Goodbye blogspot

After many years together, I am leaving blogspot. I have set up house with WordPress at sendaiben.org, and we hope to be very happy together. Please come and see us!

Student self-introductions

I've been teaching in Japan for more than ten years now, so I have become very sensitive towards my students' feelings. I try not to put them on the spot or under pressure to speak spontaneously, at least until they have had a chance to get used to me and the class.

However, last month I had the chance to visit leading universities in Korea and Hong Kong, and see what they were doing in English classes and departments. It may not be a fair comparison (many things, from the environment to class sizes to university expectations, are different) but I was surprised and impressed by how much the teachers there pushed the students. This made me change my attitude towards my own classes. After all, Japanese students will be sitting in meetings with their Chinese and Korean counterparts in ten years time, and at that point no-one is going to care about the special conditions in Japan with regards to English education. They are just going to be looking at the results: can you communicate effectively and get your point across?

Classes started at my university last week, and I tried something new in a presentation class on Friday: after explaining the syllabus and course guidelines, I had the students come up to the front of the class in groups of four and introduce themselves spontaneously.

It worked incredibly well. Because the students were in groups of four, we got through all twenty-nine of them quickly, and they surpasses my expectations completely with their short introductory speeches.

Many of them were funny, interesting, and engaging. I was able to get their names and make brief notes on each student in an interactive and informative way, and made all the other students take notes too. I suspect the fact that they all went through this together will make for a friendlier and more relaxed class, too.

This new (very old) activity is going to become part of more of my classes, I suspect. Does anyone else use this?

Tohoku ETJ Expo

The Tohoku ETJ Expo was held yesterday in Sendai. We had just under 100 people come out to see 19 workshops and presentations.

It was great to see and talk to everyone, and thanks are due to the team that put it together: committee members of Sendai ETJ and Sendai JALT chapters.

This was just the first of the ETJ Expos, so if you have the chance to see one in your area please check it out: http://www.eltnews.com/ETJ/events/expos.shtml

I'll be presenting again at the Tokyo Expo on November 6th and 7th, so hope to see some of you there.

Amazon Kindle 3

About two years ago, I couldn't understand how people would want to read e-books. I had actually made it through a couple on my computer, but it was slow and annoying. My eyes hurt from the screen, my neck hurt from the angle I was holding my head at to read the screen, and my fingers hurt from scrolling down. Give me a nice paperback any day.

Then last year I got an iPhone, and more importantly the Kindle app. Suddenly reading e-books was doable. Not only that, but it was really handy having a book (or twenty) with me all the time. It made reading in lines, while waiting for a student, while grabbing a sandwich easy. In fact, it made it easier than reading a book, because an iPhone is a lot lighter and only takes one hand to operate. I think I may actually be reading faster, as turning the pages is quicker...

The circle was complete earlier in the year when the new Kindle was announced. Being incredibly curious about what all the fuss was about, and able to afford it for the first time, I pre-ordered one in August.

It came in September, and I have been taking it on trips with me. Instead of three or four paperbacks, I just have one slim device. The battery lasts longer than I need it to, it can hold stupid amounts of books in it, and it is almost as easy to read as my iPhone (and more comfortable). I even got used to the annoying flicker as it turns a page so that I don't notice it any more).

I find I no longer want to buy books. My collection, built up over years, is now something that I want out of the house (dusty and bulky as it now seems to me). I suspect the same thing will happen with comics, books, and magazines once I get an iPad or similar device.

Looking at the prices and adoption rates of e-readers and tablets, etc. I reckon paper-based reading materials only have about a decade left before they become specialty, expensive rarities.

It only took two years to convert me completely.