After reading "The Man Next Door" - student digs

Describe where you used to live as a student

I used to live in Tokyo for four years when I was a college student. It was the first time and only time to live away from my parents, but I was not lonely since I lived in the college’s dormitory.

There are about one hundred students who came from other prefectures. The dormitory was built in the area of the college, so it was very convenient to go to the college. I was happy as I didn’t need to ride the crowed trains.

When we were freshman, we had to share a room with other student. My flatmate was from Osaka. She was very smart and active. In addition, she liked to talk and go out a lot. I didn’t like her, but in fact, I was a little bit no match for her as I like to spend the time by myself. Fortunately, she had many chances to stay the nights in her relatives. Therefore, I could keep the good relationship with her.

After that, we were given each room. It was very narrow, but very comfortable to live. Drinking was prohibited in the dormitory, but sometimes I bought some alcohols with my friends and had the small parties in the room. The dormitory curfew was 9:50 pm which was too early, but I enjoyed the college life in Tokyo as much as I could.

Transformers - student becomes teacher

Recently we were asked if we could provide a 'non-teacher' speaker for a high school-aged class, and from a 'different' background. We immediately asked Rukshini...

This young lady's English is tremendous, and she is a wonderful ambassador for Sri Lanka (who, as I write, are giving England a cricketing lesson at Headingley!). She is also a poster girl for everything that is wrong with Japanese education...unable to get into uni (here) despite her academic talent, worldly perspective, driven nature and obvious smarts...having bashed her brains out all the way through JHS & HS and catching Jim's attention within seconds about 5 years ago.

Destined for great things - with FCE

"For the first time in my life, I had opportunity to speak in front of a class at M school, not as a student. I was nervous full of doubts. How are they going to react? What if I say something goes wrong?
 
It's so much easier to be the student!
 
Preparations for the presentation well. I had a lot of advice and I was adamant to try my best. It was fun to do all the planning from a different perspective , get the new ideas but the real job lay ahead.
 
The few minutes before the class, I was shaking, but the moment I started talking the tension vanished. I was actually enjoying myself. It was more like a conversation than a speech. Ms R was very supportive asking questions and encouraging the students.

My theme was to speak about life in Sri Lanka and Japan. How do I see things as a foreigner in Japan, things I've learned...So I was eager to talk. There is so much to tell and it kept me going. The students were shy, but I could tell they were interested. 

In the second period, we had a Sri Lankan tea-time and questions from each student. I had to think back on some of them. “What surprised me most in Japan?"
To tell the truth, there were too many !

At the end of the class some students even thanked me 😃
I know how difficult it is to learn a language, especially if it has nothing interesting. You need the spark, that desire to learn....and I wonder if I had given them that spark..

So, it's easy to be student but it's thrilling to be a teacher!
 
I am no longer nervous. I could say I got over the fence. I'm quite looking forward to the next one, and thanks to Luna for providing me this wonderful opportunity 😆"

Sayaka returns - Canada's loss!

New podcast episode - Sayaka tells us about her Canadian high school & homestay

Sayaka joined my class when she was about three - she has just come back from High School in Canada. She changed a bit! Today, I got a little revenge back, asking her to help out with our current crop of nearly threes in pre-school. Into the bargain I grabbed fifteen minutes to ask about her experience living & studying in British Columbia over the last two years, while Tana held the fort (making bugs!)

I have always had a big soft spot for Saya-chan; I think you can hear the personality and warmth of the girl very easily in this podcast? She obviously enjoyed herself very much in Canada - I am sure ever so much more than she would have done through the drudgery of the local high school she attended her in town (I qualify to have an opinion - taught there!). She might not have been in school so much, but she sure learned an awful lot more about life & relationships, the world she is a citizen of.

 

Please listen to what she has to say* - she answers Patrick's question from Dublin, by the way - and please leave any comments below.

And pre-school? They loved her!

(*Podcast player now lives on the "Easy Listening" page - see tab at the top)