Ysgol y Preseli

Welcome to Japan

As part of 'Wythnos Ieithoedd Modern Ysgol y Preseli 2006', around 30 students recently participated in a week of Japanese as part of the Welsh Baccalaureate course run by the school.

The year 12 pupils had no knowledge of the language before and were introduced to Japanese culture and lifestyle, how to introduce themselves, how to count, talk about school and their hobbies, the week culminating in a performance using traditional japanese taiko music when the students dressed up in traditional japanese clothes.

'It was a wonderful fun-packed week both for the teacher and pupils,' said Anna Jones. 'They even learnt to eat with chopsticks! All the teachers were thoroughly impressed by the standard that was reached by the students after only twenty hours of tuition.'

Anna Jones is a Modern Foreign Language Assistant at Ysgol y Preseli working with GCSE, AS and A level Spanish students. She has lived and worked in Japan and was responsible for the setting-up and delivering of the Japanese language for the Welsh Baccalaureate week. She is available for consultation to those schools and colleges that are interested in introducing the japanese language into their Welsh Baccalaureate Language Module.