State President
LTQ Executive Committee
Mr N Williams
Nathan began his career in the federal Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) where he worked in the APS for a few years, prior to coming to teaching as a Japanese teacher, and has experience in both state & catholic education in Central Queensland and South East Queensland.
He is passionate about developing opportunities for teachers’ professional development and networking, with a particular interest in quality pedagogy.
Interests: TPRS, Politics, International Relations
Lester Ford
State Immediate Past President
Portuguese-speaking Lester, a member since 1976, spent 21 years as a French secondary teacher, (12 as HOD Languages), helping introduce languages into primary in the early 1990s. Seconded to (what is now) the QCAA, he spent 18 years advising teachers of senior on syllabus implementation, assessment design and moderation/QA processes. Lester started tutoring pre-service teachers at UQ in 1999, becoming course coordinator, Languages Curriculum Studies, in 2004, and, having left the QCAA, became lecturer in charge, Languages Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment, at ACU in 2017 (with an 18 month part-time interlude teaching in upper primary).
Interests: Musical theatre and mentoring future teachers of languages.
Jaime Nakahara
State Secretary
Jaime Nakahara worked as a translator specialising in the biomedical field before becoming a secondary teacher of science and Japanese. She works in the western corridor of Brisbane and is passionate about opening up language and culture opportunities for students, pre-service teachers and beginner teachers in this area.
Anna Yamaura
Treasurer
Anna is currently Japanese Primary Specialist at 3 BCE schools.
She began teaching in the late 1990s and has taught P-12 and TAFE, in State, Catholic and Independent sectors. Anna has worked in co-educational and single sex schools, in rural remote and urban contexts. She has taught across many subjects to fill a timetable while in a secondary context! Anna happily dabbles in EYLF, CI and singing karaoke with students who don't mind that she is tone deaf.
Joanne Aaron
Professional Learning Officer
Network Convenor - Central Queensland
inservice@mltaq.asn.au
mltaqconvenorcentralqueensland@gmail.com
Joanne has been teaching Japanese in the Central Queensland area for over 25 years and is passionate about supporting regional Languages teachers.
Interests: Joanne loves reading and all things Japanese!
Dr Barbara E. Hanna
Membership Officer
A founding executive member of the (then) MLTAQ French Teachers Branch, Barbara Hanna has memories of French in Queensland going back to Horan and Wheeler, interschool Bastille Day celebrations and a Yr 12 French camp, perhaps at Bald Hills? These days, she lectures in French at the University of Queensland, and her interests include language learner identity, language learner motivation, affordances of technology for action-based approaches to language learning.
Dr Sherryl Saunders
Webmaster
Sherryl is currently working on her PhD, researching what supports are needed by Early Career Languages Teachers. She has been an itinerant Japanese teacher, working across Catholic primary schools in Brisbane and she worked as an Education Officer for Languages. She has, also, been an Assistant Principal in a P-12 school.
Sherryl has been a member of LTQ Inc for as long as she can remember and she has been an Executive Committee member since 1996, serving terms as President and as Inservice Officer. She felt privileged to receive Life Membership in 2021.
Interests: Working with beginning teachers, travel and family (but not necessarily in that order!).
Connie Lammertsma
Network Convenor - Italian
mltaqconvenoritalian@gmail.com
Connie is a teacher of the Italian language in Brisbane and for over 30 years has worked in schools across Brisbane in mainstream education and languages education with experience in the Catholic, independent, state and adult education systems. She has sat on various Languages Curriculum Review groups and was a pioneer of CLIL in Italian in primary schooling. Professionally, Connie is proactive and welcomes collaboration and innovation for the best possible outcomes for all.
Interests: Connie enjoys implementing the latest languages pedagogy but most of all loves spending time with her family, extended family and friends.
Itin Hadijah
Branch President - Peninsula
mltaqpresidentpeninsula@gmail.com
Itin has been involved in MLTAQ activities in the FNQ region since 2011. She pioneered an online speaking competition for Indonesian language, giving students in small regional schools the opportunity to showcase their skills.
Interests: Good food & good conversation!
Paula Hay
Branch President - German
Paula is currently an itinerant primary school teacher (servicing three schools) with 36 years experience. She began her teaching career in 1986 as a secondary school teacher, before moving across to the primary sector. Paula has been a member of MLTAQ Inc for 40 years, serving as the German convenor for the Network before establishing the German Branch in 2005. She is now a Life Member of the MLTAQ Inc.
Paula’s major contribution to the energising of the teaching of German is as the organiser of the Student Oktoberfest since 1987, now known as the Oktoberfest for Teens since 2008. She also coordinates and organises a range of inservice workshops and seminars for teachers of Queensland as well as interstate teachers in her role as a Multiplikatorin (train the trainer) for the Goethe Institut Australien.
Interests: Singing and dancing, Anything and everything German!, Travelling to Germany!, Developing resources for the teaching of languages/German
Dr Leigh Kirwan
Branch President - Gold Coast
Dr Leigh Kirwan once taught French and Japanese at Palm Beach - Currumbin SHS, but has been a lecturer in Japanese at Griffith University for 32 years. He has also studied Italian, Spanish and Chinese. He is ‘Mr Speech Contest’ and is an authority on taking student tours to Japan
Interests: Leigh loves planning student tours to Japan!
Alexander Walsh
Network Convenor - Japanese
mltaqconvenorjapanese@gmail.com
My name's Alexander and I am one of the Japanese Network Convenors. I worked as a secondary school Japanese teacher for about 8 years before returning to university to pursue post-graduate studies. Currently, I am researching the use and influence of kanji on Japanese literacy skills in Japanese bilingual education programs and standard language programs in Queensland schools.
Interests: Bilingual education; music, arts, and culture; martial arts; slowly teaching myself Korean; visiting Japan - Hokkaido is my go-to destination.
Mariana Cedermas
Network Convenor - Spanish (Co-Convenors)
mltaqspanishconvenor@gmail.com
Mariana is an Argentine foreign language teacher with a Masters in Education Management and is the Dean of Languages at Redlands College. She has over 20 years of experience teaching in Argentina and Australia across all levels - from kindergarten through to Senior School, university, and private institutes. Mariana has aligned the Year 10 curriculum with the Certificate II in Applied Language (Spanish) and serves as a QCAA assessor for Spanish. Passionate about adding value and fostering global engagement, she organises international exchanges and overseas trips, enriching her students' education and broadening their global perspectives.
Interests: Spending time with family, travelling and food. Finding ways to include all of those in the classroom is a bonus!
Claudia Patricia Pinilla
Network Convenor - Spanish (Co-Convenors)
mltaqspanishconvenor@gmail.com
Patricia is a passionate Colombian educator with 25 years of experience teaching Spanish in Greece, Germany, and Australia. She has been involved in primary, secondary, and tertiary education, designing and implementing Spanish courses.
Patricia has also collaborated with the QCAA panel and created educational resources. Additionally, she is a DELE-qualified examiner for levels A1/A2, B1/B2, and C1/C2 at the Cervantes Institute. Currently, Patricia works at ACU University, where she has played a key role in designing and implementing the Spanish language Diploma for the DipLang (Spanish) program.
Interests: Trekking, travelling, fashion, art in all its expressions, music, sports and dance.
Dr Barbara E. Hanna
Branch President - French
mltaqpresidentfrench@gmail.com
A founding executive member of the (then) MLTAQ French Teachers Branch, Barbara Hanna has memories of French in Queensland going back to Horan and Wheeler, interschool Bastille Day celebrations and a Yr 12 French camp, perhaps at Bald Hills? These days, she lectures in French at the University of Queensland, and her interests include language learner identity, language learner motivation, affordances of technology for action-based approaches to language learning
Carmel Weaver
Network Convenor - Wide Bay
mltaqconvenorwidebay@gmail.com
Carmel began her love of Japan as an exchange student many years ago. After a stint as a tour guide for Japanese tourist in South East Qld, an English teacher in Japan, then as an EAL/D teacher for Education Qld, she fell into the role of Japanese teacher at a large Gold Coast Primary School. After 7 fulfilling years, she transferred to her current position as the Japanese Teacher on a circuit in Maryborough.
Alison Law
Branch President - Sunshine Coast
Alison is an accomplished educator with over 25 years of experience teaching Japanese across all year levels of high school and primary school in regional, rural and remote Queensland.
Interests: Alison enjoys spending time with her family, planning her next overseas holiday and when she is not teaching or MLTAQ-ing, you might find her cruising the boulevards of the Sunshine Coast on her Vespa.
Anna Kendall
Network Convenor - Townsville
mltaqconvenortownsville@gmail.com
Anna is a passionate educator with over eight years of experience teaching Japanese across all year levels of high school in Townsville. She has led numerous overseas school tours to Japan for high school students. She has also taught English in Japan in her younger days!
Interests: Anna enjoys traveling to Japan with her family and loves learning!
"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." (?????????)
Kathryn Tominaga
Network Convenor - CCLT
Kathryn has been teaching for almost 20 years, most of that time in three primary schools in Brisbane. Her desire to make the most of the limited time available for languages in the primary setting led her to focus on Comprehension-based Communicative Language Teaching (CCLT). She is passionate about creating engaging, input-rich learning experiences that support natural language acquisition. Kathryn has previously served on the LTQ committee as Japanese Network Co-Convenor and as President, and she deeply values the support that LTQ provides language teachers across Queensland.
Committee position is vacant
Network Convenor - Chinese
mltaqconvenorchinese@gmail.com
Your Network needs you! If you are interested in working with like-minded colleagues, contact Nathan Williams at president@mltaq.asn.au
TBC
Network Convenor - Indonesian
mltaqconvenorindonesian@gmail.com
Please contact secretary@mltaq.asn.au if you are interested in supporting your colleague teachers as Convenor of the Indonesian Network.
We thank Fi Hudghton for all her work over many years.
Darling Downs Convevenor
Network Convenor - Darling Downs & South-West
This position is currently vacant. If interested, please email secretary@mltaq.asn.au
CLIL Network
Network Convenor - CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning)
This position is currently vacant. If interested, please email secretary@mltaq.asn.au
