Before we get started, I don’t have any photographs of the school or the classes. I’m confident the school would not be wild about me wandering around with a camera. Actually they probably wouldn’t mind, but it just doesn’t feel right, you know? Last thing I want is some school kid coming up to me in a few years demanding to know why their face is on a blog about why it never gets updated. So instead I will break up the text with some of my favourite photos I’ve taken this month. As usual, they’re all collected here in the photo archive.
I’ve been volunteering for about two weeks now, although various things have kept me from going every day. I have to say a thanks to everyone at the school – they’ve been very understanding with my time restraints and so on. That said, it does feel like aside from when I go to English classes I am in the way – I’m not trained to teach science, maths, Japanese or whatever. I am trained however to answer questions like ‘Do white people hurt their eyes a lot?’ Although most of my answers are ‘What?!’
Yes, these kids are just bursting with hilarious comments. I’ve heard so many that I’m preparing a separate blog post for them. Being able to speak Japanese is great when, instead of translating examination articles on global warming, you’re having the world explained to you as ‘A place where the Japanese, other people, and cats live’.
English class is so much fun. I honestly still do enjoy teaching at Junten, but coming here has really reinvigorated my love for teaching. We use quite a bit of Japanese in the class, so it’s great practice for me. It’s also obviously a lot less serious than Junten. We do a lot more role playing, and obviously the kids are more energetic and interested. Probably because they for the most part do not know the horrors of cram school. So far we’ve been teaching the names of foods, and how to say things like ‘Do you like fish?’ and so on. Next week is sports, so I’m preparing for a week of acting out golf swings and tennis serves.
I’ve been to a handful of other classes. The most memorable was calligraphy class. I was sat at the back (next to a terrified student) and had a go at writing the Chinese character for love (愛). Here is the result!
I then spent the rest of the class explaining why I was able to read ‘北朝鮮の核兵器の問題’. (The problem of North Korea and nuclear weaponry). No, we don’t study Japanese in England. No, I am not North Korean. No, I do not own nuclear weapons. The kids find me being able to speak Japanese interesting, but I think in a different way to most. Rather than say “Wow, a foreigner who learned Japanese! How great!’ and so on, they instead say ‘Oh, you can speak Japanese? Well I have an awesome lunch box.” It’s definitely nice for people to speak to you in the same language they use with their friends or family.
The best part of the day is definitely lunch. The kids are very chatty and friendly, although sometimes it does get a bit tedious answering the same questions over and over. (Favourite colour / food / Pokemon) After that there’s one more class and then I go home. The classes are only 45 mins with a 10 min break between each one, so I basically spend 3 to 4 hours a day speaking Japanese with cute little kids. Probably not the most effective way to revise, but still fun. Might be a problem if I start speaking like a child in interviews…
Anyway that’s all for now. I’m having a great time and am determined to step it up and get more involved with the school. Hopefully I will have plenty of exciting things to write about, too.
