I have lunch with my students every day. At the small elementary school, the first graders ask me to eat with them almost every week (which is every time I'm there). At first they had lots of fun questions for me, like, "Why is your nose so tall? Is it because you lie a lot?" (A reference to Pinnochio, but the student seemed completely serious.) "Why is your hair brown?" was a frequently asked question. And there were even some fun ones like, "Guess what I like better, green or pink." I liked those. After the first couple of times though, I think I became less of a figure of interest and more of a status symbol, so now I try to find another class to eat with. (Plus, the first graders' tables are really short.) With first and second graders, I speak almost all Japanese, only excepting the occasional "hello" or "yes" or "okay" and maybe "yummy".
The third and fourth graders are probably the most fun. They think many things are amusing, but they can talk about interesting topics. They also try to speak English more than anyone else, so I usually use about half English and half Japanese there. After lunch there is about 15 minutes break before cleaning time, and I usually end up playing with the third and fourth graders.
In one class with the third graders, we were talking about kanji (Chinese characters used in Japanese), and I mentioned that I couldn't write my name in kanji. The students very quickly came up with a name for me, written like this: 上主愛 (pronounced JOH-SHOO-AH). The characters have several meanings, but they could be translated as something like *superior* *lord* *love*. It sounds silly in English, but the Japanese English teachers said that it was quite a natural name in Japanese.
Fifth and sixth graders are less fun. The fifth graders are generally polite and try to answer questions, but don't initiate conversation. Their classes are usually fairly fun, and at the small school there are a few students who seem to have fun with English. I haven't eaten lunch with the sixth graders, but they are the most difficult class to teach because even in class asking any of them speak is like pulling teeth. I have eaten with sixth graders in the big school, but I got one-word responses at best. I mostly speak English with them, because they don't initiate conversation and I feel funny initiating conversation in Japanese.
Continuing with this trend, the middle school students (with the exception of maybe two 7th graders) are extremely reticent to speak and respond. I know it's not easy for anyone to converse in a language that they're not comfortable with, but among all the countries I've taught in, the Japanese middle schoolers are the most shy by far. I kind of blame the teaching system. At least in my middle school, the focus is on accuracy, and English is always accompanied with Japanese, usually immediately before or after. Their written English is generally quite high level, and when I speak to them I use words that I know they have studied. My theory is that in class the students don't bother listening to the English, but just the Japanese, so they don't really have any experience trying to understand spoken English, only writing it.
I do enjoy the middle school a lot though, and I hope to get to know the students better from here on. I participated in an in-school handball tournament not too long ago, which was a lot of fun. I was on the teachers' team, but I played against and cheered for the students. After this I realized that I had to learn the students' names, which I have since done (though I still make mistakes).
Tomorrow is the last day of school before the summer break, which lasts for exactly one month. I am going to Tokyo with the big elementary school's teachers at the end of the break for a couple of days, but otherwise I don't have any solid plans. I would like to go traveling by bicycle, but it's so hot that I'm not sure I could survive.
The third and fourth graders are probably the most fun. They think many things are amusing, but they can talk about interesting topics. They also try to speak English more than anyone else, so I usually use about half English and half Japanese there. After lunch there is about 15 minutes break before cleaning time, and I usually end up playing with the third and fourth graders.
In one class with the third graders, we were talking about kanji (Chinese characters used in Japanese), and I mentioned that I couldn't write my name in kanji. The students very quickly came up with a name for me, written like this: 上主愛 (pronounced JOH-SHOO-AH). The characters have several meanings, but they could be translated as something like *superior* *lord* *love*. It sounds silly in English, but the Japanese English teachers said that it was quite a natural name in Japanese.
Fifth and sixth graders are less fun. The fifth graders are generally polite and try to answer questions, but don't initiate conversation. Their classes are usually fairly fun, and at the small school there are a few students who seem to have fun with English. I haven't eaten lunch with the sixth graders, but they are the most difficult class to teach because even in class asking any of them speak is like pulling teeth. I have eaten with sixth graders in the big school, but I got one-word responses at best. I mostly speak English with them, because they don't initiate conversation and I feel funny initiating conversation in Japanese.
Continuing with this trend, the middle school students (with the exception of maybe two 7th graders) are extremely reticent to speak and respond. I know it's not easy for anyone to converse in a language that they're not comfortable with, but among all the countries I've taught in, the Japanese middle schoolers are the most shy by far. I kind of blame the teaching system. At least in my middle school, the focus is on accuracy, and English is always accompanied with Japanese, usually immediately before or after. Their written English is generally quite high level, and when I speak to them I use words that I know they have studied. My theory is that in class the students don't bother listening to the English, but just the Japanese, so they don't really have any experience trying to understand spoken English, only writing it.
I do enjoy the middle school a lot though, and I hope to get to know the students better from here on. I participated in an in-school handball tournament not too long ago, which was a lot of fun. I was on the teachers' team, but I played against and cheered for the students. After this I realized that I had to learn the students' names, which I have since done (though I still make mistakes).
Tomorrow is the last day of school before the summer break, which lasts for exactly one month. I am going to Tokyo with the big elementary school's teachers at the end of the break for a couple of days, but otherwise I don't have any solid plans. I would like to go traveling by bicycle, but it's so hot that I'm not sure I could survive.
