NICK: students say the darndest things!
Trip Start
Jan 25, 2006
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97
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Trip End
Feb 25, 2008
Matsuyama, Japan
Friday, March 30, 2007
One thing that I do know that is interesting has been learning how to teach English. I recognize the differences with culture and language almost everyday - it really is in my face everyday. One of the things that I find fun is when I hear the accidental coincidence with my students beginner English and something that is totally unrelated to what we're talking about.
An Extra 'y'
For example, I have a high-level kindergartener who comes for private lessons. The book we use is Disney-themed (as all things Japanese tend to be) and we were in the Monsters Inc. chapter where the students learn important and relevant English such as claws, fur and tail. You know, words we use everyday.
I asked her, "This monster has 4 what?"
When I looked at her paper she'd written "Horny". Of all 26 letters in the alphabet, of all the words that she has to write in a week, why she had chosen to put a 'y' behind the word 'horn' is beyond my understanding. But it's coincidences like that that make my day.
It's itchy!
Usually, my adult classes are pretty standard - I start the class at the top of the hour, and then I start with a warm-up of just free conversation about what has happened in the past week for 15 minutes.
One thing about the culture difference that I've noticed is that my students tend to groan and hate talking about themselves when they first start taking lessons from me. I sometimes feel that they only do it to oblige me. However, I believe that most Japanese are pretty damn good at vocabulary and grammar, but they never have a chance to use it. I give them 15-25 minutes to talk and stretch their speaking ability.
Some hate this in the beginning because they're not very good at it, others really like it.
One student made me a little weirded out when she walked in and proclaimed that her day has been pretty bad. When I asked why, she quite confidently stated "I have herpes."
Oh.
"It's itchy!" as she raised her hand to make a scratching motion.
Oh jeeeeeeeeez...
At this point I was faced with the awkward situation of either continuing this, or changing the subject. She opened her electronic dictionary and pointed to the entry "genital herpes".
Oh jeeeeeez...
I noticed that the entry also had the words "cold sore" above it, so I started to question why she would be so open with her sexual health. I've taught this girl for several months, and gotten to know her pretty well, but not THAT well. She has a boyfriend and is fairly attractive, but I wouldn't imagine that she would just tell me about her personal issues.
I chanced it and asked her whether the problem was on her mouth or her "down there" place. She motioned to her mouth and I breathed a sigh of relief. I then had to point out that while a cold sore is technically Herpes, it's not something we go around announcing to people, we call it a cold sore. I also taught her the word "genital". The rest of class went smoothly and without embarrassment for me.
"I went to maternity clinic. I don't want baby."
During another class, I questioned a student why she was absent the week before. This class is a little different than others - it's mixed levels since it's a class taht focuses on Travel English. So, the levels tend to be mixed in these classes. This particular one has 2 students in it. One is a high-level student, the other is a beginner. I will call the beginner, B for beginner, and the high-level student, H for High.
When B answered about her absence, she said "I went to doctor's."
I usually don't press into personal issues like health, but she went on and asked H about a word in Japanese. "Maternity clinic! I went to maternity clinic."
I wrote the new vocabulary she just learned on the board. I do this for all my students during the "What's new?" discussion at the beginning of class.
B questioned H more. She answered. "I don't want baby!"
Yes, she was excited to be able to say the words in English, hence the exclamation marks.
There are many cultural issues revolving around the fact Japan is not an Islamic-Judeo-Christian society. This creates a whole wealth of interesting and confusing situations for me. For one, things like abortion are non-issue in terms of legality - there is no strong opposition for it, and it's just known to be one solution to a problem that someone may be having. I guess you could probably say that most of the country is pro-choice. They'd rather not have an abortion, but the option is there.
(BTW, I'm barely scratching the surface with the differences here, I could get much deeper into this if I wanted)
I've known that B is a partier, and drinks quite a bit, we've seen her at the school parties out drinking with her friends. Also, some of the staff have mentioned that she's recently divorced and is doing some "stretching". (Divorce seems to be rare in Japan, and even rarer in the rural countryside where we live)
So, I guess she had an accident. It happens.
But now she's brought it up in discussion, and my Western background has made this a taboo in my mind. I was feeling this was slightly inappropriate for me to be teaching...
I ventured further in, just to make sure that I was mistaken.
"Did you feel OK the next day?"
"Yes, I felt OK."
Whew! If she'd had an abortion, she would have been sick for quite a while afterwards!
I then used some logical directions to try to get her to explain what happened at the doctor's office. I taught them some new vocabulary: gynecologist, physical exam, pelvic exam, and birth control.
Socrates vs. Confucius
One of my co-workers has been teaching in East Asia for 4-5 years. He taught in China and Japan and has become my help for understanding the cultural difference regarding the troubles that I tend to have.
One of the largest is getting adult students to talk!!! They pay a lot of money to have a foreign teacher and there's a large majority that come to class, clam up and will speak only in the minimal amount needed to get by in the class. They also refuse to ask questions , interrupt me when I speak, and stop me when I speak too fast about topics they don't understand.
GRRR!
Almost all of my students have these beautiful little electronic pocket dictionaries. They spend a lot of money on them as some of them have every single word in the English, Chinese, Japanese, French and German language. In addition to being a dictionary, they can speak any word, display TV, play MP3s, find any chinese character (out of 6000) that you write onto the small touch-sensitive screen, and they come in many colors to boot.
Anyways, they would sit there and type on their dictionaries all class if I let them, but I politely close their dictionaries whenever they open them. In all my language classes I've ever taken, we've never had fancy dictionaries and I learned how to speak just fine.
My co-worker has mentioned something that I'd never thought of before: Socratic method vs. Confucian method. Western students are taught by the Socratic method, and Asian students are taught by the Confucian method.
In the Socratic method, the teacher is your friend. The teacher is a student, and the student is a teacher. Any of your fellow students are teachers and can help with situations. Students are questioned and challenged on their thoughts, and the teacher can be challenged in return.
In the Confucian method, think Mr. Miyagi from "The Karate Kid". The teacher talks, the student listens. The teacher is infallible, all-knowing and to be respected and revered. The student never questions the teacher because they might cause the teacher to fail to finish the class on time. The students ask questions after class. Students don't work together, and are expected to solve problems on their own. They also work really stinkin' hard.
I'm a big fan of work smarter, not harder.
alright this is really long.
