IrishOboe

So, oral exams have started for my ichinensei (1^st year students – do you see the 1 in that word?) and I’m pleased as punch. Some are nervous, some didn’t prepare as much as they should have, but most were good, and some were excellent! It was great to look at the grade book and see how those who struggled with the written tests did a great job with the oral exam. Quickly, I had them write a dialogue in Japanese, translate it to English, memorize it, and perform it for me and the JTE (Japanese Teacher of English). Some JTE’s arranged to have the exam video taped and for others I just used my MD recorder. Sadly, it jumped from three bars of battery to none in one 45min session so I missed the best dialogue of one class, but it is etched in my memory! So many kids were creative and acted out the story well. It really helped their intonation to act out the part. I think the fact that they had it memorized also kept them from being very monotone, which is how they tend to read English. The JTE’s were also very pleased, which of course made me pleased. The students were very happy, which made me even happier. (More)