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Broadcasting to an audience of three (and a goldfish)...
Comment, ramblings and musings... life through the eyes of a Japanologist...
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Tuesday, October 15, 2002 |
 Not told children coming back to Japan.
None look very happy. Obviously nervous, but even so.
(Kaiken from 6.30) There's something odd. Curiously reticent.
Families- some seem happy- others seem as if they might be disappointed
Unfathomable evil.
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Naturally, return of five is main news- on many channels live.
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Good evening- emails, good food, stuff on the TV
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Went to Miyanohara Elementary School, for lessons with the 3rd- and 4th-years, and with the 5th- and 6th-years.
The 3rd- and 4th- year teachers wanted me to talk about festivals in Britain. Fair enough- but realistically, 9- and 10-year olds aren't going to sit for 45 minutes and listen to explanations of Easter or Bonfire Night. Therefore, we changed the lesson to a mish-mash; we did London Bridge (the children had had a great time with this in the previous lesson), then I talked about festivals for a little time, and finally we made paper aeroplanes. Needless to say, the last part went down the best. I really wonder whether I could do a whole 45-minute lesson on paper aeroplane folding?
With the 5th- and 6th-years, meanwhile, I continued with the rehearsals for Jack and the Beanstalk, which is scheduled to hit the stage at the end of November. The children are still way, way off being anywhere near good enough (anywhere near good, for that matter), but we still have time, they have the recording Wendy and I did to practice from, and the teachers will hopefully push them on even outside my lessons, so with any luck we should be able to put on a respectable performance in the end. I do wish that some of the children who volunteered for the major parts would show a little more interest, though. Some of them give the impression that they've not even read through their lines yet, which is inexcusable given that we've been doing this play since before the summer break.
To be honest, I have my doubts about the wisdom of doing an English play when the children don't understand English, because even though I explain the meaning of the sentences, the children still ultimately end up memorising a series of sounds, rather than a series of words with meanings. I'm not sure that there's a great deal of point in this, but the children seem to enjoy it in the end, and the schools seem eager to practice (it's just about the only thing they'll do outside my lessons), so I don't think it's really worth taking a stand on the matter.
After the lessons, I went back to the staff room, and asked about replies for the International Club's event... there weren't any. I mentioned the handouts I'd sent to each elementary school, only to be met with blank stares from the teachers. Well, I knew from the girl who came to the last event that the leaflets for the last event were only handed out on the day of the deadline, so I mentioned this fact, and wondered aloud whether this might not also be the case this time too; at this, all the teachers suddenly- and suspiciously- recalled the leaflets. The secretary, though, sat looking very odd- either close to tears on on the verge of fury...
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Storm
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Web sites worthy of mention...
A trip back into nostalgia at bbcbasic.com, a site all about (oddly enough) BBC BASIC. I fondly remember evenings hunched in front of my Model B, typing in the latest game listing- and then finding out when I tried to run it that there was a mistake somewhere! Those were the days...
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© Copyright 2003 Nathan Duckworth.
Updated: 8/1/03; 8:47:59 pm.
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