Yesterday, I taught a student who couldn’t hear the difference between “straight” and “street.” Since our lesson focused on Western hospitality – “how do you take your coffee?” “street!” – this issue came up several times. First, I attempted to correct his pronunciation to no avail. Then, on a piece of scrap paper, I drew […]
Month: February 2007
status
after 6 weeks in Sakiio i have: signed up for my internet account, through the magical help of my Japanese friend Carnitas (cheaper than yahoo bb and supposedly will arrive in about 3 weeks) arranged for my first Japanese class (tomorrow!) I still not have: paid my phone bill (due the 25th) secured my health […]
I eat my pigeon!
Before I moved to Japan, I did a little Japanese self-study. I bought a (rather lame) book designed to help me learn Japanese in 10 minutes a day and a (rather good) book to help me learn to write hiragana and katakana. Peaches also gave me the gift of a seriously good book on katakana […]
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Yet another reason why japan rocks
Aside from kaiten sushi places where all the plates are 120 yen and the ocha is free … aside from visual treats like the fembots and drunken sarari men, aside from the comedic gems afforded to me by Engrish and my earnest students, Japan has managed to further prove itself as being pretty sweet by […]
no escape
I remember something else from last night at the 300 yen bar: Alan told me that he’d taught one of my students, realizing she had been one of mine when he recognized my handwriting in the roll book. “Ah, you took a class from my friend, Liv!” he told her. “Yes!” she said. “She is […]
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deer blocking
In honor of the first day of our 3 day weekend (hooray, National holiday!), my neighbors and I took a day trip to Nara, famous for its temples, giant Buddha and free-roaming deer! Twas most lovely. We headed off, Bob, Sean and I. There had been a 300 yen bar the night before, somewhere between […]
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oh no she didn’t …
Today there were only adults. Children are cute, but it’s nice to teach someone who does what they’re told. My adults smile and try their hardest. They do not ignore me or show me their backsides. I like adults. As a bit of a treat, one of my students today was quite advanced and mainly […]
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i kill me
I like to begin each adult lesson with one of the “ice breakers” I learned back in my Global TESOL course. As Bill told us, an “ice breaker” gets the students into “english mode” since for most of them, their classes are the only time they speak English all week. My favorite “ice breaker” is […]
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Different
My brother, Diego, came to Japan with my parents back in 2002 for the World Cup. When I first moved here and talked to him about living in Japan, he asked, “Tell me the truth – have you ever felt so different in your entire life?” Eh … actually, I’m fine with looking different. I […]
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i know …
Today at school as I filled out an expense report, the secretary guided me through the Japanese on the form. I recognized the kanji for Year, Date and Month but was pretty lost on the rest of it. She pointed to the kanji for “signature” and I said, “Ah! Hanko!” in proud recognition and went […]