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The Japan Foundation, Los Angeles Newsletter
July, 2017: Breeze Issue #117
http://www.jflalc.org/pub-breeze117

Greeting From The DirectorGreetings!
What is the most important aspect of teaching a foreign language? There could possibly be athousand answers for this question. If I have to choose only one, however, I would say'inspiration'. Anyone who has ever tried to learn a foreign language can attest to how
mundane of a process it can be sometimes. Many of us have even given up on it all together(including me with French) because of endless pronunciation drills or memorizing tedious
vocabulary lists.
Learning a language need not be, and should not be, ascetic practices, because its ultimate
goal is to broaden your cognitive horizon and become a more flexible and creative person.
Just like a baby acquiring a language, the process of language learning itself can be, andshould be filled with enjoyment and inspiration. You will not master a foreign language andthen become a creative person. Mastering a language in and of itself is a creative process.
That is why we will start ' Speak Japan Blog' this month. It will be filled with stories that inspire
imagination, wonder, and creativity. These stories about Japanese language, society andculture will be engaging and not-fake, ready to be used as discussion points in class, support
materials for your advocacy efforts on Japanese language education, or just as fun things toread. It is our sincere hope that through these blog posts, as well as all the other support weprovide, you will feel inspired as a baby learning a new language.
Sincerely,Hideki Hara, Director

Lecture & Demonstration
Strong and Versatile: Japanese Handmade Paper and Paper Thread
Saturday, July 29, 2017
Craft and Folk Art Museum (5814 Wilshire Boulevard)
Free to attend RSVP Required (11:30am / 3:00pm)
Can paper be turned into wearable clothing? Absolutely. In Japan, thread made from handmade
paper has been used for weaving cloth since at least the 17th century. The cloth is called shifu(shi means paper and fu means cloth in Japanese) and traditionally it has been employed in avariety of uses, from making kimono for the elite, to work clothes for farmers. Hiroko Karuno, an
expert spinner, natural dyer and weaver presents a slide lecture on the process of making
Japanese handmade paper. Afterwards, she will demonstrate the intricate method of producing
paper thread from a sheet of handmade paper and how to prepare it for weaving.
Read MoreSend Us Your Photos
Here at the Japan Foundation of Los Angeles, we love to create opportunities to bring people
together, whether it's through our cultural events or one of our classes. The best part of what we
do is getting the opportunity to meet and interact with all of you. We love to put a smile on yourface; so much so that we would like to relive the memories and share them with others.
This year, we've decided to record these memories as they happen, and we need your help to doit. If you have any photos of yourself or your loved ones having a good time at a JFLA event, thenplease share the photos with us. We'll take the photos you send and compile them into a collagethat we'll share with everyone at the end of the year. So please feel free to share your smilingfaces with us and send in a photo or two by replying to this email.

2017 Japanese Language Grants Are Still Available!
The following Fiscal Year 2017-18 grant programs are still available to support JapaneseLanguage Education in the United States.
1. Learners Event Grant previously known as "Speech Contest Grant" (Deadline: 9/1/2017)
2. Teaching Material Purchase Grant (Deadlines: 9/15/2017)
3. Japanese-Language Education Project Grant (Deadline: 2 months prior to project startdate)
Read More

Japanese Language Education Update #44: Call for Advocacy Stories
We are collecting Japanese education advocacy stories from you! These stories will be put up on
our upcoming SpeakJapan.org advocacy blog and newsletter alongside other useful resources inorder to help inspire current and future Japanese language teachers.
Do you have a success story from your classroom or Japanese language program that you would
like to share? What activity did you run that engaged your students and/or members of thecommunity? How were you able to connect your students with what they were learning to greater
society? How were you able to encourage Japanese learning in your school?
Through these stories and many more, you will be able to help many other teachers to find new
inspiration and ideas. Your stories are important to further invigorate Japanese language
education in the US, so please follow the link below to send yours to us! (Note: we will always becollecting these stories, so just keep them coming!)
http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e9thwvlbhzvukqa9/start
You can view some examples of our stories on our website:
https://www.jflalc.org/jle-teachers-advocacy-stories
Be sure to stay tuned for our upcoming SpeakJapan newsletter and blog! You can sign up for ournewsletter now through our main website at jflalc.org, clicking the Signup for Our Mailing List

button, and selecting "6. SPEAKJAPAN.org Japanese Advocacy Newsletter".
You can also go here to sign up:
http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/d.jsp?llr=whzs8zfab&p=oi&m=1105748124918
We look forward to reading your stories!

New JFLA Website
While we are waiting for the completion of our office renovation, we went ahead and updated ourwebsite to reflect the physical changes in our office. This new design will help our visitors findinformation on our upcoming events and find us on all our social media platforms. We hope you
like the new updated look and look forward to seeing you during our re-opening week at our newly
renovated office.