15/07/2025
SFMNHS kicks off Japanese language program
To provide learners opportunities to learn another language, Sitero Francisco Memorial National High School launched the Special Program in Foreign Language (SPFL)-Nihongo on July 10, 2025, as an elective subject to forty grade 7 students.
Aligned with DepEd Memorandum No. 560 s.2008, the Special Program in Foreign Language aims to “develop skills in listening, reading, writing, speaking, and viewing that are fundamental in acquiring communicative competence in a second foreign language".
The students were selected based on their language competence in English and their ability to learn another language. They will attend the Nihongo class twice a week after their regular class.
Facilitated by the English department, the orientation and launching ceremony for students and parents commenced with the ribbon-cutting, opening remarks by the school head, Dr. Christopher J. Delino, and message by Ms. Nova U. Gonzales, Master Teacher I.
Ms. Princess Collen A. Ronsable, SPFL-Nihongo teacher, introduced the Japanese culture through a Japanese folk dance “Bon Odori: Tanko Bushi” and festival tradition. The students wrote their wishes on a strip of paper and hung them on a “cherry blossom tree” as a custom of the Tanabata festival. They also practiced saying common expressions in Japan and had karaoke on popular Japanese songs.
Ms. Ronsable, then, oriented the students and parents about the foreign language program, including its requirements and assessment, and emphasized the importance of their commitment to finish it within the year.
After the intensive language training program sponsored by The Japan Foundation Manila and DepEd, Ms. Ronsable will complete 18 sessions of the Japanese Speaking Course until March 2026 to further equip her with the language.