In the Classroom

Yesterday was my first day with actual students. I was genuinely concerned that my activities would fail and nothing would work, but things actually went quite well. When I first arrived, I photocopied the worksheets I wanted to use and got my things in order. I would have about 35 minutes of each class to introduce myself and lead an activity.

In all of the classes, I presented a series of large pictures to help me describe Idaho and myself. There were pictures of my neighborhood, of wild animals that live in Idaho, of my favorite things, and of activities I enjoy. I talked a little bit about each picture and put them up on the chalkboard. For each class, I had prepared a different activity. The activities for the upper two grades focused on making introductions; the third years had to introduce themselves and a friend, and the second years had to introduce themselves. For the first years, I made a game of bingo using words from my self-introduction rather than numbers. I was worried that it would be too complicated because I was using unfamiliar words like “raccoon” and “eagle”, but the game went fine.

For each grade, there is only one English class, and the largest of the three classes has 8 students. I’ll be getting a lot more one-on-one interaction with my students at this school. Each class had a different atmosphere. The third years were lively and clever. They seemed to understand a lot of what I said, and were willing to speak up. The second years were more reserved and hesitant, but they were able to complete the activity I made for them. With the first years, the teacher had to translate a lot when I spoke, but the students were fairly attentive. In each class there was at least one student who seemed genuinely interested in English, or at least in what I was saying. I managed to learn a few names, and it shouldn’t take too long to learn all of them. I doubt that will be possible at my other schools.

The activities went smoothly, which was a major relief. When I wasn’t entirely sure what to do, or needed help, the teacher was quick to step in. She helped me use up the extra time and get the students involved. I was a little awkward at times, I think, but she helped me keep things moving.

I had the three classes in a row, and after that I had the rest of the afternoon to myself. I mostly sat at my desk and tried to make myself study Japanese. Since I didn’t know what lesson the class would be on next time, I couldn’t prepare materials. It was rather tedious. The teacher called a taxi for me about an hour before I thought I was actually supposed to leave, but I didn’t complain about that.

The ride home was also an interesting experience. Most of the time, the taxi drivers don’t speak to me much. This one was very talkative. I really couldn’t understand what he was saying, but I hate to say “I don’t understand Japanese” because it means I’m basically telling him not to talk to me. I could follow the flow of the conversation well enough to recognize when I should make some sort of response, but all I could really do was make a noise to indicate that I was listening. From what I could understand, there were fewer fish in the river this year, and the driver liked John Wayne movies. I tried to explain that I was from the West, but I’m not sure if I made a lot of sense. Eventually he figured out that I wasn’t understanding anything, and the conversation tapered off.

The conversation was fun while it lasted, but it also made me sad that I could understand so little. It’s like there’s a huge gulf between me and the Japanese people I meet because I can barely communicate with them. I know that I’ll understand more Japanese as I keep learning, but for now it’s rather frustrating. I think what made this instance worse than others in that respect was that the driver was so friendly and actually wanted to talk to me. It’s one thing to order food by pointing and grunting; all you really want is for the person to bring you something to eat. But it’s entirely different when someone is actually reaching out to you and offering a chance to connect. But, all I can do is keep trying. Tonight there is a beginning-of-school enkai for the staff, and I will be going. It should be interesting to see if I can hold up my end of a conversation in Japanese, or if any of the staff know more English than they let on. In a lot of instances, people are more willing to try their English after they've had a few drinks.