Speaking and listening to Japanese has always been my weak point; I always found it much easier to focus on reading and writing. But of course I want to be able to communicate verbally to a much higher degree within the smallest amount of time possible.
Yesterday at school the Grade 2 students were off on a field trip, so the school was significantly quieter. I felt brave enough to venture to the Grade 1 floor and try and find some kids to talk to during lunch. Luckily I found a group of girls, who of course exclaimed 英語分かんない！eigo wakannai, or "I don't understand English!" I don't know why they bother to yell this at me every time I see them. I tell them that simple English is enough, but if they really want to talk to me Japanese is okay. I usually just stick in a few English phrases that they should know.
Anyway, as I was speaking to them I was amazed that words were just flowing out of my mouth without really thinking. I was explaining the differences between the grade structure of Japanese schools compared to Australian. I found that once I start thinking "Oh, I'm speaking Japanese quite well!" I begin to go downhill again. I have to find a way to stop thinking about what I'm doing; that is a very difficult thing to do.
Anyway, I think they really enjoyed speaking with me...well I certainly did. But for someone who isn't really used to leading a conversation (I usually just sit back and speak when I want to say something), being an ALT is definitely a challenge. I always knew it would be, but I'm liking it.
I haven't been brave enough to ask to take some photos of the school so this is one I got from the Higashi Kani Junior High School website:
Oh, and happily I have another student who has suddenly taken a huge interest in me; her name is 春香 Haruka and she waves ecstatically whenever she sees me now. At lunch she asked me "What colour is Spring to you?" From this question I can only guess that she takes outside English lessons as her class is still only learning "This is my chair. That is the blackboard."
Yesterday at school the Grade 2 students were off on a field trip, so the school was significantly quieter. I felt brave enough to venture to the Grade 1 floor and try and find some kids to talk to during lunch. Luckily I found a group of girls, who of course exclaimed 英語分かんない！eigo wakannai, or "I don't understand English!" I don't know why they bother to yell this at me every time I see them. I tell them that simple English is enough, but if they really want to talk to me Japanese is okay. I usually just stick in a few English phrases that they should know.
Anyway, as I was speaking to them I was amazed that words were just flowing out of my mouth without really thinking. I was explaining the differences between the grade structure of Japanese schools compared to Australian. I found that once I start thinking "Oh, I'm speaking Japanese quite well!" I begin to go downhill again. I have to find a way to stop thinking about what I'm doing; that is a very difficult thing to do.
Anyway, I think they really enjoyed speaking with me...well I certainly did. But for someone who isn't really used to leading a conversation (I usually just sit back and speak when I want to say something), being an ALT is definitely a challenge. I always knew it would be, but I'm liking it.
I haven't been brave enough to ask to take some photos of the school so this is one I got from the Higashi Kani Junior High School website:
Oh, and happily I have another student who has suddenly taken a huge interest in me; her name is 春香 Haruka and she waves ecstatically whenever she sees me now. At lunch she asked me "What colour is Spring to you?" From this question I can only guess that she takes outside English lessons as her class is still only learning "This is my chair. That is the blackboard."
Comments
Post a Comment