Archive for category Kawasaki Nova
April 22, 2004 – Beef vs. Fish
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Teaching English on April 22, 2014
Everything screwy that could happen to a person’s schedule happened to mine today. I managed to survive, having to stay about 20 minutes after classes ended to finish all of my paperwork.
The one redeeming feature of my day was an excellent voice class. Inspired by a recent stupid argument with Phoala (I never have anything but stupid arguments with Phoala), I got the students to do a bunch of quick debates between trivial topics. First I gave the students a topic (baseball vs. soccer for example) then found out which side they supported. I then divided the students into teams based on their choice, adjusting the teams to make sure the numbers were fairly even.
The best debate of the day was “beef vs. fish”. Pro beef arguments included:
- Beef is yummy. If beef was yucky we wouldn’t eat it so much. Nobody likes to eat yucky foods.
- Everybody likes a big steak!
- Cows also make milk, and that’s great!
The fish side countered with:
- There are many types of fish, so fish has more variety.
- Beef doesn’t have a long history in Japan. It’s only popular because of a conspiracy from America (seriously)
NOVA does not allow us to discuss any potentially controversial topics (religion, politics, etc), and even if we were allowed, I assume many of the students would refrain from taking strong stands one way or the other in order to preserve the harmony of the classroom. Having quick debates about topics of little consequence was a great opportunity for the students to practice stating their opinions in English without worry. It was also a lot of fun for me, which is a big help in getting through a busy workday with most of my sanity intact.
April 16, 2004 – Classroom English, what could possibly go wrong?
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Teaching English on April 16, 2014
In order to become a better teacher, I decided to teach my kids class some “classroom English”. NOVA classrooms are supposed to be English immersion, so I thought that if I taught a few key phrases in English that the kids would get more out of the class.
At the start of the class, I went off script and gave simple examples of the following:
- How do you spell… (complete with an example of spelling a word)
- I don’t understand (next to a frowny face with question marks)
- Help!
- I have a question
The class seemed to understand, and for a few brief minutes I felt like a really good teacher. “These are all easy, what could possibly go wrong” I thought to myself.
The lesson material of the day was what you want to be when you grow up. To begin, I taught a number of common jobs (doctor, teacher, etc). Then we modeled the target language: “What are you going to be? I’m going to be a (profession name)”. Things were going well when one student puts up her hand as says “I have a question. I don’t understand ‘going to'”.
This stopped me in my tracks. How can you explain the idea of “going to” in English to an 11 year old girl who knows a grand total of about 100 words of English. I tried a few approaches, failed miserably, gave up and then got them to play a find the flashcard game.
I will likely not be trying to teach classroom English to kids again.
(2014 update) Partial rewrite of original post to give better explanation.
April 8, 2004 – Sprinting in a suit
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Keikyu-Kawasaki NOVA, Teaching English on April 8, 2014
Today was a chaotic day. The fun all started at 4:00am, when I was woken up by some drunk gaijins playing soccer in the street right outside my window. There is no grass anywhere nearby, so the sounds of the soccer players and the ball were bouncing off all the concrete. After about 5 minutes of listening to kicking and bouncing, I went outside and asked them very nicely to move their game, which they did. It took me about an hour to get back to sleep.
Before work I tried to get some Playstation time. While playing, I spilled a 600ml bottle of Coke on the floor. My lightning fast video game reflexes allowed me to pick it up very quickly, which caused Coke to spray everywhere in the room. I got Coke on my futon, couch, clothes, Playstation controller, CDs and stereo.
I got everything cleaned up and expected that the rest of the day would move along smoothly. WRONG. Just before leaving Hello House I got a call from work telling me that due to some scheduling issues, my first 2 lessons would be at Kawasaki NOVA and my last 3 lessons would be at Keikyu Kawasaki NOVA. There are 10 minutes between lessons, and walking from one school to the other takes about 5 minutes. To avoid a big rush, I left for work extra early, went to Keikyu Kawasaki NOVA and planned all my lessons. After that I went to Kawasaki NOVA and got those lessons ready. Everything was organized and there would be no panic.
At Kawasaki NOVA I taught one lesson then a Voice class, before quickly leaving the building and walked the 500 meters to Keikyu Kawasaki NOVA. When I arrived I saw that the schedule had changed, and I was now listed as having “break”. I asked the staff to confirm, so they called Kawasaki NOVA and found out that I was now on the schedule there, and had one minute to get back. Since we are fined for being late for lessons, rushed out the door and sprinted back to Kawasaki NOVA, wearing my suit and wondering how I was going to find out who I was teaching and how I would somehow pull a lesson out of my ass with no planning.
I dodged and weaved my way through the dense foot traffic and managed to get back in 3 minutes, panting and sweating. When I got inside I learned that I didn’t actually have a lesson after all. I got to spend the rest of the class period filing in the teachers room before once again leaving for Keikyu Kawasaki NOVA to finish my last two lessons. Good times!
(2014 Update) This is a good example of how disorganized the large NOVA schools could be, especially when they shared teachers with a nearby satellite branch. My job satisfaction increased a lot when I later transferred to smaller schools.
March 27, 2004 – Falling asleep at the controller
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Life in Japan, Teaching English on March 27, 2014
Tsutaya in Numazu
Saturdays at Kawasaki NOVA are brutal! It is by far the busiest day of the week, and I work 8 lessons instead of the 5 I usually work during the week as a “part time” employee. The schedule was completely filled with students.
After work I checked out Tsutaya, a huge nationwide chain that rents and sells movies, music and games. I picked up some used games for my Playstation 2: Metal Gear Solid 2 and Biohazard (Resident Evil 1). They were super cheap! Naturally, I ended up falling asleep at the controller.
(2014 Update) I didn’t have a picture of the Tsutaya in Kawasaki, so I have linked a picture of the Tsutaya in Numazu. Not that it makes a lot of difference…
March 13, 2004 – The Great Sasuke is not always a great topic
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Teaching English on March 14, 2014
The Great Sasuke
Yesterday in voice class I had some success with the topic of “The Great Sasuke”. Masanori Murakawa, aka The Great Sasuke, was a Japanese professional wrestler turned politician. Sasuke was elected to the Iwate Prefectural Assembly in 2003, and refused to remove his mask when serving in office. In fact, he rarely (if ever) removes his mask in public at all. I got the students to discuss if they thought it was okay for an elected official to wear a wrestling mask while on the job. From there the students came up with a list of appropriate and inappropriate accessories for a politician, including jeans, sombreros, Elton John glasses, etc. The topic went well and the students got some good practice agreeing and disagreeing.
Today I attempted the same topic again with four different students. 3 out of 4 were really enjoying the topic, and the other student started giving answers like “I don’t care”. At one point I asked him a question and he looked directly at me, didn’t say a word, then started playing with his cell phone. I have never had such a strong negative reaction before. Maybe my student was actually Sasuke without the mask?
(partial rewrite of original post)
March 12, 2004 – (not the cat)
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Teaching English on March 12, 2014
My kids class wasn’t terrible today for a change. Also, the boys managed to finally win one of the group games. In a class of 9-12 year olds, the girls usually do much better with everything.
Somehow the boys learned the word pussy (not the cat) and were using it in class to try to get a reaction from me. I can assure you that I didn’t teach it to them!
February 19, 2004 – Learning English hurts your head
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Teaching English on February 19, 2014
Today in my 5 lessons at work I had 3 good lessons, one lesson where I totally forgot what I was doing half way through, and one lesson where a student hit her head on the table when helping me pick up some flashcards that I dropped on the floor.
Learning English really does hurt your head.
February 7, 2004 – Working with a hangover
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Teaching English on February 7, 2014
Working with a hangover is no fun. Working with a hangover and teaching kids classes is less fun. Working with a hangover, teaching kids classes and having a completely overcrowded and disorganized work environment is, well, you get the idea.
February 4, 2004 – Worst Case Survival Guide
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Teaching English on February 4, 2014
The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Travel
Today in Voice class (open conversation room) I decided to use the “Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook: Travel” as a conversation starter. The book gives hilarious, illustrated, step-by-step instructions on how to survive travel emergencies such as stopping a runaway camel, jumping from a moving train, and passing a bribe at customs.
After showing a few examples, I asked the students to think of a few Japanese emergencies. The winning ideas were losing a train ticket, not having enough money at a restaurant, and missing the last train home. I then got the students to come up with step-by-step instructions on how to deal with these situations.
This turned out to be a fun way to teach event sequencing (first do this, next try this, etc) and also some new vocabulary. The students had almost as much fun as I did. Some days I am still surprised that I get paid for this.
Remember kids: don’t get off the camel until it stops moving.
(partial rewrite of original post)
January 27, 2004 – Interesting students
Posted by Barniferous in Kawasaki Nova, Keikyu-Kawasaki NOVA, Teaching English on January 27, 2014
(Original post) At work I taught a kid that was really good today! Why can`t all kids be like that? I also taught a member of the Japanese Self Defence force and a woman who designs diamond tools for cutting silicon.
(2014 Update) The location of a NOVA branch will go a long way in determining what kinds of students will show up. Kawasaki City is a largely industrial city full of factories and heavy industry. The majority of students in the evenings and on weekends are all engineers. I have nothing against engineers, but it is nice to have a little more variety in the classroom. Three electrical engineers and one computer engineer who all work and live in Kawasaki is not variety.
Variety of students in the classroom, whether it be people with different jobs, people from different generations, people with interesting hobbies, or the always rare non-Japanese student, keeps things interesting for the teachers. English teachers are responsible for teaching as good a lesson as possible, regardless of who shows up to class. However, it is much easier to stay engaged and excited as a teacher when you aren’t teaching the same lesson to the same types of students all the time.
Variety in the classroom is also good for the students. Not only does it give students a chance to interact with people they might not normally talk to, it also allows for a wider range of vocabulary. As an example, imagine the discussion about weekend plans in a classrom with 4 salarymen as compared to a classroom with an engineer, a retired senior, a university student, and a stay at home housewife with 3 kids.
In my 3 years of teaching in Japan I got to teach a great assortment of different people with different jobs. My highlights include a Buddhist Monk, members of the Japanese Self Defence Force, a game designer, a few doctors, a hostesse, a miniture dollhouse designer, a very opinionated retired ballerina, and an awesome construction worker from Peru who was studying English as a third language.
If you have an English school and have any control over scheduling of your lessons, do your students and teachers a favour and try to get some variety in the classroom. It will benefit everyone.
Drinking in Japan 
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