Understanding is the Gateway to Communication.
I love the times (few as they may be) when you actually feel like you're progressing and not just a stupid foreigner who can't grasp Japanese.
Today, I was able to almost perfectly understand what one of the teachers at my Non-English-Speaking elem. school needed to tell me. There were a few words I didn't get, but I understood the most important parts:
"Next week on May 16th, we have Sports Day practice. The whole school will be practicing first period, then the first/second graders will be practicing during second period. You had to teach both grades, and there will only be three periods left to teach them. Is it okay to combine the two second grade classes and teach them both at once?"
I totally understood. I was really happy! I'm not sure if the teacher thought I understood, since it was mostly the standard "hai" and "wakarimashita" responses, but later when I talked to him again, I think he knew for sure if he didn't before.
I realized that we're doing Introductions (Hello/My name is/Nice to meet you) and I only have 31 character cards (Hello, my name is Doraemon/Hello, my name is Stitch/Nice to meet you), and I needed another 18! I also wanted to make sure we could get a large room. So I went over to the teacher after he was done writing Monday's agenda on the board and
1) Asked him if we could get a big room (of course you can!)
and
2) Explained the character card problem.
Of course, I had a bit of trouble with some of the Japanese there, but I also had my cards and between showing and talking and saying that last year, the teachers at the other elem. school in my town helped me with the cards for the Japanese characters since I have no clue who the kids will know (Dokin-chan? Wakame-chan? Chibi Maruko? Never heard of them before that day....), I was able to convey the problem.
Actually, it was really cute. After flipping through my cards and writing down all of the Japanese characters (not the Western ones such as Mickey and Spider-Man that they all know), he asked one teacher who had just come into the room, "So, what other characters are in One Piece besides Luffy?" (Luffy was one of the ones I already had) She starts listing people and he writes them all down, then looks at the list again. "Hmm, how about Naruto?" She laughs and says she doesn't know, so he asks the secretaries, then moves on to other characters and other shows until we have enough people. It's mostly the One Piece/Naruto/Chibi Maruko/Conan show now, though. Before, I didn't have so many characters from the same show....
It was really funny, though, and they were all laughing, too. Then I asked him where I should go online to look for the pictures, and he said he'd do it and have it all ready for next week. He even asked about what my ribbon coding system is (red for boys, purple for girls, white for characters//unisex cards).
It was really nice and, honestly, I was relieved, since I've never seen any of the shows and wouldn't have been able to identify any of the characters. Well, except Conan, but I never saw the series, only the live action movie...and only because Oguri Shun was in it. I couldn't even identify anyone else from that show, though I have memories of a couple of the other characters. No names, though. Plus, every character card I have is animated--even Harry Potter and the two or three Superheroes they all know. So, really, no help at all.
I was so happy to understand, though! It's so nice when it does happen....
..........Okay, so this weekend I'll update w/more vacation stuff. Promise. Yesterday I was too busy, and tonight I wasn't home!
Today, I was able to almost perfectly understand what one of the teachers at my Non-English-Speaking elem. school needed to tell me. There were a few words I didn't get, but I understood the most important parts:
"Next week on May 16th, we have Sports Day practice. The whole school will be practicing first period, then the first/second graders will be practicing during second period. You had to teach both grades, and there will only be three periods left to teach them. Is it okay to combine the two second grade classes and teach them both at once?"
I totally understood. I was really happy! I'm not sure if the teacher thought I understood, since it was mostly the standard "hai" and "wakarimashita" responses, but later when I talked to him again, I think he knew for sure if he didn't before.
I realized that we're doing Introductions (Hello/My name is/Nice to meet you) and I only have 31 character cards (Hello, my name is Doraemon/Hello, my name is Stitch/Nice to meet you), and I needed another 18! I also wanted to make sure we could get a large room. So I went over to the teacher after he was done writing Monday's agenda on the board and
1) Asked him if we could get a big room (of course you can!)
and
2) Explained the character card problem.
Of course, I had a bit of trouble with some of the Japanese there, but I also had my cards and between showing and talking and saying that last year, the teachers at the other elem. school in my town helped me with the cards for the Japanese characters since I have no clue who the kids will know (Dokin-chan? Wakame-chan? Chibi Maruko? Never heard of them before that day....), I was able to convey the problem.
Actually, it was really cute. After flipping through my cards and writing down all of the Japanese characters (not the Western ones such as Mickey and Spider-Man that they all know), he asked one teacher who had just come into the room, "So, what other characters are in One Piece besides Luffy?" (Luffy was one of the ones I already had) She starts listing people and he writes them all down, then looks at the list again. "Hmm, how about Naruto?" She laughs and says she doesn't know, so he asks the secretaries, then moves on to other characters and other shows until we have enough people. It's mostly the One Piece/Naruto/Chibi Maruko/Conan show now, though. Before, I didn't have so many characters from the same show....
It was really funny, though, and they were all laughing, too. Then I asked him where I should go online to look for the pictures, and he said he'd do it and have it all ready for next week. He even asked about what my ribbon coding system is (red for boys, purple for girls, white for characters//unisex cards).
It was really nice and, honestly, I was relieved, since I've never seen any of the shows and wouldn't have been able to identify any of the characters. Well, except Conan, but I never saw the series, only the live action movie...and only because Oguri Shun was in it. I couldn't even identify anyone else from that show, though I have memories of a couple of the other characters. No names, though. Plus, every character card I have is animated--even Harry Potter and the two or three Superheroes they all know. So, really, no help at all.
I was so happy to understand, though! It's so nice when it does happen....
..........Okay, so this weekend I'll update w/more vacation stuff. Promise. Yesterday I was too busy, and tonight I wasn't home!