CJLEA Newsletter  
A publication of the Colorado Japanese Language Education Association
September 2001

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• Speech Contest in November
• Mark Your Calendar!
• It's time to ...
• CJLEA Seeks Share Session Proposals
• Wanted!
• Greeting from a New Member
• Update on the CJLEA Summer Workshop
• Monthly Member Biography
• September WWW Resources
• Positions Available
• Upcoming Conferences & Events
• Links to Professional Organizations
  
• Membership and Renewal
• Current Officers
  

The fifteenth Annual Colorado Japanese Speech Contest will be held on November 10th at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Minori Murata, the organizer of the contest, is working hard to make the event successful. Secondary students as well as post-secondary students are encouraged to enter.

The contest will be partially funded by the Japan Foundation. Additional monetary support from your institutions would be very much appreciated.

For more information, contact Minori Murata .

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The CJLEA Fall Assembly is scheduled on October 6th, 2001. Naomi Hashimoto Kraft is hosting the assembly at the Montclair Middle School. For more information, visit the CJLEA Fall Assembly page.

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The CJLEA is soliciting share session proposals for presentations at our annual meetings. The theme of our Fall meeting is: Let's Articulate! Smoothly and Clearly. If you are interested in submitting a session proposal, please use the proposal form.

Deadline: September 14, 2000

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The CJLEA wants your nominations for its 2001 - 2002 officers. Please email your nominations to Ryoko Yoshida Keaton or use the nomination form.

Deadline: September 14, 2000

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Atsuko Ooura was looking for a teaching position in Colorado last spring. Remember? She has kindly sent an update to the CJLEA Newsletter. Here it is.

It is still hard to believe that I am writing this article in Colorado. When Frank and I got married in June in upstate NY, we were talking about moving to Colorado, but not sure how realistic it would be. Moving was much easier when I was single. I simply moved to another state when a better job opportunity came up. But now we had to think about the place where both of us were able to pursue our career. Among other things, we wanted to enjoy our life . The answer was Colorado. Once we decided to move to Colorado, we made a list of things to do to make it happen. I was very lucky to find CJLEA and became a member. Suggested by Keaton sensei, I put my article in the newsletter. At almost the same time as I posted my article, I found a job advertisement for a Japanese teacher's position at Bear Creek High School. I immediately applied for the position. Later I had a telephone interview and was offered a job. My husband was also offered a job in Boulder.

Our new life in Colorado has been just wonderful. We enjoy hiking and biking together, and sometimes just sitting on a porch looking over the mountains. The blue sky makes us happy. I also enjoy teaching at Bear Creek High School. Since Bear Creek is the only high school which offers a Japanese program in Jefferson County Schools, I am very much looking forward to meeting with other high school Japanese teachers in Colorado to share ideas and discuss current issues in Japanese instruction at a secondary school. Getting married, moving, and landing on a new job---all of them happened within last few months. I cannot say it was an easy transition, but those were all good changes in my life, and I greatly appreciate Keaton sensei and CJLEA's assistance for my job search in Colorado. Thank you very much!

Atsuko Frederick

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The CJLEA Summer Workshop was held on July 6th and 7th at the Pikes Peak Community College hosted by Rieko McAdams. The objective of the workshop was to come up with teaching modules based on the National Standards (the K-16 Japanese National Standards) in order to create materials that will accommodate the requirements of K-16 articulation for all institutions in Colorado and Wyoming. Workshop participants shared their knowledge and experiences to find ways to integrate National Standard based instruction, issues in articulation and various teaching methods.

With the help of Susan Schmidt, Kaoru Slotsve has written a grant proposal to obtain more funds to be able to continue the project. Here are excerpts from the proposal.

Slotsve and Yumiko Guajardo are planning to hold a session about the project at the fall assembly.

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Liz Groothof Croddy

Greetings! My name is Liz Groothof Croddy, and I teach Spanish and Japanese at Rampart High School in Colorado Springs. I have also taught other languages for Academy School District 20 (Italian, French, Latin) and courses in conversational Arabic for an adult ed program downtown. Some of my languages I'm very good at, others I'm still working on, but all have enriched my life as I have sought to enrich the lives of my students and to increase international awareness and appreciation of varied cultures through my work.

At Rampart High School, as well as most other high schools, most students take Spanish. We usually have five or six Spanish teachers on board, as well as two or three French teachers and a full-time German teacher. I am lucky to have support for my small Japanese program and I am also lucky to be able to teach several subjects, so I don't have the worry of commuting from one school to another or of losing my job, as I know do many of my esteemed colleagues who teach Japanese. I have devised a program that takes "advantage" of the unfortunate fact that the number of students signing up for Japanese is small. What I do is offer Japanese I every other year. That way I pool together the freshmen and the sophomores, and an occasional junior or senior, if there is room in the class. Sometimes I have been lucky enough to have two sections of Japanese I, but usually I get only one section.

The next year I offer Japanese II first semester and Japanese III second semester; it's called "accelerated" and I do finish the typical level II and III programs in one year. This may seem difficult for the students, but in my experience, nothing is more difficult for them than first year, when they learn hiragana, katakana and about 130 kanji. By the end of Japanese III, they know about 250 kanji or more. Then I offer a full year of Japanese IV, and during that year I also start off a new group of Japanese I students. This "rotating program" has really worked well for me, and it guarantees that my numbers are high enough that the school district can afford to support the program. Many of my students have gone on to major or minor in Japanese, I have sent two groups to Japan as well as worked closely getting Japanese exchange students into my students' homes via our sister city, Fujiyoshida. One year my students folded 1,000 cranes (outside of class) and we sent them to Hiroshima. Ryoko Yoshida Keaton has been a welcome visitor to my classroom, where she has helped the students learn kanji and given them a chance to interview a native speaker, in Japanese! I'm so grateful to her for her help through the years, and to her relatives in Japan who graciously received me and my students in their home one year.

I studied Romance Languages at the Colorado College, spending my sophomore year in Ecuador, at la Universidad Catolica in Quito. By coincidence, my new colleague from Ecuador lived two blocks away from me at the time, but I didn't meet her until last year! She is currently back home finishing up her doctorate, and I had sent her with a mission: find my host family, with whom I had lost contact. Not only has she found them, but my host mom is coming to visit me, next week! This is an example of how my experiences in foreign language have enriched my life!

My parents are both from Holland, and became US citizens when I was a little girl. Even though I was raised as an American, I was always acutely aware of and proud of my heritage. My parents had learned four languages by the time they graduated from high school, and I hope the same will be true for my little three-year-old, Keith. I read to him and speak to him in Spanish and in Japanese, and sometimes in French, too. He can count to 10 in Spanish and to five in Japanese! He loves to watch our Japanese children's videos, and shows no frustration at not understanding everything (unlike his mom!) When he watches he occasionally picks out a word and says it back to the screen or asks me what it means. I have many hopes that foreign language will enrich his life as it has mine.

I don't even like the term "foreign" language, for it sounds like it is something apart from us. I wish there were a more inclusive term. I want my son to be totally comfortable with the cultures I expose him (and my husband) to. As for me, there isn't enough time for me to study all the cultures I want to study, to see all the places I want to see, or to improve my already acquired languages to the point of perfection. But I am sure that I won't stop studying, learning or traveling until the day I die! I'll be the little old lady in the nursing home organizing a study group of the Quechua (Incan) language, which I got barely a taste of while living in Ecuador.

Speaking of Quechua, here's a Quechua sentence... do you think it has a relationship to Japanese?

Nuka ka Amerika manta mikani. means "I come from America." The verb is mikani and "ka" and "manta" are...I now believe, nothing else but our beloved particles in disguise!

I would love to spend a lifetime comparing Japanese to Quechua as well studying Arabic origins of Spanish words (not the typical stuff...)

In the meantime I think I'll just read my son a book or two or ten, and start planning the next school year, beginning in less than a month!
To everyone, my respect and my regards.

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Respect-for-the-Aged Day (敬老の日)

Autumnal Equinox Day (秋分の日)

Tsukimi

These are a few examples of what you find on the Internet. You may conduct your own search using search engines. One of the recommended is Google.

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Head of the East Asian Library
The University of Colorado

The University of Colorado, Boulder, Libraries seek a temporary Head of the East Asian Library for immediate appointment. The position will be for nine months, between 20 and 40 hours per week (to be negotiated). Applicants with library experience will receive preference.

Requirements: Requires a command of Japanese and Chinese languages with an emphasis on Japanese. MLS or advanced degree in East Asian studies.

Duties will include faculty liaison and collection development work, possible copy cataloging and reference work, and supervision of one library technician and several student assistants.

Application Process: Send letter of application specifically addressing qualifications for the position; resume; and name, addresses and telephone numbers of three references to Susan Anthes, Associate Director for Public Services, University Libraries, 184 UCB, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0184.

The University of Colorado at Boulder is committed to diversity and equality in education and employment.

Assistant Professor of Japanese Language and Culture
The University of Iowa

The Department of Asian Languages and Literature invites applications for a tenure-track position in Japanese language and culture at the assistant professor level starting August, 2002.

The successful candidate will have a teaching and research agenda that contributes to the development of strong undergraduate and graduate programs in the Department and complements the teaching and research interests of the current faculty members. S/he must also be capable of participating in the coordination of the language program. Candidates with specialties in sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, and cultural studies are preferred. Teaching responsibilities will include four courses a year, which includes language, linguistics and culture, as well as the candidate's specialty. Salary is competitive and commensurate with qualifications.

Send an application letter, CV, three letters of recommendation, and brief research sample to: the Japanese Search Committee, Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, University of Iowa, 679 Phillips Hall, Iowa City, IA 52242, Phone: (319) 353-2202, Fax: (319) 353-2207. The screening will begin on November 15 and will continue until the position is filled. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.

The University of Iowa is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

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September ~

2002 ~

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Japanese Language:

Foreign Languages

Computer Assisted (Language) Learning

Others

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Please consider our invitation to join or renew membership in the Colorado Japanese Language Education Association (CJLEA). The aims of the Association are to promote interest in and improve the quality of instruction of Japanese language at all levels in the state of Colorado, and to provide for the professional/educational growth of the membership. The CJLEA was established in April 1995, with a grant from the Japan Foundation Language Center. Among the benefits of membership are receiving a newsletter, attending events and networking with Japanese educators and other professionals.

Membership is open to teachers and students of Japanese language and others interested in Japanese language and culture education.
Membership and Renewal Form

For additional information, please contact:
Ryoko Yoshida Keaton, CJLEA Co-President
Ryoko.Keaton@tbr-inc.com

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Joan E. Ericson, President
Colorado College
Ryoko Yoshida Keaton, Co-President & Public Relations
Transpacific Business Resources, Inc.
Kaoru Slotsve, Vice-President & Public Relations
Kelly Walsh H.S./Natrona County H.S.
Kyoko Saegusa, Secretary
University of Colorado, Boulder
Mako Beecken, Treasurer
Colorado State University

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This web page was designed and crafted by
Ryoko Yoshida Keaton, Transpacific Business Resources, Inc.

Disclaimer: Links are information purposes only. Each website linked from this page is solely responsible for its contents.