There are many differences that come with living in Tokyo, the first I noticed was they drive and walk on the left side. With cars, it's obvious since it's the law, but with walking, it is more assumed. They also don't have water fountains and outlets on every wall. If I had to describe Tokyo in one word it would be fast. If I had two words, the second would be exciting. Well, at least compared to the empty and flat planes of the Midwest.
We hit the ground running. Right off the plane, we went straight to the housing office with all of our luggage. After two hours of signatures and another hour or so of public transportation. We made it to our living arrangement. It's a share house for international people. We get a small room to ourselves, but then the bathrooms, sinks, showers, and kitchen are all communion. It's nice and cozy, but expensive. That's the school's problem though. Onto the actual internship!
Aoyama Gakuin University is in the heart of Tokyo, or at least one of them: Shibuya. The famous large cross walk (which is smaller in person) and a massive shopping district are only a fifteen minute walk away. This makes the massive train migration to and from campus a science experiment to see how many people can fit into the train with the doors still closing. Once you see the campus, the 30 minute train cramp is worth it.
The campus is beautiful with both historic and modern buildings. There are many different kinds of trees and shrubbery that add green all around the campus. The elementary school and the junior high school on campus are the most beautiful schools I've been inside of with so much natural light. The food is also a blessing when you compare the price and quality to- well you know.
Our job and internship revolve around teaching English as a secondary language. Our home base on campus is the Chat Room. The goal for this program is for language learners to have a chance to practice the languages they are learning. There is Korean, Chinese, French, Spanish, Thai, and a few others. The main language is for English. It is one thing to learn how to read and write in a language, but it is a whole other experience to converse with a native speaker.
Here we hold conversations with the students and residents of the area in English. The conversations span a variety of topics from language to dreams to fashion and habits. There are different levels of difficulty as well. The conversation topics and questions are the same for all the levels, so it's on us as chat leaders to tailor to the different levels on English.
The beginner sessions are a mixed bag. Some of the students think very lowly of their English speaking ability. Even if they are more of an intermediate level, they will put themselves in the beginner session. This causes the issue of the less advanced students becoming shy when they compare their skills. In general the beginning sessions are difficult, but not impossible. Speaking slowly and repeating the questions are very important. They take time to process what was said. To communicate more foreign concepts I rephrase a word in more simple English or I draw a picture. Sometimes the conversation comes to a stall when a question I ask was too difficult or they don't know how to answer in English. When this happens, I find it important to always tell them it's okay to not answer. If not, they might tighten up for the rest of the time.
The advanced sessions are different. At Aoyama Gakuin, the students who go to the elementary school and all the way through the university start English in the first grade. A lot of the advanced session students and residents have very good English. The residents I find to have good English have lived in an English speaking country more often than not. In the advanced sessions, I sometimes forget that I am talking to people that are still learning the language. With the beginner session, speaking slowly is very important and a focus. In the advanced sessions, it's less of a priority, but you can't speak too fast. They are able to hold more in depth conversations and more willing to participate because they are more confident in their English. These make the conversations flow better and more people have more time to practice. They may not have as thick of accents and it's easier to understand, but it still takes time for them to process. Speaking clearly is the most important here.
The intermediate sessions become a middle ground. Some common characteristics that the students have is their lack in confidence. Even the beginner speakers are able to communicate ideas and concepts. It may take them time, but they'll figure it out. I find that even in the advanced group the students say that they don't speak English as a second language, but sort of know it. To build confidence it always helps to smile and have positive body language. The main goal for the chat room isn't to correct, but rather to keep the conversation flowing; to give the students a chance to talk and listen to a fluent speaker. It feels really nice to have a conversation flow with one of the participants because you can see the fun they are having and their confidence build.
Even though it is fun to have a flowing conversation, there are some challenges to get there. In the beginner and intermediate sessions, it is every hard to foster a conversation between the students. Since the students more often than not, don't know the other people in the group, they are very shy to talking to each other. In Japan, talking to a stranger is not normal. When you add the extra layer of on uncomfortable language, it gets even more confusing. It's hard to break the mold of me asking a question to one student, they answer, then I ask the question to the next student in the circle, then they answer, then so on and so forth. The next time this happens, I'm going to try telling them it is alright and encouraged that they speak to each other.
Overall working in the Chat Room is a wonderful opportunity. Learning how to teach English as a foreign language, how the life of a university student in Japan differs from the States, and getting to talk with people who live and have experienced Japan for their whole lives. One of the favorite conversation topics for the students and the residents is telling me what I should do in Japan. I didn't come to Japan with a list of what I wanted to do, but now I have an overwhelming list that takes me all over Japan. It will also drain my wallet pretty fast! When money crosses my mind, I always think how I'm not in Japan forever.
Next time I'll talk about the development in the Chat Room, the primary and secondary levels of education, and the different experiences of culture.
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