teachers after these practical trainings, I gradually understood what Japanese language learners feel and was able to find what I was lacking. Besides, the practical training strengthens my skill to speak in front of others and also improves my Japanese language ability. I believe that those knowledge and experience will be useful in my job. Overall, the course curriculum contains a lot to learn than you expect and I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to be involved in Japanese language education.

I have a lot of unforgettable memories at the Teacher Training Course. The most unforgettable thing is that the learning environment with a small class lesson. I could gain knowledges and skills as a Japanese language teacher in that comfortable environment. I went onto graduate school after graduating from BIL since I wanted to devote myself more to Japanese language education and study of Japanese language. I attended many conferences as much as I could while I was in the graduate school and it brought me something new every time. After graduating from the graduate school, I could be a Japanese language teacher in Japan. I attended an online gathering of Japanese language teachers and exchanged ideas so that I could conduct online lessons smoothly under coronavirus pandemic. Although we are back to in-class lessons currently, I can put skills I gained in my private time into class lessons.
To whom wants to work as a Japanese language teacher in Japan: When you find a problem, you should try to make a research by yourself first before asking someone. One more thing, you may share things with learners more than native Japanese language teachers can as you were a Japanese language learner.

I found one thing while I was studying in Japanese language course at BIL. It is that something must be hiding behind when people use words. I was always having questions such as a reason why people use the word for that. If neither I can understand it nor accept the idea, I would not try to use the word. It is so called “Hiyou*” .
*It refers to a situation that learners avoid to use a specific word which native speakers naturally use in a certain scene.
After entering to Japanese Language Teacher Training Course and inquiring the depth of Japanese language, not only I studied vocabularies and grammars but also I studied followings a lot: scenes that the word to be used, origins of the word, Japan issues, etc. It helped me to clarify my questions in my head little by little.
Feeling that the individual things in my head all get connected like this is wonderful and I choose to become a Japanese Language teacher so that I can share this feeling with others. Teaching someone what I discovered while devoting myself to my study. This can be one of exercises for me to teach someone and see if I could explain it to someone well or not.
Now I’m studying linguistics at graduate school. Even I know that researching has no end, I really enjoy my study. Not only acquiring a new knowledge but also switching it into an easily understandable way for learners are both worth doing.

Although I was majoring in trade and commerce at university, I became interested in Japanese language education. I started acquiring a specialized knowledge in Japanese language education by self-study from 2nd semester of my junior year. Then, I decided to change my major to Japanese language education after graduating from the university and go onto graduate school. However, even if I tried my best to master the specialized knowledge, I had difficulty organizing various knowledge I acquired in a short time. Consequently, my first challenge passing a graduate school entrance exam ended in failure.
Next year, I enrolled to Japanese Language Teacher Training Course at BIL and met very kind teachers. Not only fully teaching me specialized knowledge in lessons so well but also they taught us surrounding knowledge such as Japanese culture in a fun way. Furthermore, we had a chance to do a teaching practice which I learned various things while enjoying learning. I think that was a valuable experience.
Thanks for the lessons, I could organize my knowledges in my head that were not systematized before, then I became to be able to answer questions at the graduate school entrance exam smoother than before.
If you are either interested in Japanese language education or want to build up your expertise just like me, I suggest you to think about entering this course.

In addition to Japanese education, I learned a lot of other things at the Japanese Language Teacher Training Course that are useful in the classroom, such as history, geography, linguistics, phonology, and more. Additionally, I received a large boost to my confidence through the two practicum experiences, daily presentations, debates, and discussions with other students. Further, in May of the year I graduated, I found employment at the Study Tech Institute, where I work to this day. I conduct classes centered on conversation practice for students who have completed fundamental studies in order to improve their communicative competence. The meaningful year I spent in the Japanese Language Teacher Training Course has helped me become what I am today. Even now, the days I spent at Bunka Institute of Language are the most fond memories I have.

I learned a lot of knowledge and teaching skills in the Japanese Language Teacher Training Course. So, I got a teaching ability and my Japanese improved greatly. Thanks to the classes with full of discussion with teachers and classmates, my horizons have broadened and I am now able to view things from various perspectives. My ability improved rapidly owing to a lot of assignments, such as production and presentation of teaching materials, and feedback after Practicum Experiences. That one year was really rewarding for me.

I learned everything required to be a Japanese language teacher in one year of the Japanese Language Teacher Training Course. What I liked was that there was a lot of discussion among students, not just getting answers from teachers. Practicum Experiences were very hard because of preparations for lessons and the review after teaching, but it was really a good experience for me. Teachers were kind enough to give us advice on various matters while I was a student, and even today they still kindly answer me when I ask questions to them. I am so grateful to those teachers.

Expertise is valued at graduate schools, yet there is still a need to have a wide range of basic knowledge. For someone like me who aims to study Japanese language education, the year I spent in the Japanese Language Teacher Training Course laid the foundation for this. As the curriculum was developed for overseas students, I was able to both improve my teaching ability and further my knowledge of the Japanese language. On top of this, a new path opened up for me. Thanks to all the people I met in the Japanese Language Teacher Training Course.

After graduated from BIL a few years ago, I returned to Russia and opened a small school. I've fulfilled my dream of having my own Japanese language school. In Japanese Language Teacher Training Course, I learned not only things about Japan such as history and geography, but also things like how to design Japanese language course and how to write on a blackboard. I’ve acquired essential set of skills necessary to become a Professional Japanese language teacher. Also, the teaching practice class helped me improve a lot.
Now, I’m teaching at my own school using all the experience acquired from BIL. From now on, I will try my best to teach my students and help build a good relationship between Russia and Japan.