I’m still here
I’m still here, well in the flesh really– but not so much mentally. I starting to believe the teaching process is a lot more difficult then I first imagined. This week often has reminded me of a dam of language holding back a world of knowledge written in English. Trickles come out periodically, but they’re so basic that it hardly unlocks the inquisitive minds of children.
A part of me wishes I could teleport a few kids to America where they could see the futility of an English only world. It would be really tough, but then again I live in the exact opposite situation.
There’s a thing, I suppose, to be said for that. Japanese, like Americans, live in a cushion of their own language. If there’s something we don’t understand in the US. (like Spanish) we dismiss it, because the pool of English speakers is larger. In Japan, kids live up until Elementary school (nearly 6 years) in a solid cocoon of Japanese. Here kids form Japanese words and slowly develop the inability to learn western pronunciations.
I even caught myself talking to a 4 or 5 year old in Japanese– then thinking to myself that this kid now thinks big white men with brownish-blonde hair also speak Japanese. Ya-ta! My world is perfect.
In other news– my small insignificant dent here is getting bigger then a dimple it seems. One of my students from Summer Break, who was practicing for the English contest held today, won first prize for pronunciation. I couldn’t be there, but when I heard the news I was so proud of her. The story was a real tough one to read and we went over and over the smallest details until she got them right. I knew she would do it, she just needed the confidence which I hope she got from out sessions.
Sweet..
~J out
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Yeah, I just want to take the most annoying students and throw them into America, and say, “Look, see, this is what it’s like outside of your homeland. Japan; only country in the world that speaks your language. At least English is spoken in other places!”
Also, I don’t know about you, but it’s hard not to use my Japanese with students–especially because I want to improve…
Some teachers insist I use English, but it’s a catch 22. If I did, yes Students would get exposure, but the teachers (& students) would become lost on what I was saying. Thus– I use Japanese when it seems convenient or proper to do so.