As I mentioned, this series of posts will include diary entries I made when I first came to Japan.
***
(Dec 2007)
Last week I went outside the department store building where I work, to get my usual coffee, and what did I find but a full gospel choir! There were about 80 of them, Japanese people, but singing English Christmas carols and some popular gospel tunes ('Joyful Joyful' was one, I seem to remember). They were really good! With the faster songs they even did the whole swaying, clapping gospel choir thing.
Lots of passers-by were stopping and smiling. It was very infectious.
***
I got a haircut on the weekend. To get there I went along Motomachi street, near Chinatown. This street is pretty cool. It reminds me of a street in Paris or Sydney (okay, so Paris and Sydney are pretty different...)... the road is small, quiet, and one-way, and the street is lined with designer stores. Of course I didn't buy any designer goods but I had a nice cappuccino and salami pesto sandwich in a nice bakery.
The hairdresser was cool; the teacher I replaced had recommended him. I will go back to him because the service was so good, I feel like I am already 'his' customer.
When I first went into the salon, he was making endless small talk with his client. After he was done with her, he started with me - a continual stream of questions and conversation. It was fun, and I couldn't help thinking - hairdressers really are the same all over the world.
The hairdresser speaks English, but punctuated with the most 'anou's and 'sou ka's I've ever heard... a lot of Japanese people use the occasional Japanese word or phrase when they are thinking - 'etouuu' ('uhh...') is common. My manager often says 'nandarou...' (which means something like 'let me think...').
I have one really beginner student who sometimes simply says Japanese sentences instead of English ones, because she simply lacks the words. I'm pretty proud of myself - one student said he went to a casino, and she asked me a question in Japanese. I translated it 'how much money did you lose?' I could understand enough Japanese to work out what she wanted to say.
I can understand pretty well all of the train announcements now. 'mamonaku' means 'presently'. 'kakueki teesha' means 'local train'. 'Omiya-yuki' means 'bound for Omiya'. Then there's 'doa ga shimarimasu - go-chui kudasai' ('the doors are closing - take care please')
***
Reading hiragana and katakana has proved more difficult than I first imagined. I had pretty well learned the hiragana when I left Australia, and a few katakana. In my first week in Kyoto I kept looking up the hiragana and katakana on signs to practise and learn the characters I didn't remember. Since then I have intermittently practised reading hiragana and katakana in my textbook, on signs, and from children's books.
Despite all this, I still haven't *mastered* them. I still have to *think*. I guess some things, you can't just learn by osmosis. You have to study them properly, until you really know them. Just because you're surrounded by Japanese characters all day, it doesn't mean you'll magically learn them all without any real effort.
The one thing I do seem to be gradually improving in without studying, is numbers - I understand them more quickly. Sometimes now, I can understand how much money someone is asking for, without looking. Haha... but not that often...
The other day I got a letter. I thought it was for the previous resident, as the label was all in Japanese. But actually it was for me (from my insurer). Seems I don't even recognise my own name any more. I've had to write my name in katakana a few times now... and write my year of birth in terms of the Emperor's reign.
Did you know that? I was pretty surprised! On official documents, you write your birthdate as the year of the Emperor's reign. For example, if you were born in 1980, you were born in the year '55'... the 55th year of the previous Emperor's rule. This year is 19 - the 19th year of the current Emperor. My train pass had 19/12/11 as the end date - meaning 11 Dec 2007... who would have thought?
Tuesday 31 May 2011
Monday 30 May 2011
Teaching English for the first time: planning a lesson
(See my earlier blog post on teaching English for the first time in Japan. It has some more general tips.)
So... you're a brand-new teacher. You're given a textbook with a grammar point for the day, and you have no teaching experience, and you're going to teach a 50-minute conversation class.
Here's an idea for how you could teach a lesson. For the sake of a concrete example, let's imagine we are teaching 'present continuous' (I am going, he is eating).
1. Warm-up: give students a few minutes to chat - maybe give them a random conversation topic - or some kind of vocabulary game.
[In this case, I might get them to talk about hobbies or give them a vocab game to think up different verbs. It will be useful for the lesson to come.]
2. Introduce the language of the class: this could take the form of setting up a situation and getting students to comment on it (see this previous post), reading a small article, looking at a dialogue, etc.
[In the case of present continuous, I'd try doing a simple activity, like miming reading. I'd ask students, 'what am I doing?' and get them to answer me. If they can't give me a correct sentence, I'd provide it ('you are reading') and get them to repeat it.
Then I'd do another gesture, like eating, and get them all to say what I'm doing. Repeat a couple more times. I'd write the sentence on the board ('you are __ing').
Get them to practise the exercise with each other (eg, one person acts a gesture, the other guesses).
I'd put up words like 'I' and 'he' and ask them to give me the sentence (I AM _ing, he IS _ing'), get them to repeat, write it on the board. If the class is not having too much trouble with the material thus presented, also cover questions (at least, 'what are you doing?', 'what is he doing?' etc)
Drill key sentences (get students to repeat them, correct their intonation etc).]
3. Get more exposure to the language point using material from the textbook.
[For example, try a listening activity, or practise reading a dialogue together.]
4. Practise the language point a bit more actively, but still in a controlled way. For example, use a questionnaire or survey.
[I might put students in pairs to do a worksheet with pictures of people doing different things. Students ask each other what the people on their sheet are doing.]
5. Practise the language in freer conversation. Set up a situation where students can have a more natural conversation, or roleplay practise.
[I might have students pretend to call each other on the phone, and ask each other what they (and their family) are doing... it might be nice to have students practise a varient of what they did in the listening activity or dialogue. Another thing I like to do for present continuous is, if possible, take the students into a public area and get them to, in pairs and while speaking, make a list of things they see people doing.]
This is not a perfect lesson, nor is it one-size-fits-all. A lot of Japanese English conversation schools use a lesson structure a little like this. It's a bit formulaic, and you'll need to inject some personality into it to make it interesting, but it can work quite well. If you have absolutely no idea where to start, you could use this 'formula' as a basis for planning your own lesson. Then after the lesson, think about what went well and what didn't. If you taught it again, what would you change?
Sometimes, instead of grammar, you'll be teaching 'functional language' - for example, general English for 'ordering at a restaurant' or 'disagreeing with someone'. In this case, you can follow the same steps, but one nice idea - so long as you haven't got real beginners - is getting students to practise roleplaying at the start of the lesson - eg, 'here are your menus, try ordering from them' - so you can see what they do and don't know. Then you can get some ideas from them for language, and put them on the board, as well as teaching them new expressions and ideas. This is also nice for helping students feel like they learned something, and could do something new at the end of the lesson that they couldn't do at the beginning.
Lesson order
Whatever you decide to do, if you are a new teacher, I would recommend a 'safe' general lesson order of:
1. introducing language point
2. drilling (students repeat examples of the language)
3. controlled practice
4. free practice
'Controlled' practice refers to speaking practice where you are kind of 'forced' to use the language point in a fairly structured way. For example, a questionnaire or textbook exercise where students must ask and answer questions, using the language point. 'Free' practice' is where students talk, or do a roleplay or conversation, where they can use the language point where appropriate.
The difference here is that in controlled practice, students don't need to think very creatively, or come up with their own ideas - they are focusing on making the sentences correctly and being accurate. Then in the freer practice, improving fluency, using the language appropriately in conversation, and thinking of your own ideas is important.
It's important, though, to give students a good amount of time to use the language, not just study how to make sentences.
Thinking about the language
Another thing I would recommend is, if you are a new teacher, take a few minutes to think about the language point you're going to teach. This doesn't come easily at first, but with time...
If you are at a Japanese-style English conversation school, you've likely got a textbook with clearly defined units and language points, which students study at home before coming to class; the teacher is not expected to spend much time 'teaching' grammar or language. Still, questions may come up and it's good to know what you will and won't cover. Also, if you give each language point some consideration, you will build up your understanding of English and how different pieces of language work, which will really enrich your teaching.
As an example, with present continuous, think about:
-How is it formed? (I am _ing, he/she/it IS __ing, you/they/we ARE _ing)
-What are some uses of this language? Are we going to cover all of them in class? (For example, 'I am eating dinner now, please call me later' is talking about an action happening right now. 'I am working hard these days' is talking about a recent activity, but you are not necessarily doing it at this moment. 'I am going out tonight' is a future activity.)
Unless you have a higher level class, or you are doing a review of something the students should already know, I'd recommend focusing on one main use per class. Then you can design activities practising that use a lot, so students can really understand it and use it.
-Are there any pitfalls with this language? (Yes; we generally don't use present continuous for 'state' verbs, that is, verbs that show a state rather than an activity. Examples are be, know, love. We don't usually say 'I am knowing him' or 'he is being a doctor'. There are exceptions, but better to cover in a more advanced class.)
I have one more post on the theme of teaching English: see my next post.
So... you're a brand-new teacher. You're given a textbook with a grammar point for the day, and you have no teaching experience, and you're going to teach a 50-minute conversation class.
Here's an idea for how you could teach a lesson. For the sake of a concrete example, let's imagine we are teaching 'present continuous' (I am going, he is eating).
1. Warm-up: give students a few minutes to chat - maybe give them a random conversation topic - or some kind of vocabulary game.
[In this case, I might get them to talk about hobbies or give them a vocab game to think up different verbs. It will be useful for the lesson to come.]
2. Introduce the language of the class: this could take the form of setting up a situation and getting students to comment on it (see this previous post), reading a small article, looking at a dialogue, etc.
[In the case of present continuous, I'd try doing a simple activity, like miming reading. I'd ask students, 'what am I doing?' and get them to answer me. If they can't give me a correct sentence, I'd provide it ('you are reading') and get them to repeat it.
Then I'd do another gesture, like eating, and get them all to say what I'm doing. Repeat a couple more times. I'd write the sentence on the board ('you are __ing').
Get them to practise the exercise with each other (eg, one person acts a gesture, the other guesses).
I'd put up words like 'I' and 'he' and ask them to give me the sentence (I AM _ing, he IS _ing'), get them to repeat, write it on the board. If the class is not having too much trouble with the material thus presented, also cover questions (at least, 'what are you doing?', 'what is he doing?' etc)
Drill key sentences (get students to repeat them, correct their intonation etc).]
3. Get more exposure to the language point using material from the textbook.
[For example, try a listening activity, or practise reading a dialogue together.]
4. Practise the language point a bit more actively, but still in a controlled way. For example, use a questionnaire or survey.
[I might put students in pairs to do a worksheet with pictures of people doing different things. Students ask each other what the people on their sheet are doing.]
5. Practise the language in freer conversation. Set up a situation where students can have a more natural conversation, or roleplay practise.
[I might have students pretend to call each other on the phone, and ask each other what they (and their family) are doing... it might be nice to have students practise a varient of what they did in the listening activity or dialogue. Another thing I like to do for present continuous is, if possible, take the students into a public area and get them to, in pairs and while speaking, make a list of things they see people doing.]
This is not a perfect lesson, nor is it one-size-fits-all. A lot of Japanese English conversation schools use a lesson structure a little like this. It's a bit formulaic, and you'll need to inject some personality into it to make it interesting, but it can work quite well. If you have absolutely no idea where to start, you could use this 'formula' as a basis for planning your own lesson. Then after the lesson, think about what went well and what didn't. If you taught it again, what would you change?
Sometimes, instead of grammar, you'll be teaching 'functional language' - for example, general English for 'ordering at a restaurant' or 'disagreeing with someone'. In this case, you can follow the same steps, but one nice idea - so long as you haven't got real beginners - is getting students to practise roleplaying at the start of the lesson - eg, 'here are your menus, try ordering from them' - so you can see what they do and don't know. Then you can get some ideas from them for language, and put them on the board, as well as teaching them new expressions and ideas. This is also nice for helping students feel like they learned something, and could do something new at the end of the lesson that they couldn't do at the beginning.
Lesson order
Whatever you decide to do, if you are a new teacher, I would recommend a 'safe' general lesson order of:
1. introducing language point
2. drilling (students repeat examples of the language)
3. controlled practice
4. free practice
'Controlled' practice refers to speaking practice where you are kind of 'forced' to use the language point in a fairly structured way. For example, a questionnaire or textbook exercise where students must ask and answer questions, using the language point. 'Free' practice' is where students talk, or do a roleplay or conversation, where they can use the language point where appropriate.
The difference here is that in controlled practice, students don't need to think very creatively, or come up with their own ideas - they are focusing on making the sentences correctly and being accurate. Then in the freer practice, improving fluency, using the language appropriately in conversation, and thinking of your own ideas is important.
It's important, though, to give students a good amount of time to use the language, not just study how to make sentences.
Thinking about the language
Another thing I would recommend is, if you are a new teacher, take a few minutes to think about the language point you're going to teach. This doesn't come easily at first, but with time...
If you are at a Japanese-style English conversation school, you've likely got a textbook with clearly defined units and language points, which students study at home before coming to class; the teacher is not expected to spend much time 'teaching' grammar or language. Still, questions may come up and it's good to know what you will and won't cover. Also, if you give each language point some consideration, you will build up your understanding of English and how different pieces of language work, which will really enrich your teaching.
As an example, with present continuous, think about:
-How is it formed? (I am _ing, he/she/it IS __ing, you/they/we ARE _ing)
-What are some uses of this language? Are we going to cover all of them in class? (For example, 'I am eating dinner now, please call me later' is talking about an action happening right now. 'I am working hard these days' is talking about a recent activity, but you are not necessarily doing it at this moment. 'I am going out tonight' is a future activity.)
Unless you have a higher level class, or you are doing a review of something the students should already know, I'd recommend focusing on one main use per class. Then you can design activities practising that use a lot, so students can really understand it and use it.
-Are there any pitfalls with this language? (Yes; we generally don't use present continuous for 'state' verbs, that is, verbs that show a state rather than an activity. Examples are be, know, love. We don't usually say 'I am knowing him' or 'he is being a doctor'. There are exceptions, but better to cover in a more advanced class.)
I have one more post on the theme of teaching English: see my next post.
Thursday 26 May 2011
Early impressions (part 1)
I was reading back through old journals of mine and I found some entries I'd written early in my stay in Japan. These posts were written in my first few months living in Yokohama (mostly early 2008). I thought I'd post some of them for you, since, although the content is old for me, it may be new for people who haven't spent much time in Japan. ^_^
***
Random cultural observations:
In an elevator, one guy held back for a moment to let two others leave first. Those two men bowed to him and said 'sumimasen' ('excuse me'), before leaving.
After living here so long, it's easier for me to kneel, sitting on my feet. Before I could only do it for a few seconds.
All women carry handkerchiefs. They are not for blowing your nose; rather, for drying your hands in a public restroom. I knew this before but I only noticed recently that I was constantly the only person drying my hands on my coat.
In Western countries, 'yes' is a tick. In Japan, it's a circle. A teacher at my school always goes through students' work and circles the correct sentences in red pen. To me it looks like she's marking them wrong.
Also, some gestures are different. To gesture 'come here', you wave your palm down, which to us can actually look like the gesture for 'go away'. Also, to gesture "me", instead of touching your chest, you point to your nose.
Crabs are gestured by making 'scissors' with your index and middle fingers. Cats are gestured by making one hand into a fist - a 'paw' - and holding it to your face like a maneki neko.
This doesn't always happen, but if you're out in a group and someone is ordering food for the table, you can often expect them to order WAY too much. And then when it comes, they won't eat it quickly. Food often sits on the table getting cold while people are talking, and nobody ever eats the last piece.
People often ask you if you're cold, when it isn't cold. And people almost always leave their coats on while riding trains and doing their shopping, even though it's far too warm for comfort.
***
Random cultural observations:
In an elevator, one guy held back for a moment to let two others leave first. Those two men bowed to him and said 'sumimasen' ('excuse me'), before leaving.
After living here so long, it's easier for me to kneel, sitting on my feet. Before I could only do it for a few seconds.
All women carry handkerchiefs. They are not for blowing your nose; rather, for drying your hands in a public restroom. I knew this before but I only noticed recently that I was constantly the only person drying my hands on my coat.
In Western countries, 'yes' is a tick. In Japan, it's a circle. A teacher at my school always goes through students' work and circles the correct sentences in red pen. To me it looks like she's marking them wrong.
Also, some gestures are different. To gesture 'come here', you wave your palm down, which to us can actually look like the gesture for 'go away'. Also, to gesture "me", instead of touching your chest, you point to your nose.
Crabs are gestured by making 'scissors' with your index and middle fingers. Cats are gestured by making one hand into a fist - a 'paw' - and holding it to your face like a maneki neko.
This doesn't always happen, but if you're out in a group and someone is ordering food for the table, you can often expect them to order WAY too much. And then when it comes, they won't eat it quickly. Food often sits on the table getting cold while people are talking, and nobody ever eats the last piece.
People often ask you if you're cold, when it isn't cold. And people almost always leave their coats on while riding trains and doing their shopping, even though it's far too warm for comfort.
Sunday 22 May 2011
Random Pictures (5)
In our first picture today we have a square melon. Very nice, eh? So is the price tag: 15,000 yen. That's over AU $160. Believe it or not, this is far from being one of the most expensive 'gift fruits' on offer. I'm telling you, these things had better taste like ambrosia.
This is a crane game. The prizes are these little characters shaped like poo. Lovely.
I spotted this cute, friendly, not-creepy-at-all fellow in a children's play area in Omiya, in Saitama prefecture.
If you need me, I'll be under my bed.
Thursday 5 May 2011
Weird food
There's a lot of weird food in Japan. I mean a lot. I'm not just talking about things like natto with a raw egg mixed into it, or pizza with corn on it.
I have seen many other examples of 'chucking random items of food onto a pizza'. Such as a pizza topped with chicken nuggets. Or potato wedges. Or an entire wheel of camembert cheese. >_<
Japan is a country that loves its food. Every town and area seems to be famous for some specialty food item. Every season, cafes and restaurants bring out seasonal menus (for example, autumnal dishes feature mushrooms, chestnuts, etc). New and short-time-only! snacks are constantly coming out. And there are lots of little restaurants, cafes and shops focusing on selling a particular, niche type of product.
Let's look at some examples I saw last year.
Cone pizza
It's a pizza, in cone shape.
From the sign, it appears that this means much, much more pizza sauce and cheese can be added to the pizza. What a good idea.
Though I wouldn't expect it to be as nice as a regular pizza, I may actually try this just to see what it's like.
Canned oden
If you don't know what oden is, it's disgusting even when 'fresh'. Basically, take various unidentifiable processed cakes, made from fish paste, konnyaku, tofu - and eggs - and simmer them in a hot vat for hours until they are soggy and smell bad.
You'll find these oden trays, particularly in winter, sometimes even in convenience stores.
I guess someone found sodden fish cakes attractive enough to try to sell them in a tin.
By the way, underneath, it says 'atataka-i', which means this canned abomination comes heated.
Weird bakery items
Japanese bakeries are nice because you can find a wide variety of small snacks. However, a lot of those snacks have weird surprises hidden inside, which is one of the best incentives for learning to read katakana quickly.
Japanese bakeries are nice because you can find a wide variety of small snacks. However, a lot of those snacks have weird surprises hidden inside, which is one of the best incentives for learning to read katakana quickly.
Recently I bought a kind of hot dog from a bakery, and started eating it, when I realised it had fish eggs in it. FISH EGGS in my HOT DOG.
Hamburger pizza
What I mean by this is a pizza with eight individual hamburger patties on the top of it.
What I mean by this is a pizza with eight individual hamburger patties on the top of it.
I have seen many other examples of 'chucking random items of food onto a pizza'. Such as a pizza topped with chicken nuggets. Or potato wedges. Or an entire wheel of camembert cheese. >_<
Ice dogs
What this is is a cheap, low-grade hot dog bun, with cheap, low-grade soft serve icecream inside.
What this is is a cheap, low-grade hot dog bun, with cheap, low-grade soft serve icecream inside.
It's a SOFT SERVE ICE CREAM HOT DOG.
I might actually be up for this if the quality of the bread didn't scream '6 for 100 yen, reduced for quick sale'. But I could not eat that bread without anything more substantial on it to mask the taste...
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