About
Welcome to JapanEasyReads Bookstore. I'm Monique, lover of books and all things Japanese.
A little bit of background.....
I have been teaching Japanese for 30+ years at both primary and secondary levels in Victoria, Australia, and I am a life-long learner, passionate about language acquisition and student wellbeing.
A turning point in my career came in 2017 at a conference in Brisbane Australia, with founder of TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) Blaine Ray and Dr Terry Waltz where I experienced first hand the power of TPRS.
I was blown away with the simple, fun and pain-free way that language was acquired. I was living proof! As a complete novice, I was reading and understanding short texts in Spanish after several hours of aural input. And I wanted desperately to give my students the same experience. To maximise student engagement. To give ALL students a real shot in the arm of confidence using Japanese to communicate unscripted and spontaneously.
"We acquire language when we understand what we HEAR and READ" Dr Stephen Krashen
I had a thirst for more knowledge, a need for a greater understanding of how I could assist my student’s language acquisition rather than their language learning. I went deep diving into research, blogs, podcasts and have learnt so much from the wonderful language teachers who teach for acquisition.
I began teaching with a focus on 'acquiring language'- using comprehended language with a big emphasis on reading text that used the language the students were hearing- and never looked back.
When I embraced this acquisition focused model of language instruction, I happily observed many positive changes in my classes.
- increased engagement (from both students and myself)
- greater use of the target language (Japanese)
- increased use of spontaneous language
- greater inclusion especially from the slower processing students
PRESENTATIONS & CONFERENCES
Along with my wonderful colleague Kathryn Tominaga, I have delivered a range of presentations focusing on literacy, motivation and maximising comprehensible language to impact acquisition and drive success.
2024 Japanese Language Teachers Association of Victoria Conference (March)
2024 Japanese Language Teachers Association of South Australia Conference (May)
2024 Modern Language Teachers Association of Western Australia (August)
- Reimagining Reading
- Dip Your Toes Into Comprehensible Input
2023 Japanese Language Teachers Association of Victoria Conference:
- 'Personalising Language Instruction: Students at Front and Centre of Our Lessons'
- 'A Picture Paints a Thousand Words'
- 'The Power of Stories'
- 'A Story Behind Every Character'
2022 Japanese Language Teachers Association of Victoria Conference: '
- The Self Determination Theory and Language Acquisition'
2022 National Symposium Japanese Language Education:
- 'The Power of Story to Drive Language Acquisition'
2021 Modern Language Teachers Association of Queensland
- 'What motivates me? What motivates my students?'
2020 Japanese Language Teachers Association of Victoria Conference:
- 'Building Literacy through class novels and Reader's Theatre'
2019 Japanese Language Teachers Association of Victoria
- 'More Input! Speaking more in the classroom'
2018 Japanese Language Teachers Association of Victoria Conference:
- 'A Gateway to Increased Student Engagement'