Goodbye 2009

Just a short note to say thank you to all THT host institutions and volunteers. We made it through another year and successfully conducted 5 seminars (Philippines, Laos, Vietnam, Bangladesh & Kyrgyzstan). As you may know, we are nearing the magic number of 50 members which is needed to be recognized as a full-fledged Special Interest Group (SIG) of JALT. Some other news to report:

(1) The 2009 Proceedings are nearing completion and will go to the printer in mid January. We will also have pdf files of each article available on the THT website at about the same time.

(2) An online proposal submission form is now available on the website. You can find a link to it on the main page and on each of the host country pages.

(3) A Call for Papers for the Philippines Seminar (late July – early August) is also available on the Philippines page.

Best wishes for a healthy and happy 2010.

Sincerely,

THT Organizers

THT in Kyrgyzstan

Please join us in welcoming Kyrgyzstan to the list of Teachers Helping Teachers seminars. Delegates Roger Palmer and Brent Jones held a series of teacher-training lectures and workshops at Bishkek Humanities University from September 8 – 10.

Plenary Lecture by Roger Palmer (Day 1)

This THT event was organized with the cooperation of the Japanese Language and Literature Department and Professor Nami Ujihara, the Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Studies and International Relations, Mr. Mashrapov Talasbe, and JICA representative Kaori Baba.

Plenary Lecture by Brent Jones (Day 2)

Over 50 participants from various departments attended over the three days and approximately 40 teachers were awarded a Certificate of Completion on the last day.

Closing Ceremony in front of BHU (Day 3)

In addition to the lectures and workshops, delegates had the opportunity to sit in on language classes conducted by local teachers of Japanese and English, and then meet with teachers to discuss various issues such as strategies and methodologies. There was also a panel discussion on the last day to discuss the various challenges facing language teachers at this institution and others in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Two big indicators of the success of the event were (1) increased contact among teachers from different departments with promises for future collaboration and cooperation, and (2) a warm thank you letter from Dean Talasbe together with an invitation to conduct another THT event in 2010. The date was even set tentatively for September 15.

Hope to see you there!

THT in Metro Manila 2009

The group in Black

Originally uploaded by THT Japan

Testing how to link to photos. Here is a picture of our delegation in the Philippines earlier this year.

New blog for THT

We are still experimenting with the best ways to keep the THT community in touch. We will use this blog to keep members up to date on what is happening. Members can also post reports, pictures, questions, etc. Please help us keep THT thriving and moving in the right direction(s).

Brent