The Japan Foundation, London will be holding an online Refresher Course for Japanese teachers over a few weeks from January to May. This is to help non-native-speaker-level Japanese teachers brush up their Japanese level and network with other Japanese teachers.

The in-person Final Day of the Refresher Course (Network Event) will be held in London and is now open to all, even if you have not participated in the Refresher Course.

Why not join us in London for a chance to meet fellow teachers of Japanese, participate in workshops, and hear from expert speakers? The event is free and lunch will also be provided.

You can find information on the Network Event below:

Basic Information

• Date/Time: Saturday 27th June, 11:00-15:00
• Venue: Citadines Holborn-Covent Garden London, 94-99 High Holborn, London WC1V 6LF (Closest station : Holborn)
• Fee: Free
• Languages Used: English/Japanese
• Application Deadline: 17th June 2026 (Wednesday)
• Maximum Number of Attendees: 30

*If the number of application exceeds the limit, priority will be given to school teachers.

Eligibility (any one or more of the following)

• Teachers who teach Japanese at secondary and/or primary schools, including teaching extra-curricular activities such as school clubs
• PGCE students who are aiming to become Japanese teachers
• SCITT trainees/candidates 

Schedule

• 10:45　Venue opens, registration, tea/coffee social
• 11:00　Opening
• 11:10　Session 1 (Presentation by Ms Anne Rajakumar: Implementing Japanese through Inter-School Collaboration – How pupils in multiple schools can benefit from extracurricular Japanese)
• 11:40　Break
• 12:00　Session 2 (Presentation by Ms Helen Langsam: Getting students to 'think hard' in our classrooms)
• 12:30　Session 3 (workshop)
• 13:30　Lunch (provided)
• 15:00　End

*The timetable may be subject to change.

Speakers

Ms Anne Rajakumar

Anne Rajakumar has been teaching Japanese for over thirty years, in both Australia and the UK. She is the author of the successful Australian primary-level workbooks, Yonde Kaite, and has a website and Youtube channel which hosts a wealth of material to support the GCSE, A-Level and International Baccalaureate Japanese programmes. Until giving up classroom teaching in 2020, Anne was the Head of Japanese at Hockerill Anglo-European College and since then she has focussed on teaching online. For the past fifteen years making online resources to support 'Flipped Learning' in the classroom has been a major focus of her work, and she has integrated the use of online resources into her teaching (Flipped Learning) to great effect.

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Mrs Helen Langsam

Helen Langsam has been teaching Japanese in the UK for over twenty-five years. After completing a PGCE in Japanese, she taught in a range of secondary schools in both the UK as well as in the United States. Since 2002, she has taught GCSE and A Level Japanese to students across Key Stages 3, 4 and 5 in a state secondary school in North London. As an Assistant Headteacher, Helen leads whole-school Teaching and Learning, as well as staff training and development. She delivers a wide range of CPD sessions, grounded in current research, on topics including checking for understanding, curriculum design, and assessment. She also oversees Literacy across the school and line-manages the SEND, EAL, and Humanities faculties. 

Click here to register to attend