I had an amazing opportunity to attend and present at the 2023 Modern Language Teachers Association of Queensland (MLTAQ) Japanese Network Conference in Brisbane. It occured over 3 days in early May. We were hosted by Griffith University, which borders the scenic Brisbane River. The conference was attended by around 200 people. The symposium’s three key focus words were engage, experience, enrich.

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Keynote Presenter Chris Rees, Former Consul General (Osaka) gave a broad and informative welcoming speech on 'Relationships', and this theme was further enhanced with the range of offerings on selection throughout the days. The event encapsulated Japanese Language and Culture teaching from Primary through to Secondary School and there was a wide variety of sessions available to attend.  My presentation focused on New Zealand Japanese teaching experience alongside my current position as a Tui Tuia Languages Facilitator.

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On the Saturday, evening a cocktail reception was held at Cloudland, an exquisite location providing a great opportunity to network and socialise together. Both New Zealand Japanese language teachers and Queensland Japanese language and culture teachers bonded over experiencing similar issues and opportunities. Queensland value and promote the policy of additional languages in the curriculum from the age of 5 through to High School electives. This is food for thought for our New Zealand-based language teaching curriculum.

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The event was supported by trade displays from the Queensland Languages Library, GET Educational Tours, TUH Health Fund, Queensland Teachers Union, Languages Roadshow, Saizen Tours, ImmerseMe, Japanese t-shirt and bag printing, InText, Nihongoshop who were just some of the representatives sharing and selling onsite.

"It was wonderful to witness teachers from all sectors interact and engage with each other to develop exciting, inclusive, and enriching practices to provide more wonderful experiences for our students."

Alexander Walsh, Convenor

A huge thank you to MLTAQ for their invitation, Tui Tuia’s support and a big shout out to the team led by the current Convenor, Alexander Walsh and Nathan Williams the outgoing 2023 MLTAQ Japanese Conference Convenor and members.

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MLTAQ Japanese network advocates for and supports Japanese language teachers around Queensland and this was evident in the very impressive conference I attended. Overall, an engaging and enriching experience for everyone どうもありがとうございました。