New Friends
Today I went out a tiny school in the mountains, Koma. The people out there are just so lovely, more like a big family than a school. But I was sitting in class toiling over the way that English is taught here, and why it doesn't necessarily produce the greatest results. I was talking to my team-teacher at my base school, Sakuma-sensei, about her upcoming cultural exchange with Korean students. She was saying the level of Korean student's English is really high compared to Japanese student's, and I have heard similar things about the English of Singaporean and Chinese students. I never thought I would say this of the Japanese Education system, but the expectations here are just so low. It's as if no one has ever bothered to explain to the kids why they are learning English. I'm gonna get Band Aid to come in and do a new version, "Do They Know There's A World Out There At All".
Just so that it doesn't appear that all I do is complain about my job, I am going to complain just a little more, and then get on to the important stuff. I am really taken aback at the way I am totally under-utilised. I remember when I was learning French, we once had a girl come to our class from Quebec, we thought it was Christmas, such a rare opportunity to talk to a native French speaker. Not here.
Tuesday was a day when I was well and truly under-utilised, but it still managed to be a really awesome day. I had one class with the handicapped kids at Meirin Elementary, all six of them. I was there from 9.25am-10.40am. So nice to be keeping ladies hours. Anyway, it was just wonderful, they all listened to my self-introduction, asked me heaps of questions about NZ , and did some English practice with me. We even sang Baa Baa Black Sheep. I am going to ask my Board of Ed if I can go back there in the afternoons sometime. It isn't often at Junior High that you encounter people who are really enthusiastic about learning, so I want to really hold on to the good stuff that happens in my job.
Apart from that, all I want to do is get into my trackies and hibernate next to the heater.
Just so that it doesn't appear that all I do is complain about my job, I am going to complain just a little more, and then get on to the important stuff. I am really taken aback at the way I am totally under-utilised. I remember when I was learning French, we once had a girl come to our class from Quebec, we thought it was Christmas, such a rare opportunity to talk to a native French speaker. Not here.
Tuesday was a day when I was well and truly under-utilised, but it still managed to be a really awesome day. I had one class with the handicapped kids at Meirin Elementary, all six of them. I was there from 9.25am-10.40am. So nice to be keeping ladies hours. Anyway, it was just wonderful, they all listened to my self-introduction, asked me heaps of questions about NZ , and did some English practice with me. We even sang Baa Baa Black Sheep. I am going to ask my Board of Ed if I can go back there in the afternoons sometime. It isn't often at Junior High that you encounter people who are really enthusiastic about learning, so I want to really hold on to the good stuff that happens in my job.
Apart from that, all I want to do is get into my trackies and hibernate next to the heater.
posted by Rosie at
4:01 pm
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home