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.

I love Japan

So far during my ten years in Japan I have tended to focus on things that annoy me about my life here. Some of them are universal, and some more specific to Japan or Sendai. I'm sure everyone has their own list.

However, recently I have found myself appreciating my life here. I really do feel at home, and enjoy almost everything I do.

Keeping that in mind makes the small annoying things much less important.

I just wanted this on the record in case people had the wrong impression from the amount of moaning I do on debito.org and other websites.


(I took this photo myself earlier this summer, by the way)

Google translate

This video explains how Google translate works. Something for all the corpus linguists out there?

Conference season

I just received the following list of conferences from a JALT newsletter:

PAC 2010 / Korea Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (KOTESOL)   

October 16-17, 2010   

Seoul, South Korea

http://www.kotesol.org/

English Teaching Association of the Republic of China (ETA-ROC)   

November 12-14, 2010   

Taipei, Taiwan

http://www.eta.org.tw/en/index.html

Thailand TESOL (ThaiTESOL)

January 21-22, 2011

Chiang Mai, Thailand

http://www.thaitesol.org/

CamTESOL Conference (Cambodia)  

February 26-27, 2011  

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

http://www.camtesol.org/

Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)  

March 16-19, 2011  

New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

http://www.tesol.org/s_tesol/convention2011/

International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language

(IATEFL)  

April 15-19, 2011

Brighton, UK

http://www.iatefl.org/

I have never been to a conference outside of Japan, so I'm really interested in heading to KoTESOL or Thai TESOL (I can't make the others as I have other plans). IATEFL or TESOL would also be nice, but might be outside of my budget for this year ;)

Does anyone have any advice as to which of these would be most interesting?

Japanese in the English classroom

I am going to be doing a presentation at the ETJ Tohoku Expo with Steve Williams about using Japanese in the English classroom (use of L1 in L2 classes).

This seems to be a topic where the research (and publications) seem to be completely out of whack with actual practice. Many ALTs and eikaiwa teachers have restrictions on how much Japanese they are allowed to use in the classroom, and there seems to be a general expectation that native speakers will operate exclusively in their L1 while teaching. However, almost all the academics that write on the topic accept that the students' L1 can be an extremely useful tool in the hands of an experienced teacher.

Steve and I agree that this is something worth talking about with working teachers, so we're going to be presenting about when and how to use Japanese to make classes more effective. We only have 45 minutes, so the biggest problem is going to be fitting all the research Steve has done into such a short timeframe!

Please feel free to comment, especially if you oppose the use of Japanese in English classes in Japan, and if you can come along on the day (October 3rd, in Sendai) we'd love to see you.

Twitter

I have finally bitten the bullet and activated my Twitter account (I bagged the name last year but hadn't started using it). I am not convinced it is going to be anything but a waste of time, but I will give it a shot ;)

I am @sendaiben by the way.

Hiroshima

I just spent a week in Hiroshima on a one-week residential course for my MA. I am doing the distance Birmingham MA TEFL, and the course is an optional part of it.

Aside from the actual content of the sessions, I was struck by how much I got out of spending time with the tutors and the other students. Being able to bounce ideas off people, both in and outside of class, was invigorating.

It really made me realise how important it is to have a peer group. I'll be doing more to stay in touch with mine from now on!

What is more important, the teacher or the system?

I have spent the last six years helping to set up, run, and teach at a small private language school. Most of my energy has been spent on trying to find the right materials, the right activities, and the right curriculum to best help my students.

However, recently there have been a lot of articles and news stories about how the most important factor in whether children learn is not the educational framework but rather the teacher. One example is this article:

"Building a Better Teacher" (NYT Magazine, March 2010)


So, have I been wasting my time in trying to design a good system? I don't think so.

I hope that having great materials and a clear, logical curriculum will make it easier for teachers to do their jobs. It is not a substitute for a good teacher, but rather a complement to one.

Japanese learning tools online

Learning Japanese can be frustrating, mainly because the writing system makes it difficult to read for language acquisition. Here are my top five online learning resources. A few minutes of these every day will really help.

1. smart.fm
Very slick site with reading, listening, example sentences, and some typing. It's basically an online SRS (spaced repetition system) that someone else has made for you. People with more time/discipline can make their own with Anki.

2. readthekanji.com
Learn kanji by typing in the readings. This site has the best system for showing progress I have ever seen, using a kanji chart that slowly changes colour as you progress.

3. skritter.com
This site is amazing, because it lets you practice handwriting kanji, keeps track of progress, and rates your stroke order and appearance. Amazing.

4. www.renshuu.org
This site is great for studying for the JLPT or Kanji Kentei tests. Again, the site organises what you need to know, and keeps track of your progress.

5. iTunes
A bit of a cheat, this last one. Combined with an ipod, podcasts (audio and video) are probably the best way to get listening input and practice.

Hope that helps! Would love to hear about any other good sites in the comments below.

Google instant translation of paper text

This is just a prototype now, but I reckon we'll see fully functional apps for iphone and android within the year. Amazing stuff.


Google Translate Blog

Basically you take a photo of some text with your mobile phone, then it gets uploaded to the web and translated almost instantly. Good for menus, signs, instructions, etc.

2010

How do you say this year? Is it two thousand and ten or twenty ten?

I was asked by a student, and given that I had been thinking about this topic, gave them more of an answer than they were probably looking for.

Personally I prefer twenty ten, because:

1. It's shorter and easier to say.
2. It is more consistent (like nineteen seventy).

Both are currently valid, and there are still some lingering two thousand and somes out there, but I am confident that twenty some will win out in the end. What do you think? Do you have a preference?

Cambridge YLE Exams

Just got back from a day of training towards becoming a Cambridge Young Learners of English interview examiner. Surprisingly, it was both interesting and fun. I met some good people, learned a lot, and got quite excited about the exams and the Council of Europe Framework of Reference for foreign languages.

Jim George (Luna International) is in charge of running the YLE tests in Japan. He conducts training for examiners and provides information and advice for people wanting to take or offer the tests. He's also a great guy.

The Grammar Lab, by Kenna Bourke (OUP)

The Grammar Lab, by Kenna Bourke, published by Oxford University Press, is a grammar practice book aimed at children aged 9-12, with interesting content and exercises, appealing characters, and stunning illustrations and presentation.

It consists of three books written completely in English, covering basic grammar points: how to use nouns, verbs, prepositions, etc.

I have been using this series with Japanese junior and senior high school students. The grammar points are not new to them, but the books provide extensive practice and lots of examples of how to use language naturally. The fact that students already understand the content makes it easier for them to deal with the slightly difficult vocabulary and instructions.

I use The Grammar Lab as a homework supplement to regular classes, and find that with approximately 45 sections (37 units and 9 revision sections), one book is good for a year of classes. The production values on this series really are superb, and I really enjoy the illustrations and storylines/jokes. They do a great job of bringing grammar to life and making the drills interesting.

My only complaint with the series is with the Teacher's Books (I bought the first one), which are only 40 pages long, 30 of which consist of answers to the questions in the Student's Book, and the other 10 which consist mainly of introductions to the characters featured. This is really not worth 1,400 yen nor does it deserve to be called a teacher's book. I was expecting a lot more in terms of supplementary activities, ideas for using the text, and advice, and was very disappointed with this.

The Student Books are currently available on Amazon Japan for just over 2,000 yen. This is slightly expensive for a homework/supplementary book, but for keen students who need extra practice at using junior high school grammar in practical ways, they are very helpful, and provide an easy way to incorporate grammar practice/drills into conversation classes.

Variable fees: a crazy idea?

I had a wild thought last night as I headed home last night at 23:30 and thought I would throw it out there for consideration...

Has anyone tried/thought about charging variable fees based on how 'good' students are? (I'm thinking about kids here).

For example, you would have a standard monthly fee of, say, 8000 yen.

If a student participates actively in class, does all homework, and gets into English, after a month or two they would change to a lower monthly fee, say 6000 or 7000 yen. This is like an academic scholarship, and is dependent on their good behaviour continuing.

On the other hand, if a student does not participate actively, is disruptive, doesn't do homework, then they move to a higher monthly rate (to compensate for the extra difficulty of teaching them), ie 9000 or 10000 yen. Their parents would be contacted a month before the change and warned. If the student's behaviour improves, they would move back to the standard rate or even the scholarship rate if they become a model student.

I came up with this as I pondered what I will be doing once I 'retire' (won't happen for a while), and continue teaching for pleasure rather than out of necessity. I suspect a system like the above might encourage parents to become more involved with their children's English studies, as well as encourage less serious students to quit. I find that the pareto rule applies to our students, where a small minority of the students cause all the problems.

Obviously I would like to make a difference to all our students' lives, and 'rescue' the less socially/academically able, but a lot of the time it's not really feasible to make a difference with an hour a week when parents are not helping at their end with encouragement/interest.

Now, I am not going to implement this myself at the moment (we're trying to grow at the moment!), but if we were at full capacity or oversubscribed I may consider it. What does everyone else think?

Materials development

This is a new area for me, but I have four projects I am starting up to develop teaching materials, all of them addressing needs my students have that I haven't been able to meet by buying commercially available publications. I've been lucky enough to find partners to work with for some of them, and I think that will help a lot.

However, I don't have any experience of creating or publishing. Any advice out there for a budding materials writer?

Summer camp

We did our first day summer camp with our students last year. We joined a camp run by another school, and went off to a nearby island with them to play on the beach, have a barbecue, and do lots of small English games.

We learned a lot from the experience, not least that it is not particularly difficult to organise 'English' events. I liked a lot of what they did (putting students in mixed-age teams, having low-pressure competition throughout the day, being active, going outside), but found some of it less effective (forcing English onto students, some of the activities).

We organised our own summer day camp this year, and it was a huge success. Students and staff had a good time, it didn't take all that much preparation, and I think it will help our schools' reputation.

I'm going to list some of the things that went well below, in the hopes that it will be useful for other teachers or school owner/operators.

1. We found a company to do most of the work that does outdoor activities for kids' groups like neighbourhood associations, etc. and they were able to provide a morning activity (making zunda mochi), lunch, bus there and back, and a beautiful outdoor location for a very reasonable price (1700 yen per person). This took almost all the pain out of the experience and meant that we just had to organise our students and think of some games to play in the afternoon. If we had had to provide lunch and arrange transport, it would have been much more work.

2. We had students from various classrooms and classes, so mixing them up was a priority. We made mixed age and ability teams, and had two teachers and fourteen students in each. This worked well, and after about ten minutes into the zunda mochi making you couldn't really tell which students were in the same class and which had just met for the first time.

3. We had a lot of staff, mostly parents and university student volunteers. This really helped with logistics (helping the students do things and carrying stuff mostly).

4. We had a mix of structured activity and free time, which meant the students had a chance to play soccer with their friends if they wanted, but didn't really have time to get bored.

5. The emphasis was not really on English (some of the students brought friends who were not studying English) but rather on having fun together and getting to know each other. This removed a lot of the pressure, and resulted in a much more relaxed atmosphere than the camp last year (where there was much more emphasis on English, to the extent of the safety briefing being done in English!).

The best thing about the day was the chance to just hang out with the students and run around outside. I think everyone enjoyed the day and made some new friends.

I am hoping to do more activity days like this, again not based on English so much as having a fun day out with friends. That way we can build our school community further.

Kanji Kentei, the best Japanese test?

The 漢字検定 (kanji kentei), or Japanese Character Proficiency Test, is in my opinion one of the best tests for non-native residents of Japan who want to improve their whole language skills.

Given that the test is designed for native speakers, and focuses on reading and writing Japanese characters, what basis could I have for making that statement?

I am not just being controversial for the sake of it, I honestly believe that, unlike it's best-known competitor, the test is well-made, good value for money, and that studying for it yields benefits that amount to more than a passing score on a test.

The test has the following benefits:

1. it tests kanji and vocabulary in context, as well as on their own

2. in order to pass, you need a good knowledge of the meaning, reading, stroke order, compounds, usage, and antonyms of each character

3. you learn to write, which is an important skill if you live in Japan

4. the study materials are reasonably priced and widely available in book stores and even 100 yen shops (the earlier tests mirror school grades, so you can buy kids' kanji workbooks and use them to practice)

5. the test is held three times a year and is reasonably priced

6. you get your results in a month or so, and they also give you the answers when you finish the test so you can check how you did while it is still fresh in your mind

There is a range of materials you can use to study for the test, but I have found the following the most useful:

1. renshuu.org allows you to drill data sets specifically for the kanji kentei

2. the official range of study guides are excellent

3. the range of Nintendo Wii and DS software

I will be trying for level 6 the next time I take the test, which is the equivalent of 5th grade elementary school.

The kanken is not for everyone, but if you are serious about improving your Japanese and need a structured approach with regular, achievable goals, it can be a useful tool.