It's a ... boy?!?
A picture, because some of you were curious. Not much to see here, really, sorry. Give us a year, we will be a lot more interesting!
Today, I would like to have you write reflection on last Tuesday's class. If you weren't there, maybe you can tell us what you were doing ... :) we missed you. For those of you who were in class, well what did you think? I am specifically interested in your thoughts on:
- the reading
- the questions
- the discussion
- the issue
After this, I hope to have a short conversation, in groups, sharing yoru thoughts, then I will ask people from their groups to share their thoughts. Seemed to work in class on Tuesday.
Finally, with any time left (hee hee) I hope to get back to our book and the final section of Unit8.... must... move forward!
Ok. Let's learning!
p.s. homework: I have a short reading for you. an old, american short story that is purrrrrfect for this time of the year. what do you think?
posted by scott-o @ 5:45 PM
20 comments
20 Comments:
I think it was a suitable topic for us. That is a kind of concerning topic but which we usually don't talk so much daily. In addition, reading the stuffs which foreigners write about our Japanese tendencies or traditions is really interesting! We can know our image from other countries' people. It can be help us what kind of character we have genarally, and we can use or express it to communicate with foreigners.
I think that class on Tuesday was the good class for me. First, I read the assignment adout something. Next, we discussed it in the small group. Then, each group said our opinion in the class. Finally, We summarized it each student for homework. In these class give me good opportunity to improve my English's reading,speaking and writing skill. But I am sory. I didn't homework.
Though I wanted to go previous class, I slept late. I'm sorry.
Last Tuesday we talked about omiai! I think people who get married through omiai feel a little bit ashamed. Maybe I also think so, but I don't know the reason why. I think getting married through omiai become rare recently.
Azusa
It was difficult for me to do that exercise, but I think it helps me to blush up reading and speaking skils. I know omiai, but I can't explane it clearly in English. If I can more follow this exercise, I might get confidence a little.
When my room mate asked me about AMAE two weeks ago, it's her homework of japanese class, I couldn't answered it clearly. I have never thought about omiai or amae before, so if the exercise do in class, I could get a chance to think about these Japanese things and helps me how can I tell them to non-Japanese.
I was surprised that there were some things I didn't know like tsurisyo, so I think it's interesting to learn Japanese culture in English. It's sometimes difficult to tell other people Japanese culture in English, so i think this is very good practice. And if we have much time, I also would like to know other countries' culture which we may not know.
This exersise was really interesting and very benefitial because it is a good opportunitiy to think about our Japanese culture. In my oppinion, we are interested in different cultures, but most of them don't know about own culture so much. We need to know our culture because we are Japanese!! I thought that strongly when I went to America. We have more possibility to introduce our culture with people from overseas than usual. Also, if we know it, we can exchange the information and we can remember strongly through comparing with own culture. I hope to have opportunities like that as many as possible.
In addition, it's a good chance to express what we think and to know what classmates think. Each of the way to think is different, which is natural, and we can improve our ability.
I wasn't in class on Tuesday and I'm not reading Omiai, or arranged marriage script yet. But for me, Omiai is not righ decision to married. From Omiai, we may have a good life style but how about love?In our life we have a casual meeting which is unexpected meeting. From these meeting, some people can get contact with their partner but others are not.. But, it is the tricks played by destiny. Moreover, As my idea, casual meeting is more romantic than Omiai.
I think arranged marriage is interesting.But I think that love marriage is better than arranged marriage.Because marriage should be happy.I think that it is not good for young people to follow this practice although they don't want to do.But Omiai is one of chances to meet.
I like free-style disscusion with a topic because Scott picks words up from our conversation and often give us new words or pharases.
I don't like this book because many facilties use books like that so i prefer to other kind of stuff.For example a paper that Scott made.It has a topic and discuss freely on that topic with him.
I think next students should do presantation(not prepared),it makes them brave to speak in front of everyone.(like Adam's ESL class)
The last lesson, it was interesting. Because I seldom practice reading. It was difficult for me to write summery. But it was good practices. Also, thinking about Omiai-kekkon is very fun. When I read this article first, it was easy to understand. So, I felt I want to read books like omiai-kekkon.
I was absent the class last Tuesday...because I had bad headache(TーT)I was in bed all the day. It seemed class discussed about arranged marriage,didn't it?
I am reading the reading to catch up with everyone...
This topic was interesting.
because,this topic is immediate problem to me. so, I could think
easily and seriously. To be honest,
these things are more interesting than our text book's topics.But,
our text book gave me good chance to think about many things.
And, group discussion is good.
I was sorry that I was absent last Tuesday. I was going to Tokyo the day because of a job interview. A job interview was second times for me, but I was in tension very much. There are a lot of people there. They seemed to have confidence. I thought I never want to regret, so I venture to appeal myself. It was my turn. I was asked why do you want to enter our company and about my hobbies or part time job. It took about only 3 munites. I spoke loudly and cheerfully. Now I don't regret at all. Today is the announcement. I have to be in tension.
It was interesting to know about omiai. Of course I know the word, but actually I didn't know the process of omiai very much or one japanese term... so this text is useful even japanese. I think omiai is one of good way to find partner. I thought it was good to sumarize the content.
I am used to be reluctant about omiai. In the past, in society, women were not allowed to act like men. I mean, women had no rights to argue about any social issue or whatever it is. Men were in the center of the world.In such a society, generally woman were forced to be a house wife once they were educated. So whenever I hear the word omiai, people in Japan remains of our old culture.
Personally, I think omiai is one of the ways for finding a right pertner so people shouldnt concern about the old meaning though.
If you are lucky you can find your ideal partner on the street, however, life is not that easy!
You have to do something, for example, go to a place where people have similar interests are gathering. Your partner is not waiting for you, you have to take an action!
OMEDETOU for your new baby!^o^
about the arranged marriage, i think it is good because japanese people takes so much time to work,sometimes it is difficult to find a partner.also because all the people who take Omiai have same purpose, they think of it seriously and decide carefully whether the person is good for them or not as a pertner. thinking of love marriage, it is not same at this point.
On Tuesday, I was interested in the topic:arranged marrigage in Japan. This is because it seems very familiar for our society. Maybe, I will get married through this practice... I don't want though... Anyway, I think this textbook is very reliable for your next ESL class. The textbook explains about Japanese culture very well. I wanted to use it in our this class. I think students tend to contemplate the matter which is close to our lives, so this lesson plan is very good and appropriate. About discussion, Comparing other cultures such as American one and Japanese culture of this book is more available, I think.
Yuka Nanjou
thanks for your comments.
“reading the stuffs which foreigners write about our Japanese tendencies or traditions is really interesting!”
actually, these essays are written by third year Ebime university students, studying English. They are in fact Japanese.
“I think people who get married through omiai feel a little bit ashamed. I think getting married through omiai become rare recently.”
Why would people who use Omiai be ashamed? Did the article mention that? I missed that. I would be interested in how ‘rare’ omiai has become.
“If I can more follow this exercise, I might get confidence a little.”
Curious to know what, specifically was hard to follow. I hope through input that I could tailor an exercise that was more suited and easier for students to work with.
“And if we have much time, I also would like to know other countries' culture which we may not know.”
I agree, the exercise would be best if we are able to bring in ideas from ‘other’ cultures as well. Maybe through the use of presentations (of information found through short research projects) we could learn more about other cultures and how they are both similar and different to Japan.
“we are interested in different cultures, but most of them don't know about own culture so much. We need to know our culture because we are Japanese!!”
I really like this statement, but I want to explain my thinking. It is hard to understand others without first having a solid grasp of ourselves. The same is true for our culture. Looking at a foreign culture is fun, and it is easy to notice all the differences that we see on the surface, but the more we explore our own culture, the better we understand it, the more fully we can appreciate, respect, and experience other cultures.
“I wasn't in class on Tuesday and I'm not reading Omiai… But for me, Omiai is not righ decision to married.”
Glad to read a student who is able to express themselves about the issue even without reading the actual article. That is the beauty of this – you already know something about the topic and should come with opinions about it. Hopefully you will understand that you can and should have some preconceived notions about every topic. In fact, having and sharing our opinion about topics (and being honest in saying, ‘I really don’t know anything about that, tell me more.’) is a really good way to learn and improve our language as well as our thinking ability.
“students should do presentation (not prepared),it makes them brave to speak in front of everyone.”
I hope to do this with students, and I agree: non-prepared speeches are good, but to get to the point where they are meaningful takes some prep. I will take your advice about the material in mind, but honestly, when I look around my colleagues offices, I don’t see many of them focused on Japanese culture. Is this really the case?
“our text book gave me good chance to think about many things.”
true. I know our textbook was a bit simple, but I really did like the topics it brought up and hoped that with easier topics, there would be fewer reasons for people to not participate.
“I thought it was good to summarize the content.”
A couple of you mentioned the summary. I think this is something I hadn’t considered too closely and will need to: summary and paraphrasing are very useful, important skills and doing more of this will only make people more comfortable and competent.
“I used to be reluctant about omiai. In the past, women were not allowed to act like men. I mean, women had no rights to argue about any social issue”
Yes, we didn’t talk much about the history of this issue, and how it connects to society as a whole.
“Japanese people takes so much time to work, sometimes it is difficult to find a partner. because all the people who take Omiai have same purpose, they think of it seriously and decide carefully whether the person is good for them or not as a pertner. thinking of love marriage, it is not same at this point.”
so much here I want to ask about. this first sentence, are you suggesting that Omiai is necessary because Japanese work long hours, because they are slow at making decisions, or for some other reason altogether? I’m not sure why love marriage isn’t the same. Are you suggesting that people who are not using Omiai are dishonest about their intentions when they are dating? I mean, do people never say things like, ‘I like being with you. We should consider taking the next step. We should think about getting married.’ Do Japanese people not discuss their relationships with their partners while they are in it? If they have discussions, are they dishonest?
“I think students tend to contemplate the matter which is close to our lives, so this lesson plan is very good and appropriate. Maybe, I will get married through this practice... I don't want though...”
This was my assumption too, glad to hear it is (sometimes) correct. What I am curious about, what is difficult for me to understand is the last statement. Why would you use this process if you don’t wish to? Would your parents not respect your choice for life partner? Is their truly no chance to meet people nowadays? Don’t worry, I have asked my friends in the States who have used dating services the same questions: I guess I am rather traditional in my understanding of relationships …. in a Western sort of way.
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