nathandemick.com

Man, the pain

Finally got some weekend action going here; and I was thinking about my last class of the week. It’s this group of like 10 middle-aged people, who got together, formed an English club, and wanted a native speaker to “teach” them English. Some of them aren’t bad: they actually ask questions and participate in class. But others are just horrible.

I don’t know if this method is peculiar to me, but usually, when I’m teaching, the English vocabulary I choose is based off the Japanese vocab I know. Seem strange? Not really. I figure that if I know a word in Japanese, it’s a good bet that any moron student knows that word as well. Let’s put things in perspective: the Japanese have a national obsession with English, and start studying it in school from Jr. High on. That means at least 6 years through required schooling, plus like 4 more years if they go through college. I studied for one year in college, and have been studying in my (minimal) spare time while working a horrible job here in Japan.

But! They are still bad. I feel as if my head will explode, when I must rephrase a question about a million times, and am thinking of the direct Japanese translation in my head. In the book this class uses, there are these little sections with “crazy” English phrases. Today’s phrase was “I’d give anything for a pizza.” Heck, doesn’t that seem simple enough? This guy wants pizza! He would give anything for it! Money! His wristwatch! His liver! But they just couldn’t wrap their heads around it. ピザのために何でもあげる。There it is! The literal Japanese translation, which even I know. I don’t have any Japanese friends! I don’t speak the language at all! This country is obsessed, and they all suck.

Then I had to get a ride back with a guy who is one of the worst students. It’s so painful, because I have to be the one who stoops to the lowest common denominator. Unless I speak, the car will be about as silent as a tomb. Why are these people learning English again? I thought language was supposed to be about communication. If they think they’ll learn enough to understand movies or something, they’ve got another think coming.

I made a conscious decision a while ago. I was getting all depressed because my language ability wasn’t really increasing; I didn’t have anyone to speak Japanese to, in a country full of the little buggers. Then I realized, the point of a langauge is for communication. If I don’t communicate using the language, what’s the point? That’s when I decided to switch my focus to reading, because that’s something useful and entertaining for me. There’s a point to it. Chinese characters are cool and useful, and I like playing Japanese games and reading manga. I can still get along fairly well in society, in spite of my ineptitude. For example, last week I forgot a bag of English textbooks on the train. The next day, I was able to go tell the station staff that I lost a bag of English books, and ask if they had the bag. Not amazing stuff, but enough to function.

Wow, that was pretty long and rambling. Forgive my loquaciousness. Two and a half months to go.

No comments · Written by Nathan at 2:38 am · nihongo