| Japanese Language Consultant Course |
From 2010, Hiroshima City International House established a system called Japanese Language Consultants for International Students, to support the residents of International House. Many of the residents struggle to learn Japanese required in various situations, from daily conversation to writing academic papers. We have received urgent requests for people willing to offer consultation regarding Japanese.
This is the first time such an initiative has been taken. We collected
many applications from residents asking us to introduce language consultants,
and from many people interested in international exchange and support for
international students. |
The first Japanese Language Support Course was held on October 2 (Sat),
2010, from 1:00 – 3:00pm, and eighteen people participated in order of
application. The lecturer was Mr. Kazunari Iwata from Hiroshima City University,
and it culminated in a fun and meaningful two-hour course which included
workshops and discussions.
The first part of the course was self-introductions by the participants.
Most of the participants had never had any interaction with international
students, and they revealed their concerned about how to teach Japanese,
and at the same time their eagerness to interact with the international
students. |
Japanese Language Supporter Course |
This was followed by instruction by Mr. Iwata on "How you can support
the international students", "Principles of volunteering",
and "Useful books for Japanese instruction". Participants read
and corrected papers that had actually been written by international students,
and discussed and made presentations on various matters from daily life
that seem trivial but are actually useful for the international students.
The course was entertaining with some surprises as well.
For around a week after the course, the person responsible from International
House matched up course participants with international students. Each
of the pairs had their exciting first meeting in the Lounge at International
House, and supporter activities commenced. The consultants focused on such
key points as, "not taking excessive responsibility, doing what one
can, not spending a large amount of energy and time, and enjoying yourself",
and "placing more importance on exchange than teaching Japanese grammar",
and deepened their interaction with the international students.
On December 19 (Sun), a follow-up consultation session was held, giving
consultants with doubts or questions about their activities the opportunity
to ask Mr. Iwata.
There were positive comments from consultants such as "This is also
teaching me new things about Japanese language and culture", and also
emotional comments such as "Each time we meet, the student comes with
questions he has written down, and he listens intently to my answers, so
it really makes me feel that I am doing something useful. It really makes
me happy. I look forward to meeting every time".
The international students also made comments such as, "She is a
kind teacher, and easy to understand", and "I was struggling
to write my paper, but now it is going well".
We would like to expand this Japanese Language Consultants for International
Students system in the future, as support for the studies and daily life
of the international students, and also as a bridge between the students
and citizens who hope to have further interaction with international students. |
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| (Hiroshima City International House) |
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