Hello everyone, and Happy 4th of July!
Today is Friday, and I just finished my last class of the day. I am at my better school, but just taught the worst class here. The kids don’t listen and don’t really even try. I wish I could talk to them more in Japanese and tell them a little about my experience as a kid. They have so much potential, but just don’t really even try. This is how I was as a kid, so I wish I could tell them what they are in store for. The real problem is that they won’t be able to go back to school later to make up what they miss now. In Japan, you can pretty much do it when you are suppose to, or you are not going to get into the right high school, and that leads to a bad college or no college at all. Next week I am at my more challenging school, but it is going to be fun.
Why does the Japanese school system fail to teach kids English? They should be able to speak English pretty well by the time they get done with high school. They have had 3 hours per week, times about 45 weeks per year of school, times 6 years (3 in junior high and 3 in high school). This should equate to about 810 hours of English instruction on a regular basis give or take. I think in the United States kids would have a pretty good handle of Japanese after half this many hours of Japanese, or any other language for that matter.
Okay, being a self-proclamed expert in the field of the Japanese school system after my nearly 3 months teaching here (okay, maybe I am drawing at straws…), I will tell you the 2 reasons that after 800+/- hours 18 year olds can’t speak English.
#1. There are few places in Japan that one can actually utilize or even hear or speak English. Without having in place more English in the country, or at least something that kids can see that they can do with it, there is little reason to actually be able to speak or understand English. They know the rules of the English language better than the average graduating university student in the U.S., this is because they are heavily tested on this while in school. And yet a skill that is not nurtured and used over time, is bound to be forgot and degraded.
Even when I speak to the English teachers at school using English ( generally my Japanese is too poor for serious communication) they then talk to the other teachers about how hard and bad it was having to speak English. I mean it is a real conversation about how what a horrible thing it was to have to speak the language they all learned to at least 6 years, plus the courses they must have taken in college (they all went to college, and are mostly very intelligent). There is really a stigma to having to speak English in Japan. Although it is also a fascination and dream for many Japanese, many teachers in my JHS feel it is not at all enjoyable. And these are the ones whom have some capability in actually speaking.
#2. Japanese is the main language used in the English classes. They say the target sentence in English, everything is explained in Japanese. This is the rule for most English classes that I have witnessed or know about. There are exceptions that I have heard about, and from what I hear, within a few months the kids are able to speak and have conversations easily.
From my perspective, the kids never get out of their comfort zone of Japanese, to explore and create a new comfort zone in English. For example, when I am on my way to school, I talk to some kids from my classes while we are walking together. Even though we had just covered something in class extensively, they just don’t feel comfortable trying to use it that is without having Japanese as a crutch. When I use Japanese too, more of them want to talk a little bit, but then mainly in Japanese, not English.
I can tell you from my experience learning Japanese, the only way I really am able to learn much, is when I am away from English speakers (aka: the family). I have now created my own comfort zone in Japanese, although it is QUITE SMALL! (>,<)!!!
OH YEAH…. the family... that’s right, that is what I am suppose to talk about!
Hanano is no longer using her pacifier and favorite shirt. Did I mention this already??? If so, I talk about it again, since she does not want to sleep now without crawling around the futons and screaming for an hour or so. We do enjoy the activity, but being able to rest is good too. Oh yeah, she likes to wake up earlier now too. Sometimes awaking at 5AM, although she has been sleeping into about 6-6:30 the last couple of mornings. When she gets up, she is like JOE, MIYABI… and then jumps on them and us… well we are all up at that point.
Oh yeah, she is doing great as always, and also is growing like crazy.
It is rainy season now, but without the rain. Well it is raining a little (some days it rains all day), but the weather is sunny and warm today, with just a touch of humidity. お天気いいね The weather is nice.
Joe and Miyabi are doing great, 譲とみやび元気です and are enjoying school. They still have not started swim school, but I think we will try to get them to go soon. It is getting warm, so swimming will be a nice break for them.
As some of you may know, Joe got some frogs when we were at our friend’s farm. The big one, Barbie, died of unknown causes early last week. I suspected that he/she ate too much, or ate a poisonous bug that we feed to him/her. Then yesterday Milton and Froggie-Man also died of unknown causes within a day or so. Barbie was buried in the back yard, and then Milton and Froggie-man followed in a joint plot early this morning. The conversation that I had with Joe and Miyabi about how “we all die and go to be with GOD”, when we buried Barbie was very interesting. They wanted to know if I was going to die, then they wanted to know if they were going to die… 4 and 5… but it was a good time. I reassured them that it was going to be a long, long… very long time until any of us die. There was less interest with the services for Milton and Froggie-man. Life is ever interesting, is it not?
Joe is about to loose his 2 front bottom teeth. They have been a wiggling for a few weeks, and are bound to come out soon. The tooth fairy is saving his yen for this.
Miyabi’s front upper tooth is turning a bit dark, after taking a fall, mainly on her mouth, a few months back. Though she seems to be no worse for the event…
Oh yeah, the dentist came to their school last week, and they have no cavities. I guess our brushing routine is okay after all. That is it for the tooth report. I feel like a daddy with all this talk about my kiddies’ baby teeth.
Hope you are doing fine, and talk to you soon.
Steve and the family
After the kids finished at school, we left directly to Oita. There are many Onsens (hot springs) there, and a number of atractions there. Although it seems, the most popular are the soft serve ice cream stands, that seem to be on every other corner. I think my favorite flavor is the cheese soft serve. YUMMY!!!
