Before stopping there we went to the computer lab to print off a copy of our placement test, self placement test, and syllabus for our class so that we could then later make copies at our office. We then headed to the grocery where I was almost hit several times by cars. I'm going to take yet another moment out to explain something about Japanese roads. First of all, yes they do drive on the opposite side. Really not all that confusing on that part. Here I am thinking that Corbin had some of the most narrow roads I've driven on, compared to what's here that's a freaking highway. Roads are literally almost one lane and if there's a biker or pedestrian on the side of the road with a car coming both ways one will no doubt have to get over for the other to pass. Sometimes even if there isn't a biker or someone on foot they'll still have to do it. Also, the majority of Japanese telephone poles are in the freaking road which also makes things worse. Needless to say the road to the grocery was a little busy and when you think people are going to see you on a bike, you are dead wrong (even if you're flowing with the traffic).
After escaping near death a few times we made it semi-safely to the grocery store. I grabbed my usual things like milk, OJ, pocky, chicken, but they were sold out of beef. Another note on Japan would be that food here is insanely fresh so some things (like beef) sell out extremely early in the day. The flip side to food here is that it doesn't last long at all, basically you're lucky if something is dated for more than two to three days ahead of time. One could of course put meat in one's freezer to make it last a little longer. My reading is also getting better because last time I thought I bought corn flakes I actually got frosted, which is still fine but that's not what I was going for. I ended up buying two boxes of Kellog's Corn Flakes from a conbini down the road, but that's too expensive to be getting a lot. Besides, I'm pretty sure I bought the only two boxes they had and he prolly won't be getting more. So I scored a couple cheap ass bags of corn flakes today it read on the box "Pu-re-n". Which of course means "plain".
After getting back from the store we didn't have much time because we needed to get some copies made before class. So we left here about 4:35 giving us about an hour before our teaching gig started. We easily got our copies made from a nice lady in our office. Here's a couple of pics of the room we taught in today as well as the view.
However, after the sponsor arrived she told us we would be moving in to a different room because of the onset of winter. This room pictured doesn't have air or heat so they thought it'd be easier to put us in a different room that did have AC and heat.
There are 13 students on our roster. One was already marked that they would be absent and two others who signed up didn't show. So we only had 10 to work with tonight which I thought was welcoming enough. We introduced ourselves in Japanese and then Steve plainly said in Nihongo (Japanese lang.) that from here on out we would not understand their language. That seemed to intimidate people. So we moved on to the next task of handing out the placement test which really made some people turn their heads. We asked them it rank themselves in certain aspects of the language such as grammar, conversation, listening, and vocabulary from 0 (not at all) to 5 (near fluent). No one put more than a two on their sheets and most people put a 0. So we proceeded to the placement test which I've yet to grade so I'd rather not comment on how anyone did, but they once again cocked their heads in confusion it seemed even though it was more or less listening.
We then allowed them to introduce themselves to their classmates in Japanese. We then went through the alphabet which most of them seem to know but we still helped them on some letters the worst being the letter "L" since no sound like that exists in the Japanese language it always comes out like an "R". By then it was time for a break. I grabbed a cig and walked over to the bookstore and browsed for my break. Most everyone stuck inside except for one student who joined me in smoking.
The second half of class went much better than the first bcause we made them reintroduce themselves in English. There were a few people we helped correct but we were kind of surprised that their speaking abilities were somewhat decent. Their English was sometimes broken but someone could still understand them if they needed to get around. After class ended we walked with out sponsor to the new classroom which is about 10x smaller and barely enough room for all of us. Since there are two of us teaching we are probably going to split the class up into two at some point.
Now I'm back at the dorm writing this blog letting my chicken get cold on me, so I'm gonna dig in and watch the new episode of Dexter. Hope everyone reading this is doing well back in the states or wherever you are!
Sounds like your 1st class went really well!! It made me laugh that the /l/ sound is so difficult for them and that was something you guys had to work on. Here's a teaching tip...when I teach children a sound that is difficult for them, always discuss the position of the tongue. That will help them produce the sound. For my kids, I use a mirror so that they can see if the tongue position is correct...just an idea.
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