Japanese Academy of Gainesville
ゲインズビル日本語アカデミー
About Us
フェイスブックのグループでクラスの情報やイベントの場所を随時更新しておりますので、ぜひグループへ参加してください。（Facebook Pageへ行くには本ページ上部のオレンジ色のFacebook Pageボタンをおしてください。）
子供達の事を思う保護者のボランティアで活動しておりますので、日本語を教えてくれる、またはイベントのお手伝いなどのボランティア希望される方はお気軽にお声かけください。
Japanese Academy of Gainesville (JAG) ゲインズビル日本語アカデミー group is for caregivers who want their children to enjoy learning the Japanese language and culture in a safe, fun, and family-friendly environment. We accomplish this by learning through reading, writing, speaking, music, art, field trips, holiday celebrations, and discussing general themes.
We regularly update class information and event locations on our Facebook group, so please join the group. (To go to the Facebook Page, please press the orange Facebook Page button at the top of this page.)
We’re volunteers made up of parents who care about the kids, so if you’d like to help out by teaching Japanese or assisting with events, feel free to reach out to us.
Our mission
私たちの目標は、子供たちが安全で楽しく、家族みんなで日本語と日本文化を学べる機会を提供していく事です。海外にすむ日本にルーツのあるご家族、または日本に興味のあるご家族が次世代の子供達に日本語と伝統を継承していく手助けをしたいと考えています.
Our mission is for our children to learn the Japanese language and culture in a safe, fun, and family-friendly environment. We want to aid families to continue passing on the Japanese language and tradition for the future generation.
レッスンの流れ Our Lessons
10:00-10:30 赤ちゃんから幼児 サークルタイム か リトミック ＆ 自習問題
10:30-10:45 見せてお話 、 ラジオ体操 、 自己紹介
10:45-11:00 ラージ グループ レッスン ＆ おやつ
11:00-11:45 スモール グループ レッスン ＆ 遊ぶ時間
11:45-12:30 お片付け ＆ 解散
Our Typical Agenda:
10:00-10:30 Circle Time or Eurythmics for Babies to Preschoolers ＆ Self Study
10:30-10:45 Show and Tell、 Radio Exercise、 Self Introduction
10:45-11:00 Large Group Lesson ＆ Snack
11:00-11:45 Small Group Lesson ＆ Play Time
11:45-12:30 Clean up & Dismissal
クラスの場所 Classroom
Starting September 2026 JAG Lessons are held at Salsa Mundial. We meet almost every Sunday from 10:00am- 12:30pm. Currently our lessons are free so please feel free to come visit!
Salsa Mundial
出席ポリシー Attendance Policy:
ご希望の家族は、いつでも気軽にすべてのイベントに参加することができます。しかしながら、子供たちや先生のスケジュールを一貫させるためにも、できれば毎週 (または決まったペースで)参加していただけると嬉しいです。定期的に出席することにより言語の習得が促進され、子供達が心地よく参加できるようになると考えています。先生が事前に十分な資料を準備できるように、参加希望者はFacebook のJAGのページにおいて参加ボタン(Going)をクリックしてください。（Facebook Pageへ行くには本ページ上部のオレンジ色のFacebook Pageボタンをおしてください。）Facebookをお持ちでない方は、参加ボタンを押せなくてもかまいませんのでぜひお気軽に直接お越しください。
また出席する場合、安全の都合上、少なくとも 1 人の保護者に来ていただき、ご自身のお子様を見ていただけるようにお願いしております。
なお、クラスでは子供たちが日本語を日常的に聞くことに慣れるため、保護者を含め参加者みんなで可能な限り日本語を話すようにお願いします。ですが多くの子供たちはまだ日本語の習得途中であるため、必要に応じて英語での説明も取り入れています。
Families have a choice to attend all events at their comfort and choice. However we do recommend that your child(ren) attend ideally weekly or at least on a consistent schedule. We believe that regular attendance increases learning the language and builds relationships between the families quicker. If you choose to attend an event, please respond to each event so the instructors can prepare materials accordingly. When attending, it is expected that at least one responsible grown-up is assigned to stay and supervise your child(ren) at the facility the entire time. We encourage all participants to speak Japanese to the best of their abilities and as much as possible. This is so our children get used to hearing Japanese commonly and frequently. However, as many of our children are still learning the language there will be several occasions where English translation will be provided throughout the instruction to enhance comprehension for the students.
Gallery
F.A.Q
ボランティア紹介 Volunteers
Suki Wise (she/her)
Teacher (Pre-School & Origami)
Atsuko "Suki" Wise was born and raised in Miami, FL where she attended and graduated from Miami Hoshuko. She also earned her Bachelors in Psychology with Japanese Minor and earned her Masters in Education and Specialist Degree in School Counseling in Guidance all from the University of Florida. Mrs. Wise has experience working in middle and elementary school settings as a school counselor. She believes in the importance of learning through play and kindness. She wishes for her two children to have lots of friends and become bilingual in Japanese and English.
Natsuko Ejiri
Teacher (Rhythmic & Kokugo)
Natsuko has been teaching piano since 2002. She served on the faculty of the Merit School of Music, Fort Worth Youth Orchestra Suzuki Program, and Suzuki Music Institute of Dallas (SMID). Natsuko believes that studying music has many benefits including building self-esteem, confidence, focus and more. Her teaching goal is to improve the lives of her students through the process of learning music.
Shuuji Spangler (he/they)
Teacher Language and Cultural Nerd
Shuuji Spangler was born in Carrollton, Georgia, and moved to Central Florida at 10 years old. Having been homeschooled most of his life, he's had an interest in education and development from an early age. Now, having self-studied Japanese for 7-8 years, graduated from the University of Florida with a BA in Japanese language and literature, and participated in and helped to coordinate a number of cultural exchange events in Gainesville, he seeks to further his involvement in cross-cultural activities and contribute to the continued spread of ideas, art, and culture beyond borders and language barriers by whatever means available. Through his time volunteering with JAG, he hopes to gain an insight into language acquisition, Japanese culture, and the experiences and perspectives of multi-cultural families.
Yuno Bounds
Teacher (Art & Science)
Yuno focused on art-integrated learning and STEAM education during her Master’s degree from the University of Florida. She served as an education technician at CYTP (Children, Youth and Teen Programs) for years. She believes in children’s innate desire of learning and focuses on their intrinsic motivation. Yuno facilitates children’s learning based on their interests, and wishes for them to become lifelong-learners.
Yuka Ishii
Satoko Someya
JAGの成り立ち history of japanese academy of gainesville
June 2022
Athena and Suki began this group in June 2022 and started to meet weekly as a Japanese Playgroup. We would change locations to different park playgrounds to spread the word and find convenient locations for the families interested. We had named the group Japanese Language & Culture Learning Association (JLCLA) Gainesville. Soon we started to grow with Yuno and Natsuko contributing to planning the lesson content.
February 2023
We were able to join a partnership with the Creekside Community Church to rent an indoor space with tables, chairs, kitchen, and bathrooms. Since they are also located so close to Springtree Park, often when lessons are over the kids play in the playground from 12:00-12:30 PM.
March 2023
We voted to rename our group to Japanese Academy of Gainesville (JAG) and decided on board members. Thanks to Kotaro's hard work, Tomy has contributed to a generous donation to fund our lesson materials.
Sept 2026
JAG decided to partner up with Koji Hosaka PhD owner of Salsa Mundial. JAG's lessons have moved from Saturdays to Sundays.
運営メンバー board members
Suki Wise
PresidentAthena De La Cruz
Vice PresidentNatsuko Ejiri
SecretaryYoko Fujii
TreasurerYuno Bounds
HistorianMap
- 3501 SW 2nd Ave suite g, Gainesville, Florida, USA
- japaneseacademyofgainesville@gmail.com
- Sun - 10:00-12:00
メールの返信には数日以上かかる場合がございます。ぜひ日曜日の朝１０時から昼１２時の間に直接お越しください。 Please note that It may take a few days for us to reach back to you. We encourage you to visit us in person on Sundays, 10:00 am - 12:00 pm.
