Now my life is complete...
I made one of my students cry...
NOT ON PURPOSE!!! See... the problem with a lot of Japanese students... female Japanese students... is that they are horrible shy. Some, if called on in class to answer a question, will actually stand there for what seems like hours... and then usually breakdown and start crying. Do you know how unnerving it is to have a student start crying in front of you because they don`t know the answer to `What time is it?`
Well, we are starting to practice with the three students who will be competing in the Kurihara English Speech and Recitation Competion. Two of the girls are excellent... amazing... WINNERS. Kanako is energetic and her pronouciation is superb and Miho is determined and her willingness to learn is astounding. Then there`s Yumi... I can barely hear her when she talks. She whispers... and if I ask her to talk a little louder or, god forbid, try to help her pronounce her `TH`s` correctly, she bursts out into tears. I just had practice with her for an hour and a half.... basically, what I mean by that is I coxed her along while she cried for the better part of an hour and a half. I cut it short by ten minutes because I could no longer understand her between the sniffles and sobs.
Now, I feel bad... REAL BAD. Why? Because, if she follows this through (which given the Japanese mind-set, she probably will) she will have to get up in front of about forty or fifty people and recitate this damned story. Can she do it? I feel bad saying it, but we need a fucking miracle.
NOT ON PURPOSE!!! See... the problem with a lot of Japanese students... female Japanese students... is that they are horrible shy. Some, if called on in class to answer a question, will actually stand there for what seems like hours... and then usually breakdown and start crying. Do you know how unnerving it is to have a student start crying in front of you because they don`t know the answer to `What time is it?`
Well, we are starting to practice with the three students who will be competing in the Kurihara English Speech and Recitation Competion. Two of the girls are excellent... amazing... WINNERS. Kanako is energetic and her pronouciation is superb and Miho is determined and her willingness to learn is astounding. Then there`s Yumi... I can barely hear her when she talks. She whispers... and if I ask her to talk a little louder or, god forbid, try to help her pronounce her `TH`s` correctly, she bursts out into tears. I just had practice with her for an hour and a half.... basically, what I mean by that is I coxed her along while she cried for the better part of an hour and a half. I cut it short by ten minutes because I could no longer understand her between the sniffles and sobs.
Now, I feel bad... REAL BAD. Why? Because, if she follows this through (which given the Japanese mind-set, she probably will) she will have to get up in front of about forty or fifty people and recitate this damned story. Can she do it? I feel bad saying it, but we need a fucking miracle.