Hi! My name is Rebecca Scane.  I have lived and worked in Japan for over 3 years teaching English and working at the Board of Education in Daisen City, Akita

Hi, my name is Richard.  I have been teaching and instructing young people since 1982 in all aspects of life. I am a volunteer at a very large Youth Recreation Centre near my home. I have organised and coached at sports, i.e. Basketball, Soccer, Tennis, Table Tennis etc. I have also worked closely with our local primary school helping students that were behind in their reading to improve their reading ability and teaching older students how to properly address a congregation/meeting.

More recently I have been teaching Japanese Students to improve their spoken English. I like to see my Japanese Students enjoy their lessons which I always try to mix with some fun and games. I am not a serious person but I do take the responsibility of helping my students to improve their spoken English very seriously. I am very conscious of the different cultures between Japan and Australia so I try to put my student at ease as soon as they arrive. I also instruct our new E.S.L. Teachers. I really enjoy myself and I always look forward to my next assignment which I hope might be YOU!

Hi, I'm Francis Yap, I have been teaching ESL for VS Oceania for over 3 years now and have been enjoying it with a passion.  I am currently working with IBM and I am actively involved in leadership development and mentoring program with a church organization.  Seeing our students excel on who they are and believing they can make a difference is my main goal on teaching.   

Welcome to our future students.  I am looking forward to teaching and having some fun with you during your stay in Australia.

Hello, I'm Michael Agcanas. I have lived and worked in Japan for over five years in between 2005 and 2013, in Okayama Prefecture and Osaka City.

I mostly taught English at Elementary and Junior High schools in Okayama as a guest teacher, and spent my latter years there working for Berlitz Japan and as a kindergarten head teacher in Takarazuka. I am accredited to teach English as Second Language and Japanese in NSW high schools. I enjoyed working in Japan and experiencing and learning more deeply about Japanese traditions and lifestyles.

In Japan, I realised how living in another country can not only broaden your knowledge and world view greatly, but also how the challenges of living overseas can sometimes be very difficult. Due to this experience, I would like more Japanese students to experience and learn more about the world by visiting Australia, and would also like to work towards making their stay as pleasant as possible.

G’day,

My name is Cecilia Felizardo and presently working as an administrative assistant. I was so excited to be teaching Japanese Students and go back to the work that I loved doing most being a teacher for 6 years. I hope that you will have an unforgettable Holiday Program and that I can help you improve your Communication skills, learn more about our cultures and experience life in Australia.

Hello, Im Gabryel Katte but you can call me Gabi.

With being interested in Japanese Culture and learning Japanese since i was 13 Ive loved meeting students from Japan. I have recently graduated from High School and am now Majoring in Japanese at University. I am comfortable speaking at the front of the classroom, helping out Japanese students when they need it and making them feel welcome and comfortable.

I am looking forward to meeting you in Australia.

G’day, I’m Sandra Grierson & have been working as a Tour Liaison for more than 2 years. I’ll meet you at school every day & help wherever needed. I was an exchange student too & can assist you in both Japanese & English. It’s great to see students interacting with host families & buddies & becoming more confident speaking in English. See you soon!!

Hi There! 

My name is Tanisha Bennett but I usually go by the name of Nisha. I have been studying Japanese at school since the age of 13 years old. I have been to Japan for two weeks and was able to experience the amazing culture. I absolutely enjoy learning Japanese with a passion and in my future I would love to live there and teach to students in their high schools. Watching the Japanese students experience life and culture in Australia is wonderful! It is such a pleasure when I am able to help teach English to the students because it brings joy to me and having the satisfaction of helping the students is amazing. 

I am so excited to be working with more Japanese students, welcoming them to Australia and helping them with their English skills to make their stay as pleasant as possible. 

My name is Erica Hawron and I am from a family of teachers. I am a teacher of high school maths and English, as well as a teacher of student teachers. I have learned and taught in several countries including Japan, China, India and the Middle East (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan). I have a large family of 11 children and 12 grandchildren. I enjoy teaching young people and learning from them also.

Hi my name is Gayle Labruyere. I teach English studies, creative arts and cooking and have been teaching with VS Oceania for two years. I love teaching children of all ages, encouraging them to develop their love for the English language through lots of hands on activities and during the week they are able to sing Australian songs and recite famous Australian poetry. We put on a puppet show and perform in a short film clip, as well as being able to communicate with their host families better. Needless to say it is a lot of fun and I enjoy watching my students grow in confidence and develop a love for the English language.

Hi! I am Melanie Bliss.

I have been in the teaching profession from 1987-1996 back in the Philippines. I was involved in the implementation of the “Learning to Read Program” with Kindergarten Department in Central Christian Academy, Philippines. I as  well performed supervisory roles in learning centres for Primary Department of the said school. Here in Australia, I didn’t stop with my passion in teaching. I have notable involvement in Sunday schools and some Child Care Centres. At present, it is my utmost desire to extend my skills to international students from Japan; I eagerly welcome every opportunity whenever they need me to develop and enhance their spoken English skills.

I have proficient skills in both written and oral communication in English. The best asset I could offer is my open-mindedness and ability to adapt to groups and personalities in the multicultural society. My exuberance as a mentor and my affection to my students come only from the love and grace of my living God.

Hi, I’m David and I help out at VS Oceania as a part-time teacher. I’ve had a lot of life experiences and although I am not young, I feel young.

I’m an ex soccer player with lots of playing and coaching experience. I even coached a primary school girls’ team at Senri Dai Ichi Shogaku in Suita, Osaka. I also taught English in Japan for 5 years to students aged 4 to retirees.

Although I can’t speak Japanese well, my cultural experience allows me to communicate with my students. Here in Australia My wife and I are continually in touch with Japanese students through teaching and having home-stay students. I love Japan and continue to visit every year to maintain my links with my Japanese friends and enjoy the Japanese way of life.

As part of my degree in International Studies, I am studying Advanced Japanese. I have had a passion for all things Japanese since I started language studies at thirteen at Thomas Hassall Anglican College. A will be living in Japan for a year as part of my degree.

Throughout the five years that I have been studying Japanese I have met and hosted many Japanese students in my home, travelling through the city and the countryside to show them a little of our Australian way of life. I have travelled to Japan on three separate occasions in the last five years and each time I visit I fall a little more in love with the people, the culture and the country. My second visit was in December of 2012 when I travelled extensively through the devastation that was left after the Tsunami. I had been selected to be part of the Kizuna Project and thoroughly enjoyed my two weeks of travelling and participation in this project.

I am looking forward to assisting our Japanese Students during their visit to Australia and hope I will be able to assist the many students I meet to learn and understand a little more about the people and the country they are visiting and in return learn a little more about Japan, the Japanese people and their way of life.

Hey everyone! My name is Moses. I was born and raised here in Sydney, Australia. My background is Tongan and I am currently a university student within the Science Faculty. I've been on exchange to Japan for 2 semesters at Nanzan University in Nagoya and I also have 10 months worth of work experience in Japan.

I am an active individual. I volunteer in many different cultural based clubs at university and my community and I have a wide and diverse range of experience and skills in regards to work life. I also really enjoy teaching, helping and interacting with different people of various backgrounds. I know that living overseas can be daunting and difficult especially with the language barrier. But you would find that your time spent here together with me in Sydney, Australia would be a pleasant, rewarding and fun experience. One that you can take back with you home.

I recently graduated High School from Bob Hughes Christian School in Chester Hill when I first met Mr. Takeshi Ushinohama and Yuka Fukumori of VS Oceania. One of the first of many home stay groups arrived that afternoon and I was assigned to look after one of the students for a week. At first, it was difficult but seeing the students have an amazing experience in Australia in such a short period of time sparked my love and passion for the travel and tourism industry, particularly in exchange student programs.

From that moment on, I always volunteered myself as a host family/tour guide whenever there are Japanese groups in Sydney while I completed my Travel and Tourism studies in college. Fast forward a few years later and I am now working Casual/Part Time for VS Oceania as a Tour Coordinator while also studying Japanese Culture and Language through college/university. I also have plans to experience Japan first hand when I go there for a tour in the first half of 2015. I am definitely living the dream!

Hi, my name is Carolina Krueger,

I have always been interested in Japanese culture and with the help of the facilities at my school I was able to learn basic Japanese. I decided to continue my Japanese studies outside of school and shortly after I came in contact with Mr. Takashi. With the support of his company I was able to experience first hand Japan and it’s vibrant culture, giving me the opportunity to take my studies further in a school environment at Fukuroi High School. Now I would like to give this possibility to other students through hosting and guiding them during their stay in Australia. In the near future I would like to travel to Japan again to visit my friends and host family. 

Hi, I'm Hannah! I'm currently a university student in my first year, studying Japanese. I love travelling, meeting new people and helping others. During high school, I hosted Japanese students and went to Tokyo as an exchange student twice. I made many wonderful friends and had unforgettable experiences. I highly recommend studying abroad to anyone and I want to be able to help others to have an amazing experience too. I truly believe that it is one of the best things you can do. So I will really try my best to help everyone to have a good time. I look forward to it.

Hi! My name is Naomi Sakr. I’ve only been learning Japanese for about a year now, but I already know that I’m in love with not only the language, but also the people and culture! Through the help of VS Oceania I was able to go on an exchange to Japan. Everyone I met there was so kind, including my host family, teachers and classmates. So many people helped me throughout my trip so I decided that helping other exchange students was the path for me! I’m very excited to be working with VS Oceania to help guide and assist other Japanese exchange students to make sure that they have a fun and fulfilling trip. 

My name is Jonun Li, please call me 'Joey', I was born and raised in Australia, I have currently graduated from Macquarie University. During my University study I have studied in Japan twice, for a total of 1 year! I major in Japanese studies, thus I hope that I can use my skills to help Japanese students with English and their experience in Australia!