Farewelling beloved language assistants

By Ms Michele Sharp, Head of Languages

At the end of 2024, we farewelled our beloved language assistants, Miss Ayumi Oka and Miss Manon Tusseau.

Assistants are a fabulous resource for the languages department as they contextualise learning for students and support teachers in developing teaching materials in authentic language.

Language assistants live with Radford families during their stay, allowing them to improve their English language and learn about everyday life in Australia.

Thank you to Ayumi and Manon for their hard work, and to the generous families who supported this program through hosting.

Manon says au revoir!

My experience at Radford has come to an end. I've had an unforgettable experience. During these seven months, I've discovered the teaching profession and students who have a great desire to learn a new language.

I've been lucky to meet some wonderful people who have enriched my experience. My colleagues are excellent teachers, who are always there to support and encourage their students. I'm happy to have worked in such a positive atmosphere.

I particularly enjoyed taking part in activities with the French students, such as playing pétanque with Year 9, going to a French restaurant with Year 10 and the cooking class with Chef Christophe Grégoire and his wife Joséphine with Year 11. The students learned about French gastronomy and were also able to cook typical French dishes.

I really enjoyed sharing these different activities with them, because they had fun while discovering French specialties. I'm proud of the students as they've made a lot of progress since the beginning of the year.

I lived with three different families, so was able to discover the Australian life. I also got to know specialties like Tim Tams, sausage rolls, meat pies, Vegemite, fairy bread and sausage sandwiches. With one of the families, we prepared a French dinner, and I was delighted to introduce them to French meals.

As well as discovering Australian food, I discovered sports that I didn't know about, like netball and Oztag.

During these seven months, I had the chance to travel to many places. What I retain from this adventure is that Australia has breathtaking landscapes. My first trip was with Ayumi. We spent a weekend in Sydney. We went to the Opera House, Blue Mountains and Bondi Beach, where we went swimming at Bondi Icebergs. It was great, even though the water was very cold. Then we went to Vivid Sydney, and the city looked even more incredible with all the lights.

The second trip we took together was to Brisbane and the Gold Coast. On this trip, I saw whales for the first time. Despite the bad weather, it was just magical to see these mammals during their migration period.

During the October holidays, my sister and a friend came to join me in Australia and we went on a road trip. I was happy to show them how I'd been living for the past few months and my favourite places in Australia. We visited several cities over the two weeks, including Adelaide and Sydney. We visited the Whitsunday Islands and the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. The colours were breathtaking! We also flew over the Great Barrier Reef and saw the Heart Reef.

I was able to go to Canberra events like Floriade. Ayumi and I spent the afternoon there, and I really enjoyed it. Everything was so colourful, and the flowers smelled wonderful. We also enjoyed attending the Nara Candle Festival. There were lots of activities, like origami making and calligraphy. I got to taste Japanese food, and I really liked it.

Over the past few months, there have been many happy moments, but also some difficult ones. It's all part of the adventure, but I have absolutely no regrets about venturing into the unknown. Thanks to this choice, I've been able to improve my English a lot and I've met some exceptional people.

Many thanks to the French and other language teachers, the students and my host families. It was a pleasure to meet you all!

Sayōnara from Ayumi

I spent eight months in Canberra, and it feels like the time went too quickly. Thanks to the Japanese and other language teachers, students, my friends, host families and the people who I met in Australia, I had many exciting and wonderful experiences. They always helped me and talked to me even though my English was not good. I won’t forget the experiences I had in Australia. I’d like to talk about what I’ve learned, my experience as an assistant at school, my host family and travelling in Australia.

At first, I learned that students use all five senses in a Japanese class. For example, Year 7 students memorise the greeting and how to count in Japanese by singing a song. I was surprised one Year 12 student who studied Japanese in Year 7 still remembered that song! When they study the culture in Japan, they actually touch and feel, and don't just learn on screen. Year 8 classes learned about furoshiki – Japanese cloth wrapping. They actually touched it and used it to pack many things: laptops, lunch boxes, even a watermelon! When I return to Japan, I’ll be teaching exchange students Japanese, and I'd like to teach such a fun class.

I love the Australian lifestyle. I stayed at four different houses and each house was so different, even though they all lived in Canberra. I ate lamb, quiche, meat pies and, of course, Tim Tams and Vegemite. I went to Parliament House, museums and the gallery. I also hiked, climbed and cycled. There is rich nature in Canberra, and I really enjoyed it. My host families cooked Japanese meals for me, so I wouldn’t get homesick! I was excited every weekend thanks to them.

I’ve learned important things through staying here.

Firstly, Australians think it’s important to spend dinnertime and weekends with family, which is different to how it's done in Japan. They talk about how their day was and share feelings and experiences.

Secondly, Australia is very international, and they accept diversity easily. I was impressed when I saw children from different backgrounds playing and chatting together at school. I haven’t seen this in Japan, because the majority of students in Japan are Japanese. I was so glad to see it. I also enjoyed school events like the Fete, student music concerts and Languages Week. The various cultures in Australia made it more fun.

Finally, I travelled to many places with my best friend, Manon. I went to Sydney, the Gold Coast and Brisbane. In Sydney, we went to the Opera House, Bondi Beach and the Blue Mountains.

My favourite place was Brisbane. We went to Moreton Island and snorkelled to a shipwreck. We had the best time because we were really ready for warmer weather (Manon and I both come from countries in the northern hemisphere, so we experienced two winters). We also really enjoyed shopping and bought many clothes! I also went to Cairns with my family. My sister started to like Australia after travelling to Cairns and planning a trip to Melbourne.

I appreciate everybody involved for giving me such a wonderful experience and opportunity. Thank you so much.