After arriving back last night, this morning it was straight into a set of workshops at Osaka’s Shoin University sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Education.

My workshop was part of a 6 day course, split over several weekends and although there were 70 people I had 4 time slots with 20 people each. Compared with India it was really easy to do as I knew exactly what the teachers would have problems with and what questions they would ask, it also helps that I can speak their language. So although all 4 were slightly different they were basically the same as the Japanese workshop videos I have online.

The best bit was one of the teachers I taught last year telling everyone how she had tried the projects and about all the replies she had received from different countries. That was great to hear.

They were all good teachers so it was probably the first time I’ve not been disappointed at teachers here after being abroad, but it was the same basic things they were worrying about, which even just a touch of reading up and practice would sort out. But as usual it’s the confidence that they lack, so that was the main focus of what I did.

I also got to see the printed version of the Eigo Note, apparently the latest advice is that it will not become compulsory, it’s just one extra item for teachers to use if they wish. Judging by how bad it is (and how even worse the accompanying CD is, I don’t think any native speakers were involved in producing it) that’s probably a good thing, but I don’t think it will stop lazy boards of education from making it the de facto textbook in a lot of places.

I haven’t done much work in Osaka for a while so overall it was worth coming, even if I did have to fly all the way to Japan just for this one day!

In the evening the beers and food were great, before my jet lag finally kicked in.