I know this one is supposed to be about Wednesday, but really, nothing's happening at this school. We have a new book and the teachers are resisting the change. They had the old textbook for a good ten or fifteen years, so they'd gotten a kind of rhythm going. One that is very hard to break. Walk in, do the greetings, practice some phrases, and then break out the notebooks for grammar explanations and translation time. In other words, "Speaking? Listening? Who needs that? We can read! Or at least get the gist of things.". And as a foreigner in Japan, that isn't such a bad philosophy.
When Japanese people try to approach English the way that they approach their own language, I get it. It's only natural. But they can't get away ith that anymore, and the teachers here are feeling it horribly. That was originally why they brought us native speakers into the country, but...well, let's just say a lot of pride has prevented us from being allowed to do our jobs properly. This new book? Probably gonna make the teachers realize just how badly they need to listen to the native speakers and include us on curriculum planning.
Japanese is a written language. Everything revolves around the characters. Around the written word. If you ever look at a newspaper, a book, an advertisement...there are words EVERYWHERE, attacking you from all directions in fifteen different fonts and colors, and for Japanese people, this is normal. Heck, even TV shows constantly have text and subtitles taking up 20 to 40 percent of the screen at any given time. Information is almost always given in written form first, and speeches...well, let's just say it's normal for the speaker to be holding pages and pages of a pre-written speech in full view at the podium. So when you come here you learn that reading and writing are far more important than speaking, and as such, they are much more difficult to master. So learning to just look quick and get the gist of things is just part of daily life in Japan. I still can't say half of the words and concepts that i recognize in written form, and if someone asked me to write my favorite kanji, I'd be stuck. But in true American form, I can speak Japanese well enough to get the information I need at almost any given time...as long as the person I'm talking to is willing to stop using all the danged honorifics.
But English is a spoken language more than a written one, which explains where there can be any kind of illteracy in the US, while Japan's got...pretty much zero. You can get by without reading English. You won't get too far and you'll definitely hit some walls, but you can live a pretty decent life. English speakers learn pronunciation through their ears, Japan learns through its eyes. So, a normal English class in Japan actually has very little spoken English in it. Writing, silent reading, translation to Japanese. This is why most of the words Japan has borrowed from English are butchered horribly.
Poor teachers.... I feel for them. I really do.
On a happier note, I got my tires last night! After pushing through pouring rain, howling wind and thundering...thunder, i made my way to Ye Olde Tire Shop, where they changed my tires, took my money, and, as if to remind me that American service is horrible, checked every single lugnut right in front of me so I could drive home free of worry. And man, do those tires make a difference! All those times I thought the transmission was slipping, it was actually my tires inability to grip the ground properly... Yikes. All is well now, though!
And now, for today's lunch!
Wednesday is noodle day, so we had the soup and noodle dealie. Also, something called "moyashi salad", which looks like beansprout salad with ham. And pumpkin and cheese croquettes. One each.
Take a look!
With that, I'm out. Be good!
J
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