Day 17

My Japanese students are very cool, happy kids and I like them a lot. They have a great sense of unique style. The boys all have a wild mop of jet black hair and love to teach the non-Japanese students to twirl their pens around their hands. The girls are vey trendy and they carry themselves with an envious attitude. However, my lessons with them - at both elementary and pre-intermediate levels - have so far been long and painful. They have very few words in English and they are reluctant to speak in my language, perhaps out of fear of making mistakes. In addition to lapsing constantly in to their mother tongue, it is therefore very difficult for them to make any reasonable progress. This persistent unresponsiveness, coupled with an almost apathetic attitude, is extremely frustrating for me. In spite of my best efforts to provide tasks that are varied, stimulating, engaging, fun and appropriately challenging, most of the lessons have unfortunately been tedious. It is difficult to put so much thought and effort in to the work that I have been attempting with them, only to receive little or no input in return. With four out of tomorrow's six lessons consisting predominantly of students from Japan, it is sure to be a long and arduous day of teaching.