The Ottawa Japanese Language School caters to students, who wish to learn or improve their Japanese, of all skill levels from beginners through to advanced, and all ages from kindergarten students through to adults.

Used book sale - September 10 and 17, 2011

2011-09-06

OJLS will be holding a used book sale during the registration period on September 10 and before and after the first day of classes on September 17. The sale will be an opportunity for students to bring books or other study tools they no longer need, and offer them for sale at a price that they determine. Students wishing to sell material should bring the items to the sales table in the gym as soon after 9:30 as possible. Please tag each item with your name and the price. The books will then be on display during Registration Day and before and after classes on the following Saturday. Money collected from the sale and the unsold books will be returned to students on September 24 during class. Any unsold books not claimed by the October 1 class will be considered a donation to the school, unless a prior arrangement has been made. Please note that the school is not selling new textbooks at this sale. Please also take note that this year, there will be an updated version in use for the textbook Genki 1. Please also take note that the revised edition of Genki 1 will be used in the Youth 1 class this term.

OJLS donates $10,000 to the Earthquake Relief Fund

2011-07-04

On April 20th 2011 at the Japanese Embassy in Ottawa, Ambassador Ichikawa received from OJLS a cheque for $10,000 for the Earthquake Relief Fund, presented by Tim Folkins (Chairperson), Kazuko Kobayashi (Principal), Yoko Mongeon (Vice-Principal) and Mike Haag (Treasurer). Many thanks to all those members and friends of the school that donated!

Aside from collecting donations,“Senbazuru” (one thousand origami cranes) with messages written on the wings were prepared for one of the elementary schools in the severely affected areas.

Originally the OJLS board had decided to donate $1000 directly and to match a further $2000 dollar-for-dollar for donations from students. In light of the generous total of $5,885.79 collected, the board voted to round-up the school's matching contribution to $3,114,21 in order to make the total donation to the Tohoku-Pacific earthquake relief efforts $10,000.

Tohoku-Pacific Earthquake Relief Donations

2011-03-16

On March 11, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurred in the Tohoku region of Japan. Minutes later, the coastline of the same area was struck by a massive tsunami. The damage seen on newscasts and websites is shocking and sobering for all of us. Every student and staff member at the OJLS has a connection to Japan in some way, whether it's family, hobbies, cultural interest or simply a love of the language. Japan and her people have given us many beautiful and interesting experiences, but now the Japanese people need our help.
 
OJLS will be collecting donations for earthquake relief on Saturday March 19 and 26. The fastest and most effective way to get aid to where it's needed is for us to donate money to an existing aid organization so that materials can be purchased in large, economical quantities as near to the affected areas as possible. For this reason, OJLS will only be accepting cash donations and we will immediately forward all donations to the Japan Red Cross. The OJLS Board of Directors is also organizing a donation-matching program, details will be available on Saturday at the school. A staff member will be located in the hallway near the school office to accept your donation.
 
If you would prefer to receive a tax receipt, you may donate on-line at: www.redcross.ca. Please be sure to select the "Japan Earthquake/Asia-Pacific Tsunami" campaign. Online donations will still be eligible for donation-matching as long as a copy of the receipt is provided to the school. Thank you for your support.

Second Semester 2010/2011 Registration

2011-01-08

The second semester of the 2010-2011 school year starts on Saturday, January 22nd. Registration for continuing students or those wishing to join a class will be taken between 9.00 and 9.30 AM on Saturday, January 22nd at the École Francojeunesse.  Students may also register in advance on Saturday, January 15th. For more information, please see the Registration page. Please note that if you do wish to join an existing class you will require some previous knowledge of Japanese equivalent to the material taught in the first semester.

Used book sale - September 11 and 18, 2010

2010-09-09

OJLS will be holding a used book sale during the registration period on September 11 and before and after the first day of classes on September 18. The sale will be an opportunity for students to bring books or other study tools they no longer need, and offer them for sale at a price that they determine. Students wishing to sell material should bring the items to the sales table in the gym as soon after 9:30 as possible. Please tag each item with your name and the price. The books will then be on display during Registration Day and before and after classes on the following Saturday. Money collected from the sale and the unsold books will be returned to students on September 25 during class. Any unsold books not claimed by the October 2 class will be considered a donation to the school, unless a prior arrangement has been made.  Please note that the school is not selling new textbooks at this sale.

Registration for 2010-2011 School Year

2010-08-26

Registration for the first semester of the 2010-2011 school year will be on Saturday, September 11, 2010. Those wishing to register may come to École Francojeunesse between between 09:30 and 11:30 AM.  Regular classes will begin on the next Saturday, September 18, at 09:30 AM.  For more information, please see the Registration page.

2009-2010 Calendar

2009-08-06

The calendar for the 2009-2010 school year is now available on the Calendar page.  Registration will be at the school on September 12, 2009.  For more information, or to print a registration form, see the Registration page.

Summer meetings to improve the school

2009-08-06

Since the past few months, the board of directors held meetings to discuss about ways to improve the school.  So far, we wrote our by-laws and incorporated the school, and our current focus is to improve the communication between the teachers, the principal, and the board.  A lot of progress has been made.  Teachers should expect changes to make their job easier during the new 2009-2010 year, including a new teacher's guide to help newcomers teach at the school.

Summer Classes

2009-05-28

Summer classes are available this year.  If you're interested, please call the principal Ms Kobayashi at (613) 567-9000.  Please leave a message if she is absent.

New Web Site Launched

2009-05-24

During the annual general meeting yesterday, the new Web site of the OJLS was released to the public.  The site moved to a shorter address, ojls.ca.  The school is also increasing its online presence with its new Facebook and Twitter pages.

For behind-the-scenes details, read the page about the site.  Take a look at the new site and leave us your comments using our new contact form.