Intercultural Communication Center (ICC)Waseda University

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I’m Yijuan from beautiful Yunnan, China. I’ve always been fascinated by Japan’s unique education system. When I heard about this event, I was thrilled because I love sharing my cross-cultural experiences with children, hoping to inspire them. Participating in this event was an invaluable experience for me.

Impressions of the event

The experience was both challenging and exciting. How hard could giving a lesson be, especially when it is about my culture, which I couldn’t be more familiar with? That was what I thought at first. But as soon as we started planning, I realized it was not that simple. Despite having some teaching experience, planning everything from scratch and teaching in Japanese posed new challenges. While I initially relied on my partner and spoke mostly in English during preparation, I eventually pushed myself to communicate more in Japanese. We worked hard to write our “script” in Japanese in addition to the visible slides, hoping to make children feel more immersed in this journey of culture.

I was very excited to see the differences between Japanese schools and those of my country. We were lucky to see the ‘kyushoku’ team, a group of students from lower grade, dressed in white aprons, holding scoops and trays to dispense food to other students. This is a unique scene of Japanese schools, which is a good education in responsibility and economy to my mind.

Interactions

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My partner was outgoing and helpful, and our cooperation was efficient. She provided valuable insights and advice during preparation, which helped refine our lesson. We made some pictures as teaching tools, and designed a “conversation-style” of teaching. Despite some uncertainty during the actual teaching, our prior preparation and mutual understanding ensured a successful outcome.

I was uneasy about whether the students would like the contents, whether they would answer the quizzes actively, and whether they would be upset about the game results. But it went far beyond my expectations. The kids were so engaged and curious, and had a good sense of teamwork during the games, showing a keen interest in learning about my culture and hometown. I was deeply touched by their curiosity and respect, especially when each class teacher acknowledged our names.

Suggestions for participants

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Coordinate schedules with your partner and allocate sufficient time for preparation. If you want to provide rich content and finish on time, it may take some effort to plan and practice speaking a few times. It is important to reserve at least a week of time.

Write a script or an outline and make adjustments as you go. Changes could arise after you practice the lesson the first time, making wise trade-offs. You can monitor time by each part so you would have a feeling of time and make adjustments during the actual teaching.

Finally, good luck and enjoy everything!