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2014 J-LEAP REPORT: HITOMI KAMEYAMADECEMBER, 2014: BREEZE ISSUE #86
A FREE MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER FOR FRIENDS OF JAPAN & TEACHERS OF JAPANESE

2014 J-LEAP REPORTBY HITOMI KAMEYAMA
North Central High School
Indianapolis, IN
Hello. My name is Hitomi Kameyama. I am currently
teaching Japanese with my lead teacher Nakamura-sensei
at North Central High School in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Indianapolis is the capital of Indiana, located in themidwestern part of the United States. It is a beautiful citywith rich cultural heritage, and it is also famous for autoracing.
When I first came to North Central High School, I was overwhelmed with the size of the buildings at school
and the number of students, with about 3,400. However, once I entered the Japanese classroom, I felt
like I was back in Japan. There are four levels of Japanese classes; 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and AP(AdvancedPlacement) with a total of 130 students, and in every class, even with first year students, Nakamura-sensei
uses Japanese almost all the time. She also encourages students to use Japanese as much as possible.
She is a wonderful teacher who is enthusiastic about teaching and I feel very lucky to be able to work withher. As her assistant teacher, I work to help achieve two important goals.
Our first goal is to improve the communication skills of our students by exposing them to opportunities toexperience authentic Japanese language. In order to achieve this goal, Nakamura-sensei and I prepare avariety of activities. For example, we often demonstrate Japanese conversation in natural speed in front of
the class, using authentic expressions. Students may not necessarily understand everything, but weencourage them to use language strategies and to guess what we are talking about. Some students get alittle frustrated at first, but then they start paying more attention and picking up Japanese words. Inaddition, at the beginning of each class, students have a chance to share their stories using Japanese as
much as they can. I think this helps not only to improve their Japanese language skills but to also create afriendly atmosphere where students feel comfortable and enjoy learning Japanese. Also, Nakamura-sensei
emphasizes the importance of Japanese manners, such as greetings and bowing. She teaches students torespect their classmates as well as teachers, which I think is very important.

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Our second goal is to help students increase their knowledge of Japanese culture in addition to thelanguage. For example, each first year student researches different cultural topics and gives apresentation on their findings. Through this creative research project, they can gain deep understandingsof many aspects of Japanese culture. We also have many fun events where students can experience
Japanese culture. Luckily, a JOI coordinator Ms. Chiaki Tokiwa is working in Indianapolis and we are ableto collaborate. This semester, she kindly visited our school with local Japanese volunteers and presented
Japanese culture to both students in Japanese class as well as those who are not taking Japanese. Fromtheir wonderful presentations and activities, the students at our school were able to experience different
aspects of Japan including tea ceremony and traditional games. A number of students commented thatthey enjoyed those events very much and that they became more inspired to become fluent in Japanesewith the goal of going to Japan someday in the near future.
It has been four months since I came here and I have really enjoyed working with great teachers, students,and people in the community. It is hard to believe that the first semester is almost over, but I think
Nakamura-sensei and I have been able to work well together to make the most of this great opportunity
with the support from J-LEAP supervisors, staff members, school colleagues, people in the community, andthe JOI coordinator Ms. Tokiwa. I would like to show my appreciation to all the people who are involved inthis wonderful experience, and I look forward to making stronger connections with students as well as
people in the community.

Breeze #86

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