who we are
Suzuko Anai is a senior lecturer in Japanese Studies at Oxford Brookes University. She has been on the JLC since its inception, having worked in all sectors of Japanese education. She is currently chair of the Association of Japanese Language Teachers in Europe (AJE) and is an elected member of the ALL Executive Council. Her research interest is in e-learning especially its application in collaborative language learning.
Sally Benson has been a member of the JLC for several years. Following 6 years as TEFL teacher in Asia she has been a Japanese teacher at comprehensive schools in England for the last eight years.
Nimali De Silva is Head of Japanese at Katharine Lady Berkeley's School in Gloucestershire where Japanese is taught to around 250 pupils from years 7-13. She also does outreach in Japanese at local feeder primary schools.
Motoko Ishikawa teaches at St Helen's School in Northwood, Middlesex, and independent girls’ school from reception to sixth form. She also runs Japanese clubs, which include calligraphy, language, origami and manga, as well as origami teaching in Little St. Helen’s School, the kindergarten attached to St. Helen’s School.
Shoko Middleton is a qualified teacher in both Japan and England. She has taught at Morimura Gakuen High School (Yokohama), King Edward VII School (Sheffield), Sheffield Hallam University and worked as a Language Advisor at Japan Foundation London Language Centre. She is currently teaching at Greenford High School in London.
Lydia Morey (Chair) is a free-lance teacher of Japanese, covering the M4 corridor. She teaches Japanese to secondary school pupils, business people, post-graduates and adults. She has created many resources for the teaching of Japanese in the UK.
Kornelia Mund worked for the Japan Foundation in London, supporting Japanese language education in the UK before joining Whitgift School, an independent boys' secondary school in South Croydon. She gained qualified teachers status via the Graduate Teachers Programme and teaches Japanese and German to boys from Yr 6 to Yr 13.
Anne Rajakumar is the Japanese teacher at South Wolds School, in Nottinghamshire. Initially from Australia where she taught at both primary and secondary levels, she is now resident in the UK and teaches at secondary level from Year 7 - 13. She has published the Yonde Kaite series of Primary Workbooks in Australia and now produces resource material for the GCSE, A Level and IB courses.
Sachiko Yamaguchi is the Japanese teacher at King Edward VII School and Sheffield Hallam university. She has been teaching Japanese at the school for 4 years, from Year 8 to year 13. She also organises some cultural events and biannual residential trip to Japan for the students.
Kim Woodruff (observer) studied Japanese and Linguistics at university before spending three years as a Co-ordinator for International Relations in Kagoshima, Japan. She joined the Japan Foundation London Language Centre in 2007 and is involved in many projects to promote Japanese language education across the UK
Yoko Udagawa (observer) is the Chief Japanese Language Advisor at the Japan Foundation London Language Centre. Her task is to support Japanese language education at all the levels and institutions in the UK by running teacher training sessions, developing resources, providing information about Japanese language education around the world and so on. She has previously worked in China, Indonesia, New Zealand, Australia and Canada as a Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Senior Specialist.