My Students

I wish I could update more often, but my internet access is pretty limited right now, so I can't. In two weeks I will get my Alien Registration Card, and then I can get a cell phone and hopefully start the process of installing wireless, but until then it's internet cafes for me!

Anyway, I wanted to tell you a little more about my wonderful students. Most of my students are women (at least two-thirds, I would say)and they're mostly older than I am, though I have quite a few high school students as well. The system is set up so that Japanese teachers teach the beginning levels (the first two or two and a half years) and the native-speaker teachers get all the advanced classes. My students vary from people who have been studying for just two and a half years to people who are nearly fluent, so it's never boring! The lower-level students are fun because the classes are more active and they are great at asking questions I can't answer (why do we always put "the" in front of the name of a theater, but not in front of a restaurant's name? And when would you use the word "candies" instead of "candy?" Every sentence I could think of worked best with "candy" and not "candies.").

The more advanced students are fun, though, because they are better at expressing themselves in English so I can get a Japanese perspective on a wide variety of issues. I especially like my article classes because I get to choose the article and the questions so I can hear what they think about whatever I happen to find interesting that week.

Yesterday I finished my first full week here, and I can't believe it's already been more than three weeks! I'm sure my time here will just fly by.

I was going to try not to publish anything on here that would connect me with my company in case I ever write something they don't like, but I can't resist putting up my school's website, because I really like it: http://www.aeonet.co.jp/school/school.php?sno=3412

If you click on the second option under "school menu" on the right you can see me and the other staff, and if you go back to the front page and click on the third option in that same menu you can see student testimonials. The staff are constantly taking pictures of us doing strange things like holding paper flags and pretending to teach. It makes me feel like a celebrity now, but I have a feeling I will get a little tired of it by the end.

Ok, that's all from me. Thanks for reading! Cate