Bound for the Land of the Rising Sun

LOCAL students have had the East opened up to them by  Japanese teacher Midori Hayes, who has not just instilled the students with a passion for her language, but also her native culture. They are now reaping the rewards of their new skills.

Claire Moroney from St Flannan’s College in Ennis has just won a three week scholarship to participate in an exchange to the region of Suwa which is located in the Japanese Alps about two hours to the south of Tokyo.
This programme, which includes staying with a Japanese family, attending a Japanese high school and a week of language classes, is organised by EIL Intercultural Learning, a not-for-profit organization in Cork and is being funded by the Post-Primary Languages Initiative (PPLI), an initiative of the Department of Education and Skills which supports the teaching of lesser taught languages.
Claire submitted a photo story for her application that convinced the judges that she was the best applicant. The judges were most impressed by the fact that she used only Japanese when narrating her photo story, and were very impressed by the level she has attained in just two years. She gave a comprehensive introduction of herself in the video including her trademark purple, blue and pink hair and provided a very convincing argument for being chosen.
Claire’s enthusiasm and commitment are such that she asked for Japanese language study books for Christmas and travelled to Dublin last year to take a proficiency test in Japanese. Her teacher, Midori, says, “she is a wonderful student and very deserving of the scholarship. Everyone is looking forward to hearing tales of her exciting adventure when she comes back.”
Another of Midori’s students, Amy Gallagher from Coláiste Muire also wowed the judges to win a runner-up prize with her well-organised and highly original presentation featuring inspiring quotes, fluid narration and beautiful graphics.
A past pupil of Coláiste Muire, Aisling O’Gara, who took Japanese for the Leaving Cert in 2007 and just finished final year doing English Literature and French at Trinity College Dublin is going to Japan with the JET programme this summer. The JET Programme aims to promote internationalisation in Japan’s local communities by helping to improve foreign language education and developing international exchange at the community level. JET participants are placed in organisations all across Japan, in locations varying from vibrant, neon metropolises to remote mountain villages of just a few hundred inhabitants. The JET Programme offers its participants an opportunity to grow and shape themselves in an immersion environment that will provide a unique set of challenges and chances to learn about another culture.
Niamh Driscoll a past student of Midori’s in Scoil Mhuire in Ennistymon, who took Japanese when she was in Transition Year, is going to Kobe, Japan, to work as manufacturing engineer with Mitsubishi Heavy Industry from autumn this year.