April 1, 2023
HLE Network is lucky to have Chikako join our team as volunteer. She will be giving her time to help HLE Network organize activities that strengthen the sense of community among heritage language programs in the region.
Heritage languages is one of my areas of interest. I respect the dedication shown by the team at HLE Network and am happy to contribute to some projects.
Linguistics background
Chikako has a Master of Arts in Linguistics from Sophia University in Tokyo (2020). She has worked as a certified speech, language, and hearing therapist in Japan and has over 12 years of experience working in medical institutes.
Japanese heritage language education in Brabant
Chikako has been very active in stimulating the language development of Japanese heritage language learners in Brabant over the last year-and-a-half. She serves on the board of the Japanese School of Tilburg and helps run a monthly class for Japanese 4- to 6-year-olds in Eindhoven.
Chikako helped organize the Japanese section of the International Children's Book Collection at Eindhoven Library and and helps run a monthly reading activity there in Japanese. Chikako was featured on Studio 040 for the Japanese contribution to the event series organized for the Nationale Voorleesdagen voor meertalige kinderen.
Thank you to Chikako for her invaluable work in the Japanese community and for volunteering her time to support our network's activities!