Teaching by yourself...

A few weeks back (shortly after the break), I walked in to one of my elementary schools, literally wiping the sleep out of my eyes. I couldn't much sleep the night before. Somewhere around 2am my head hit the pillow. Trying to readapt to a normal sleep schedule was trouble some. This was the second day into school and another day I couldn't focus.

I sat down at my desk and put down a few cups of coffee. After sometime passed, one of the officials from my school notified me that the normal Japanese/English teacher was not going to be there. At first I didn't give it much thought until she told me I would be teaching three classes by myself (first, second, and special needs). My eyes got a little wide as I heard this news. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and went straight to work.

I rang up the teacher to find out where exactly the kids left off class. It seemed to be the last thing they learned was colors, animals, shapes, and something else I can't remember. (I should remind you that I have a back log my work. Today Aug. 30th is the day this all went down. This entry is just being posted, a few weeks later. Which is partly why I can't remember. The big hand is pushing a few millimeters from ten so I better hit the hay, soon.)

After the content was figured out, I had to create a lesson plan. Review was going to be easy and the kids did great. I tossed in a few songs here and there. Lastly, I devised a game. When it was all said and done, I was surprised that it took me less than ten minutes to figure out how I was going to fill the time of a fifty minute class.

Each class moved smoothly. The kids were able to understand what I was teaching and were eager to participate. The special needs class loved the game I made so that meant something. Sometimes they have a hard time staying focused. It all went well!

Teaching is so routine that it shouldn't have been a surprise. Teaching little kids, as well is also a lot easier. Middle school is a bit more difficult and the kids actually get out of line faster. There was a day, where I had to cover for most of the class. It was too hard to do. Even if it was a class filled with students who like me. The younger ones, are surprisingly more well behaved.

During this whole debacle, one of the teachers in the school (who at one point was an English teacher) told me how impressed she was with me maintaining a level head. Apparently, when she was an English teacher, she wasn't scheduled for class. The ALT flipped out and pretty much begged her to come to class. Which meant, the teacher was at work for a day with no pay. She was glad to see that all ALTs weren't helpless souls.

Well, dats all for now........

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A giant GUNDAM I drew on the chalkboard for some of my students at one of my junior high schools. The kids loved it but a few days after, someone wrote something bad in Japanese on the board. This lead to the teachers banning chalk from empty rooms immediately. It's been months since this incident and there still is no chalk in the empty class rooms. Don't mess with Japanese teachers. Somethings I will talk about later....

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Learning your third language...

It doesn't occur to me all to often that Japanese is actually my third language. Though my skills are lacking in my second, Spanish; it's always weird to think I am on my way towards a third. These languages do battle inside my head for dominance. And usually when I speak, one slips out in a country where few people understand it.

I have found myself on many occasions reverting to Spanish. For the longest time, I didn't know how to say the Japanese equivalent of the phrase: "How do you say ____ in Japanese" (which is a handy phrase if you are wanting to learn a new word). Usually what came out of my mouth was "Come se deci _____ en Japonese?". And yes, I spoke this phrase to Japanese people. The reaction I got on most occasions was a blank stare and a slight tilt of the head. It was quickly followed up with "Nani?" (what).

Of course, this isn't the only phrase or words I've used. I have found my self mixing all three languages on occasions in one bizarre phrase that makes only sense to me or someone who can also speak, all three language. For example, I have said "ichi mas please" (Japanese: one/Spanish: more / Eng: Please) making for an incoherent sentence.

What I have found out though that knowing some Spanish has aided me in learning Japanese. Mostly with regards to pronunciation. With Spanish, there is the "double r" which a lot of people learning Spanish, have trouble with. In Japanese, there is no 'r' or 'l' sound, its kind of a combination of the two. And to me, that sound, is produced similarly with the Spanish "double r". One word that was easy to remember was the word 'pan' in Japanese. It means bread. Guess what the word for bread is in Spanish? Exactly the same. The only other word I have came across that seems similar is the Japanese word for 'look' which is 'miru'. In Spanish, the word for look is 'mira' or 'miro' for the female and male forms.

Knowing these strange correlations makes me want to study Spanish a little more. It might be a bad idea at the moment. Then I will have a huge battle inside my head for language champion.