In August 2018, I had the honor and the pleasure to participate in the 2018 International Conference on Japanese Language Education (Venezia 2018 ICJLE), held by the Association of Japanese Language Teachers in Europe (AJE) thanks to the support of The Global Network for Japanese Language Education, as its 22nd Japanese Language Education Symposium in Europe titled “Dialogue for Peace”.

On that occasion, along with timekeeping and venue surveillance duties during the Conference, I was directly involved in the time-consuming, 9 months coming planning of the event and I had the chance to interact up close with prof. Marcella Mariotti, chair of the Association at that time, and see firsthand what were the core values in her research efforts that prompted the Symposium headline “Dialogue for Peace”.

A brief excerpt from the 2018 ICJLE main webpage reads:

“It is only through dialogue that we become aware of ‘other possible ways of thinking’ and see our own values in a wider perspective, ridding ourselves of all kinds of absolute truths that are exclusive of anything different. Dialogue questions, widens and opens up our own perspectives, toward an inclusive position that opens the way to a more peaceful and respectful multi background society.”

I believe this occasion was crucial in many ways to the NoLBrick of today. Firstly, from a personal standpoint, it helped me collect many background notion on what has inspired the NoLBrick research framework and gave me a practical context of international applicability of its scope, paving the way for my later development as a researcher.

I am also firmly convinced that, beside both professional and personal fulfillment and international visibility, the 2018 ICJLE has enabled prof. Mariotti to further develop her focus and reflect on what she truly wants to pursue next, de facto letting NoLBrick emerge.