Elementary, my dear...
So I have a job teaching English to Elementary students at a school nearby my dorm. I taught for the first time last Thursday and i will teach again tomorrow and the Thursday after that. It's a lot of fun even though, other than being a native speaker, I have no othr qualifications that would allow me to TEACH English. Personally, I don't think that anyone should teach in a any kind of formal setting without some kind of training, but some (Daniel) would disagree. English conversation is fine, but teaching is a whole different story. I've already acknowledge the hypocrisy of my accepting this posistion as an "English teacher," but...money is money. I'm such a whore. Anyway...
So it involves me getting up early in the morning (8:00AM) and walking to the school. When I get there, the school principal always serves me tea or coffee (though the coffee sucks). Then I am escorted to the classes I have to teach for one period. I am teaching two 4th grade classes and two 6th grade classes. Last Thursday. I taught them about speaking about what they like and about food and sports and colors. They are the cutest and shiest bunch of kids ever and the ones that are less timid seem to be the more revered members of the classroom. One has to understand that for a kid, any communication with a foreigner is a bit unusual and intimidating because, well, they aren't used to it. You also have to remember that I am a 6'2" black male. Actually, the teo most frequently asked questions to me were "How tall are you?" and "How old are you?" Ahhh, precious children.
Anyway, I doubt that most of what I taught will stick. They seem to alrady be acquainted with many English words like "apple," "basketball," "red," and etc. mainly becasue the Japanese use these words anyway (though in their katakanized form). I really didn't teach them anything they didn't know or were already vaguely aware of. They probably remember me more than they remember what I taught. I think that the most important thing I contributed was increasing their interaction with foreigners, which is greatly needed Japan.
Look at me! I'm a loser English teacher in Japan! :-)
So it involves me getting up early in the morning (8:00AM) and walking to the school. When I get there, the school principal always serves me tea or coffee (though the coffee sucks). Then I am escorted to the classes I have to teach for one period. I am teaching two 4th grade classes and two 6th grade classes. Last Thursday. I taught them about speaking about what they like and about food and sports and colors. They are the cutest and shiest bunch of kids ever and the ones that are less timid seem to be the more revered members of the classroom. One has to understand that for a kid, any communication with a foreigner is a bit unusual and intimidating because, well, they aren't used to it. You also have to remember that I am a 6'2" black male. Actually, the teo most frequently asked questions to me were "How tall are you?" and "How old are you?" Ahhh, precious children.
Anyway, I doubt that most of what I taught will stick. They seem to alrady be acquainted with many English words like "apple," "basketball," "red," and etc. mainly becasue the Japanese use these words anyway (though in their katakanized form). I really didn't teach them anything they didn't know or were already vaguely aware of. They probably remember me more than they remember what I taught. I think that the most important thing I contributed was increasing their interaction with foreigners, which is greatly needed Japan.
Look at me! I'm a loser English teacher in Japan! :-)