Our Visit to Aberdeen – February 2025

On the 25th and 26th of February, we travelled from Edinburgh to Aberdeen with two goals in mind: to connect with local teachers and to share a taste of Japanese language and culture with pupils.

1) Meeting with a Japanese teacher from the University of Aberdeen

Soon after arriving in Aberdeen, we met Hitomi North-sensei, who teaches Japanese at the University of Aberdeen. Instead of meeting on campus, we caught up at a café near the station, which suited both our arrival time and her schedule. Over coffee we exchanged ideas about teaching approaches and resources, and it was inspiring to hear about her work with students.

North-sensei is keen to collaborate with us on future school visits, and together we hope to bring more Japanese language taster sessions to schools in and around the Aberdeen area.

2) Japanese taster sessions at Aberdeen Grammar School

The following morning, we visited Aberdeen Grammar School, where we ran two Japanese taster sessions at the invitation of Bereket Berhane-sensei. His pupils were especially curious about kanji, so we prepared some lively activities and materials to introduce them to the world of Japanese characters. The sessions were warmly received, and it was wonderful to see the pupils so engaged.

Bereket-sensei has also kindly offered to support our future projects, and we look forward to working with him again.

Overall, our two days in Aberdeen were both productive and energising. We built new connections, shared the joy of Japanese language learning, and laid the foundations for further collaboration. We’re excited to return before long and continue growing our network in the region!