Japanese Track Faculty

TIS provides students with an excellent learning environment for foreign language development and accepting other cultures by being immersed in the school all day long. Students begin as young as 3-year-old. I believe that an immersion school like TIS helps young individuals grow with global thinking. Furthermore, the class size in each grade also allows teachers to have close relationship with each student, and makes it possible for them to support each student’s unique individuality. My favorite moments in class are to see students achieving their goals, showing their art work and using their newly learned vocabulary skills in Japanese sentences proudly. Most importantly, sharing great time with students makes me very happy and stimulates my career as an educator.

I really enjoy watching the children make progress every day. One day they can’t do somthing, and the next day they can. It’s a very exciting moment! I am very excited to work with the culturally diverse group of students, parents and staff here at The International School.

I like to have a great time with my students and actually the students teach me something new every day. That is the best thing about teaching for me. Everyone at TIS focuses on the students and on making this a good place for the students to learn. Thank you to the TIS community for everything – I really love teaching here!

It has been a wonderful experience to teach at the International School where I can witness young learners absorb new culture and language just like a sponge! My goal is to help students to discover the joy of learning and become active and proactive learners. I believe that children learn best when they are given an opportunity to explore answers through their own five senses. I do my best to foster a fun and stimulating environment that nurtures children’s creativity and curiosity.
It is my pleasure to be a part of young learner’s life and help them to enrich their world through language and culture from my native country.

I am proud to be a member of the TIS community, where cultural interactions are always active and fresh. Having lived in different countries in my childhood, I am aware of the great stimulation that different cultures and languages can give in the early stages of life.Now as a teacher, I am more than thrilled to experience this path of engaging education with my students and their families. By working together with my students, I hope to see the world from their points of view, to grow, and to achieve the best results.Click here for an article about Masami-sensei.

I taught 1st to 6th grade as a certified Elementary School teacher for ten years in Hokkaido, Japan. Several of my college colleagues told me to “treasure every encounter, for it will never happen again” and this has become my personal motto. I’ve been fortunate to have experienced many of these precious encounters with my students and look forward to working with the parents and staff of TIS to support your child’s educational growth.

When a visitor came to see a Japanese prek class, she told me she thought the class was so creative. The teacher was explaining the life cycle of a pumpkin to three-year-old children and showing them a pumpkin she had made. I believe The International School blends the most positive aspects of American-style education with the target language education. In the Japanese Track, this means learning to be creative and disciplined.When I was growing up, I studied English from middle school to college. When I came to the United States to teach Japanese nine years ago, it was difficult to understand what people said- not only because of the language but also because I was not familiar with the American cultural topics they discussed. Now I see International School students who are bilingual or trilingual from an early age. I am really happy to see their confidence. To immerse students not only in language but also in cultures, makes children world citizens who are accepting and understanding of others.I am so honored to work with a wonderful faculty and staff, students and parents from all over the world. As the Marketer for the Japanese Track, I would like to invite you to see how our students learn the Japanese culture and language to become confident world citizens.

I started teaching Japanese and English in 1992 at a private learning center (Juku) in Japan. I later moved to Hungary with my husband and started teaching English as a Foreign Language at a public high school. Upon moving to Oregon, I taught preschool in Eugene and Portland and later took some time off to raise my son. For the past several years, I’ve been working at TIS as a substitute teacher, an instructor with the summer camp program, and now as a teacher assistant. I was drawn to The International School because of the Japanese immersion program. TIS is such a unique and wonderful place! I love to see children learning languages and showing appreciation toward other cultures. Working with young children in a rich cultural environment is such a great opportunity.

Language is such a powerful tool for communication. Children in a bilingual program learn to not only think in their native language, but a new one as well. It really opens up their world. With this in mind, I really enjoy working with children and supporting them in developing their bilingual, social and academic skills.
I started to work at The International School as a substitute before joining TIS as a Teacher Assistant. I also work at the Portland Japanese School on the weekends and previously taught for the Japanese American Language Exchange. Language education has always been a passion of mine.