English Lessons

The children’s English school recently held Parents’ Days for the mothers to observe their children.  Only mothers come because the fathers are all working.  There was a camera in the classroom so the mothers could watch on a television in another room, followed by activity time that the mothers could take part in. 

The five year olds were excellent in the classroom.  I’m sure their parents were very proud. I could hear laughter in the other room when one child announced to me that he needed to go poo poo, but he did say it in English.  The children were also very happy to have their mothers participate in the activities.

The older children were more quiet than usual and I thought maybe they were afraid they might make a mistake in front of their mothers, which was a big difference from the five year olds. The 12 year olds have been working for weeks on a “what I want to be when I grow up” type of essay, that they read for their mothers.  They all did very well.

In my university class, we’ve been working on resume writing.  Although we are working each week toward the finished resume, the resume isn’t really the point.  They are learning lots of new vocabulary words, learning the difference between active and passive voice, and writing their own personal stories, among other things, with their resumes.  We’re talking about what they want to do when they graduate, what skills they are learning from their part time jobs and volunteer work, about things they have achieved and honors they have earned.  Japanese people are very humble and never brag on themselves, instead downplaying what they do well. It's so interesting what they have each accomplished in their twenty or so years. I’m very pleased with how this assignment is progressing.

After the horrible experience I had with an English school in Sapporo recently, I was offered two classes a week with first year university music students! How great is that?  It pays (much) more that the adult English classes previously mentioned and I only have to commute across the street.

Papa can cook!

Ted is a very unusual man in Japan in that he does most all the cooking in our house.  We thought this packet (crab chahan) that you add to rice was funny.

 

In the upper right corner of the packet is a picture of a man wearing an apron, showing it is so easy even the dad can prepare it.