Sunday, 14 October 2007
Ena-san, 2190m
Yay! Mountain climbing season has started again! We drove into Gifu with Justin and Jeff from the hiking club and stayed overnight the night before the hike. Justin cooked nabe (stew) with seafood and chicken and we had a nice mellow night in the toasty warm room. I had a pretty good night's sleep too.
The next morning we climbed Ena-san. We were lucky with the weather and we so excited about seeing the first autumn colours. The hike took us about 8 hours including breaks. We really earned our hot spring visit on the way home. All in all a really lovely weekend.
Us at the top
More photos here
The next morning we climbed Ena-san. We were lucky with the weather and we so excited about seeing the first autumn colours. The hike took us about 8 hours including breaks. We really earned our hot spring visit on the way home. All in all a really lovely weekend.
Us at the top
More photos here
Saturday, 13 October 2007
“So how’s the Japanese going?”
I hate being asked this as I am forced to admit how slowly I am progressing. But, it’s a new academic term and time for a fresh start. We began classes again this week after having a break for the summer. I am attempting to apply (for once) some of the tricks that I encourage my own students to try. For instance, I have reevaluated my needs. The original plan was to study for the Japanese proficiency exams, but that meant classes focused on studying things like kanji and particles. This is all well and good, but when I think about what my needs are, these are things that are well down on the list, so not a good use of class time. Basically I want to improve my speaking and listening comprehension. Studying grammar and vocabulary will help with this. We talked to Yoshihara-sensei, our teacher, about these goals and she prepared a brilliant class recycling what we know and building fluency. I came out of the class feeling really good about my Japanese abilities! I know I have a LONG way to go, but I feel I am getting somewhere.
I have also done some study outside of class! Last semester, we were usually assigned practice exercises for homework. We almost always did them half an hour before class started or on the subway. How lame is that? This week’s homework was simply to “practice” the little dialogues we had studied - and we have! I have also started up my Japanese blog again (I just need to get someone to check my writing before I post) and I found some podcasts in Japanese. Yesterday I listened to an interview with someone talking about craft-making (here). There was a transcript to go with it so I was able to read along and listen at the same time. I learned lots of new words and kanji this way – it was brilliant. It’s hard to find things like this. I wish I had access to the type of materials my students have. Japanese textbooks and websites are usually really dry and have very little listening practice. If you know of any good resources for learning Japanese - especially authentic listening - please, PLEASE let me know. Thanks!
I have also done some study outside of class! Last semester, we were usually assigned practice exercises for homework. We almost always did them half an hour before class started or on the subway. How lame is that? This week’s homework was simply to “practice” the little dialogues we had studied - and we have! I have also started up my Japanese blog again (I just need to get someone to check my writing before I post) and I found some podcasts in Japanese. Yesterday I listened to an interview with someone talking about craft-making (here). There was a transcript to go with it so I was able to read along and listen at the same time. I learned lots of new words and kanji this way – it was brilliant. It’s hard to find things like this. I wish I had access to the type of materials my students have. Japanese textbooks and websites are usually really dry and have very little listening practice. If you know of any good resources for learning Japanese - especially authentic listening - please, PLEASE let me know. Thanks!
Monday, 8 October 2007
Independent Learning Association Conference
We had a great weekend at the conference in Chiba. My presentation seemed to go OK, I went to some very good sessions (see the conference blog over the coming days for summaries) and managed to catch up with lots of friends. The weather was perfect too. Pictures on Flickr
I wondered what I would say to the famous Henri Holec if I actually met him. As it turned out, he was in front of me in the coffee queue. I could have made some intelligent remark about his keynote speech, but I’m afraid all I did was ask if I could have my photo taken with him. What a girl! He seemed like a nice man and I don’t think he minded.
I wondered what I would say to the famous Henri Holec if I actually met him. As it turned out, he was in front of me in the coffee queue. I could have made some intelligent remark about his keynote speech, but I’m afraid all I did was ask if I could have my photo taken with him. What a girl! He seemed like a nice man and I don’t think he minded.
Wednesday, 3 October 2007
Great Croissant Heist
We spotted one of David's students working in the bakery at our local supermarket yesterday (I'll call her M so that she doesn't get into trouble). She came out straightening her chef's hat seething in English.
"I hate this job. The boss is so stupid"
We looked into the back of the bakery and saw a guy making bread.
"Yeah, that's him. Don't worry, he can't speak English"
She's worked there for 5 months. 5 months too long by the sounds of it. I asked her if there were any perks? Did she at least get free bread?
M ran back into the shop and talked to a woman with a clipboard. She then came out with a big bag of croissants and tried to shove them into our shopping bag.
Woah! We weren't hinting. We don't want to get her into trouble, but she's on a mission. The croissants are in our bag and she's telling us to
"Get out of here."
"GO!"
We went.
That girl is trouble.
Nice croissants though - I'm having one right now for breakfast.
"I hate this job. The boss is so stupid"
We looked into the back of the bakery and saw a guy making bread.
"Yeah, that's him. Don't worry, he can't speak English"
She's worked there for 5 months. 5 months too long by the sounds of it. I asked her if there were any perks? Did she at least get free bread?
M ran back into the shop and talked to a woman with a clipboard. She then came out with a big bag of croissants and tried to shove them into our shopping bag.
Woah! We weren't hinting. We don't want to get her into trouble, but she's on a mission. The croissants are in our bag and she's telling us to
"Get out of here."
"GO!"
We went.
That girl is trouble.
Nice croissants though - I'm having one right now for breakfast.
Tuesday, 2 October 2007
Conference Prep
Perhaps nothing much (apart from new KitKats) is going on in my life. Now, that is worrying.
I am getting ready for a big conference next weekend in Tokyo Bay. It’s an important conference for me in lots of ways, and the first one I have ever been to which is totally dedicated to my field. Usually when I go to conferences, 3 or 4 talks jump out as being relevant, but next weekend ALL of the talks are relevant. It’s going to be really difficult to choose which ones to go to when at times there are 18 concurrent sessions. I have initiated a blog project. Not just me this time; I have roped in a group of people to help be so that we can have a glimpse of the sessions we missed.
We are staying in a fancy hotel for the first time in the Tokyo area. It’s normally the Washington in Shinjuku for us. We wanted to be nearer the conference venue this time.
We just heard last night that one of the keynote speakers has had to cancel which is such a shame. James Lantolf is a bit of a hero of mine. How many days, no weeks did I spend trying to get my head around “Sociocultural theory and second language learning.” (Oxford University Press, 2000) while I was working on my thesis. And how grateful I was when I found the text that saved my (academic) life: “Vygotskian approaches to second language research” (with Gabriela Appel 1994, Ablex).
As far as I know Henri Holec is still coming. He’s often said to have started the (sub)field of learner autonomy in language learning. What on earth will I say to him if I actually meet him?
My own presentation is on Sunday afternoon. I am talking about my students’ blogs and how they promote learner autonomy, in particular critical reflection. Wish me luck.
I am getting ready for a big conference next weekend in Tokyo Bay. It’s an important conference for me in lots of ways, and the first one I have ever been to which is totally dedicated to my field. Usually when I go to conferences, 3 or 4 talks jump out as being relevant, but next weekend ALL of the talks are relevant. It’s going to be really difficult to choose which ones to go to when at times there are 18 concurrent sessions. I have initiated a blog project. Not just me this time; I have roped in a group of people to help be so that we can have a glimpse of the sessions we missed.
We are staying in a fancy hotel for the first time in the Tokyo area. It’s normally the Washington in Shinjuku for us. We wanted to be nearer the conference venue this time.
We just heard last night that one of the keynote speakers has had to cancel which is such a shame. James Lantolf is a bit of a hero of mine. How many days, no weeks did I spend trying to get my head around “Sociocultural theory and second language learning.” (Oxford University Press, 2000) while I was working on my thesis. And how grateful I was when I found the text that saved my (academic) life: “Vygotskian approaches to second language research” (with Gabriela Appel 1994, Ablex).
As far as I know Henri Holec is still coming. He’s often said to have started the (sub)field of learner autonomy in language learning. What on earth will I say to him if I actually meet him?
My own presentation is on Sunday afternoon. I am talking about my students’ blogs and how they promote learner autonomy, in particular critical reflection. Wish me luck.
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