Teaching English at JVDCB
Do you speak English? Then you can teach English! That is, you can help visually-impaired adults build up their English skills as they retrain for jobs at the Japan Vocational Development Center for the Blind and Low-Vision (JVDCB) in Yotsuya. Classes are taught on Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 13:00 to 14:30. Please consider joining our group. For information, contact Vicky Muehleisen at vicky@waseda.jp or Kozue Handa at khanda@nifty.com.
English Conversation Partners (ECP)
ECP for high school students at the Special Needs Education School for the Visually Impaired University of Tsukuba, is a program where native English speakers are paired up with an interested student. The requirement is the willingness to chat with a student 1-2 times per month for about 30-40 minutes, via Zoom or phone. This time the program will run from May to September. Please contact Nancy Tsurumaki at nancytsurumaki@gmail.com if you are interested or have any questions about the program. An online training for interested people can be provided with conversation starters and tips from previous volunteers focusing on what worked best for them.
Tsukuba Eiken Mock Interviews for June
VVI volunteers will conduct online mock interviews in June, each lasting for 20 minutes, from 3:40 pm, to assist visually impaired students at the Special Needs Education School, University of Tsukuba, in preparing for the EIKEN interview test. The coordinators will arrange all the materials needed for the interviews. We don’t know the dates yet, or how many students will sign up for the practice interviews, but if you are interested in participating, please contact Kumiko Matsubara at matsubarakumiko@gmail.com if you can volunteer, or if you are interested in more information.
VVI’s 50th Anniversary in 2025
In 2025, CWAJ celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Volunteers for Visually Impaired (VVI) Committee providing unique and meaningful programs in English for Japanese with a visual impairment. Please check out our beautiful slider, on the top of the CWAJ website. The photo was taken at our English Conversation Gathering, Experience Swedish Culture in English, which was held last year in May. Also our landing page has also been updated and given a professional look, thanks to the webmasters.
We had a wonderful movie event on April 19 and are planning a concert for November 6, to celebrate five decades of VVI programs, plus a 50th Anniversary Booklet, which will be published in October.
We really need everyone’s support to make 2025 a memorable year. Please consider supporting VVI this year!
Co-chairs: Nancy Tsurumaki and Eri Nakase
Contact: volunteersvi@cwaj.org
