The Way You Speak To Me

Episode 11 - Irohasu (Orange)

I apologize for the delay in this episode but we've just been back to back busy with all manner of events and circumstance that we - as ALTs - find ourselves constantly in the middle of. This week we're talking speech contests! Mitsuko and I both share some strong opinions as well as stories from our past experiences with this yearly school event. As a bonus we've got special guest Brianna Hom making her first appearance on the show. All the way from Akita-ken, Brianna recounts the huge impact her first speech contest left on her.

Show Notes

-The drink for this week is actually water! It's fairly common and I've seen it in just about every single vending machine I've stopped by. Here's some googled images as I don't have my phone and we're just going to have to make do!

Yep, it's water.

The spacing of the "I" is still odd to us.

-We definitely shared some strong opinions this time around so I feel this episode would benefit from a disclaimer. We spoke our minds and opinions honestly. I think we did so while also being mindful and culturally sensitive to the topic at hand. I'm positive many people will disagree with the feelings we expressed, and that's fine! Let me know what you think; I really do want to hear about it.

-Here's a shot from the contest itself:

To preserve their privacy (and my entertainment) their faces have been replaced with dots.

My kids are the "Akachuu" Red ones.

All the students got on the stage to do some last minute practicing upon arrival. I was instructed to make my kids do it as well. Honestly I would've avoided that since A) Everyone talking at once is hardly conducive to concentration B) I doubt it did any favors to the butterflies in their stomachs, and C) If you still required practice by that late into the game then you have more problems than a last minute rehearsal would fix.

My kids were dropped off by another JTE - who had to go back to work immediately thereafter - and I drove myself, so it was just the four of us for most of the day.

-Links!

As always you can find us on iTunes so be sure to subscribe if you haven't already!

If you're not into iTunes or perhaps don't own an "i"device then check us out on Soundcloud!

Make sure to read Mitsuko's blog right here:

 And special thanks again to Brianna Hom for taking the time to chat with me!

Check our her adventures (and alliteration right here:

As always if you have thoughts, comments, suggestions,

critiques, or maybe you want to find out how to be a guest on the show, send us an email at:

culturecafecast@gmail.com

-J

Speaking The Truth

The speech contest has officially ended and now it’s time to write some thoughts about it. 

Close but no cigar

     It is true that we didn’t come home with a prize, but despite that there’s still much to write about. We’d been practicing for over 2 months by the time our regional contest came around. I felt extremely confident in all my kids. It's probably hard to believe that I was being objective about their abilities but we honestly had a good shot at it this year. I never put any pressure on them though; above all else I told them that we should go to have fun, do our best, and be proud of the work we put into the competition. I can safely say that we accomplished all of these. It’s a huge achievement - something they’ll probably remember for the rest of their lives, and I’m thrilled that I was able to be a part of it.

     Watching them improve their abilities as the days went on was incredible. I’m positive that their self-confidence has improved dramatically, which is a hard-earned award of its own. One of my girls in particular, who I will call R here, made a complete transformation from her shy cocoon.  

     R was always one of my favorites because she's just a bright kid and damn near everything a teacher could want from a student. She was always very timid though; most of the work we did was to crack that shell so she could feel comfortable in her own skin. I think we nailed it too. I remember the first day I was able to make her laugh while we were practicing. Eventually she was smiling regularly during our sessions. One day, when I was in the gym waiting to start practice, R approached me and said that she had already worked with one of my JTEs earlier so she would just be doing club activities. I said that was fine and gave her a "頑張って"* for her practice. During one moment of downtime she walked back over to me where I sat along the edge of the stage awaiting the other three students: 

(translated)

     "It was kind of lonely with only the two of us working together today." She said with a half smile.

     

     "Yeah, it is more fun when it's the whole group of us isn't it?" I replied. She smiled.

     

     "Yeah, like when it's the 6 of us..." She trailed off as practice demanded her attention once again. I leaned back on the stage feeling as though I were doing something right.

     Those kinds of small moments are really what spelled our time working towards that contest. Every single one of them had an effect on me. K was our comic relief, A was and is ever studious about English and I enjoyed having grammar conversations with her, Ka is the veteran, having competed last year. I knew her the best from the start. 

     I still can’t believe how strong the four of them were. I know what a nerve-wrecking experience it can be to stand amongst one’s peers and perform before a panel of judges. Rather than shrink with fear or lose their voice to nervousness they courageously rose the occasion; standing tall they confidently gave their speeches and performed admirably by all standards.

            Our small band of five applauded with uproarious cheer after each speech, never failing to support one another. In the break periods between these moments we huddled together and congratulated those who had finished their performance and offered encouraging words to those whose time had yet to come. They were amazingly brave and poised throughout their speeches. If the tables were turned and I had to speak Japanese I can’t say I would’ve done as well.

            In all honesty I felt very confident about taking home a victory this year. It’s hard to be objective when one is one as close as we were throughout these months but I thoroughly believe they performed in a manner worthy of accommodation. When their names were not announced, I felt my heart sink. They accepted this loss with great dignity but I was left feeling as though I had let them down. When the ceremony had ended I made sure to tell everyone how proud I was of them.

            The next day I asked how they were doing and they all seemed fine. I was glad that they were handling it well but I still felt a bit bad myself. While I was working on my English board, rearranging a few things, A came and handed me a letter. In it she thanked me for all help along the way and said that despite not winning she felt we all gave it our best shot. While I was still riding down the happiness from that letter R later told me that she had fun.

             

And then it struck me: that was the goal wasn’t it? In the end, that’s all it took to make it better.

Well that says it all doesn't it?

 -J

 * 頑張って (ganbatte) is an expression that one hears quite a bit in Japan. It's sometimes thought of as being synonymous with the English saying "good luck!" but I tend to disagree. "Ganbatte" means "do your best" and would therefore imply that the person it is told to must put some effort into their happiness. "Good luck" on the other hand feels less contingent on the agency of the person involved in the fortune. But that's just me!

 

Delays Due To Relays

     The currently planned episode of the podcast is being postponed until all schedules lighten up.

Here's what's been going in the meantime:

The shirts will also have this slogan

     Of the peaks and valleys in a Japanese school system with respect to workload we're certainly at a peak. As of this writing, most schools are either preparing for their Undoukai (Sports Festival) or have had them last weekend. Mitsuko's was the latter and I'm still the former.

     Speaking of Mitsuko, she has since returned back home to Ebi and (as of the second semester) has started working once more. It's a bit sad that we have to live apart again. It was a good run while we had it - even if for horrible reasons, but hopefully work will keep us busy enough to avoid becoming too lonesome. She was elated to be back in action though and there was much rejoicing by everyone in her town - especially the students. There were no mistakes about being back to work as soon as she returned; speech contest practice started right away.
     While there are currently no classes for me, there's still much work to be done in the speech contest realm. Since about the end of July I've been more or less 'coaching' four of my students - three third years and a second year - alongside a JTE or two. Occasionally I'll be left alone to work with them and I quite like those sessions. I'm know I'm not good enough to communicate all of my ideas entirely in Japanese but there's also no need for that. Some of the best moments I've had working on the speech contest have come from the times when it was just the group of us - allowing for more breathing room and a less tense environment overall, which I believe to be essential for this kind of practice.
     I remember a recent time when I was practicing with a couple of students who I'll refer to as A and K here. K had been making great leaps in his pronunciation. I chose him in fact because he's quite good at mimicking me. Though he first did it in jest during class time I later told him what a useful skill it would be for learning a language. For practice on emphasis I had encouraged him to copy my pseudo karate chopping motions so he could remember how the cadence rose and fell. We joked about how he would scare people randomly speaking English and chopping away. Next up was A. I enjoy working with her because of how inquisitive she is. She'll be the first one to recognize that she misspoke and she'll always ask how she can improve her pronunciation. I try to avoid terms such as "right" and "wrong" when it comes to how one speaks so I always remind her (and the rest of them) that outside the world of speech contests pronunciation is really a bottom tier quality. During the course of our practice we were working on a rather difficult word to pronounce and I had thought up a new way for her to think about it. That clicked and she managed to say it perfectly. The look on her face after she had just blown her own mind was fantastic.

A picture from Isai Kindergarten looking out at the now defunct Isai Elementary

     If there's one thing that makes this job really worth it, it's the kids. They're just the best. I have the good fortune of seeing a lot of kids by way of elementary school and kindergartens, which does add to the workload but gives me a chance to have more fun as well. The downside is that outside of my junior high school, I have very scattered visits so I don't see each individual school as frequently as I probably should. My base school (junior high) is fun precisely because of how much contact I have with the students and how very unique and quirky they all are.
     Perhaps it was that way when I was a junior high school student as well but then again, I wasn't in the position to have everyone instantly know who I was, or like me for that matter. Even thinking about the teacher's perspective (back home) reaffirms that we never felt that way towards them, which isn't to say we didn't respect our teachers, it just didn't feel as automatic.
     I've heard from friends who teach/ have taught at high schools that they don't necessarily run into every student all the time, which is a shame. For people that do see (and frequently) all kids in the student body I feel as though one becomes nearly paternal in nature. It seems almost inescapable considering how much becoming a teacher feels like being sworn into a society which grants implicit trust and respect - something I don't take lightly as it seems easy to abuse. This serves to increase the value of my work all the more. Above all else, I just don't want to let my kids down.

-J



     

A Reward Within

For this entry I shall post the article I wrote for my school's newsletter

The article contained my reflections on the Chubu Regional Speech Contest

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A Reward Within

I had a little bit of experience working in a speech contest environment before this past one. One of the things I did while I lived in Kofu-cho was work with students on their speeches. I showed up for all their practices working on pronunciation, flow, and rhythm among other aspects. We worked hard but came out of the contest without an award. It hit me hard but it was important to understand that hard work in and of itself is valuable, though it may not seem like it at first.

This year I worked with my own students for the Chubu Regional Speech Contest. They worked hard. I cannot stress that point enough, and no amount of words I add to that statement can make it more powerful. They simply worked hard. Over all those sessions I witnessed great change in all of my students. They all started off impressively and worked towards becoming incredible. I cannot thank or congratulate them enough for all their outstanding efforts over the past weeks.

At the contest they performed without fail. Each executed his or her speech flawlessly and with the kind of confidence in their abilities that was truly admirable. One by one I applauded as I was both impressed and proud of their recitals. I knew the students were proud as well for I could see the smiles upon their faces after each finished.

Alas, the judgment time came. As we all sat with bated breath names were slowly called one at a time. And in this moment I was perhaps the most proud of my students. Their names were not called, but they applauded with all their might, and kept their heads held high for the remainder of the ceremony.

We came back to the school not with awards, but with the spirit of competition burning brighter than ever. For that I thank them and for that I will never forget this event.

Thank you Souhei-san, Hikari-san, Hayato-san, and Kana-san.

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I couldn't be more proud of you guys.


-J