Etsuko is from Japan where she completed her education and then went to nursing school to qualify as a registered nurse (where her training included Japanese classical literature!). She followed this career path until she moved to the UK just over 25 years ago, when she retrained as a teacher by undertaking a Japanese teacher training course through EJEF (English-Japanese Education Foundation). She then did a Certificate in Education at the University of Nottingham.
For over thirty years Etsuko has worked at two IB World Schools in London – Southbank International School and the International School of London – and she has attended several IB Language A workshops in Spain, Switzerland, Portugal and the UK. Additionally, she has worked as a setter and reviser of Japanese exam papers at University of Cambridge International Examinations (CIE). She has also worked as a lecturer in Japanese at Kensington and Chelsea College in London, and has taught intensive Japanese A revision courses for students through the Oxford Study Courses.
Etsuko has supervised many Extended Essays during her years working with IB students on topics such as The role of the main character in “Kusa no hana” by Takehiko Fukunaga; The research of the character called ‘sou’ in “Kouyahijiri” by Kyouka Izumi; The meaning of “tiny toy” in “Otogisoushi” by Osamu Dazai; and The study of Hakushu Kitahara’s poetic talent in “Jashumon”.
A highly experienced IB Language A teacher, Etsuko’s early vocation as a nurse also makes her a very sympathetic teacher whom her former Japanese A students regard with great affection.
