I wanted to share an experience which has given me pause for thought.
I’ve been teaching in the primary and secondary settings since 1990, and teaching Japanese in both settings from 1997. I have always identified as a teacher. As demanding and at times utterly exhausting and frustrating as teaching can be, it has been my vocation and something I have been immensely proud of. I took a break last year and rested, reset and then focussed on establishing JapanEasyReads Bookstore. This came out of a need for reading resources that were comprehensible for beginner readers, that reused and recycled high frequency language in an accessible way. I wanted emergent readers to have access to appropriate reading material which would support an extensive reading program. Navigating this new work environment was exciting and the learning curve huge and I embraced it fully. I absolutely loved the creative process involved.
In truth, I was unsure if I would go back to teaching.
Last night my daughter’s friend came for dinner. She has had an interest in Japanese but was never given the opportunity to take Japanese at school. In her words she says she learns differently. She says she has always had learning issues. She claims she is “hard to teach”, that she struggles with parts of the English language and that as much as she would love to learn Japanese, she didn’t hold high hopes.
We chatted about how a baby learns; that babies are born without any language and that they learn when they can attach meaning to the sounds they hear. Most toddlers have received an abundance of aural input before they begin to speak and more still before they start formal literacy training (being taught to read and write).
Then in a very impromptu act, I gave a gesture for yes and no (thumb up/thumb down) and the corresponding word in Japanese (hai/iie). While she was patting Frankie the dog, I said “Inu desu. and pointed to the dog. I asked in English, "What did I just say?” to clarify the meaning. Then I repeated ‘Hai. Inu desu.’ (Yes it’s a dog) I then pointed to Louie, another dog snoring in the corner and said ‘Inu desu ka’ and gestured a question mark with my finger like a hook and gave an option of yes/no using the thumb gesture. The responses were tentative at first but she correctly responded using the gestures. And so this went on with me making statements and asking questions about the two dogs and Carlos the cat, circling around and around using limited language in a variety of contexts and providing lots of aural input. When I asked ‘Lily wa inu desu ka?’ Is Lily a dog? her giggle made it clear that she was following on and understanding our little ‘conversation’. `
The language we used was limited to:
Is/is not
Dog
Cat
And
But
And ‘ka’ which makes a question in Japanese.
After 10 minutes of this little chit chat in Japanese, I could see the spark of connection in her eyes, the look of joy at comprehending the simple phrases we were using.
This is why providing input that is comprehensible and interesting to the learner is so powerful.
I share this for 2 reasons. Firstly, as a reminder of the power of going slow. By limiting vocabulary, keeping the language comprehensible and providing as many different opportunities for the beginner learner to hear the language in a range of contexts as possible, we give all students-not just fast processing students-the opportunity to acquire a second language.
Secondly and maybe most importantly, this was a reminder to myself of the sheer joy I experience as a teacher when I see the recognition in the eyes of the learner and the buzz I receive when I see self confidence rising before my eyes. What a gift. What a wonderful reminder of this special gift teachers are given.