SMILE Briefing Session for AY 2026

Today, I would like to introduce the case of the SMILE project 2025 between SMP Islam Al Azhar 26 Yogyakarta (ID) and Kohkai Junior High School (JP). It is an intercultural communication class for junior high school students. The teachers in SMP Islam Al Azhar 26 created a nice poster. It is excellent, even though…

I asked ChatGPT what the academic years are like in the countries participating in the SMILE project. Apparently, it’s something like this. It could be useful for matching. Country / Region Academic Year Term System Major Exams / Test Periods Notes Japan Early Apr – Mid Mar Three terms End of terms: Jul / Dec…

From 15th to 18th March, Prof. Waka and Prof. Jun visited several institutes in Taiwan to discuss preparations for the next SPICE and I-WIT 2027. On the 16th morning, they visited Mingdao High School in Taichung, then, in the afternoon of the same day, they had a meeting with Prof. Stano Kong of Tunghai University….

On 18th February, Prof. Jun Iio provided his lecture on developing and operating the Dialogbook system at Chiang Mai University. He gave his talk to sophomore students studying software engineering at the university’s Courage of Art, Media, and Technology (CAMT). He gave an overview of the SMILE project, how the dialogbook supported it, and its…

At the International Education Showcase hosted by the Taichung International Education Center, Mingdao High School presented its achievements from three years of participation in the SMILE Project. As Taiwan’s key partner promoting the SMILE Project, Mingdao highlighted English as a lingua franca and its role in creating authentic language-use situations for students. Coordinator Lee, Tsung-Che…