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2016 J-LEAP REPORTFEBRUARY, 2017: BREEZE ISSUE #112
A FREE MONTHLY E-NEWSLETTER FOR FRIENDS OF JAPAN & TEACHERS OF
JAPANESE

2016 J-LEAP REPORTBY HINA OISHI
Lake Oswego High School
Lakeridge High School
Lake Oswego, OR
Hello! My name is Hina Oishi, and I am working
as a Japanese assistant teacher at two highschools here in Oregon - Lake Oswego andLakeridge High School. My lead teacher is
Stewart-sensei, and she is the BEST! We not
only teach together as best buddies, but also hang out together outside of school. (Because
we just miss each other!) Here I’d like to introduce our fun class activities and my energetic
students.

INTRODUCING FRESH CULTURE
As a Japanese teacher, my main role is to introduce first-hand Japanese culture to my students.
I love the sparkles in their eyes when we learn about Japanese culture together. This year, wecovered キャラ弁 (Kyara-ben), 歌舞伎 (Kabuki), お笑い (Owarai), 演歌 (Enka), カラオケ (Karaoke),and 宝塚 (Takarazuka). My favorite part of class is when we think and discuss about culturaldifference in addition to improving our students’ Japanese language skills. We talked about キ
ャラ弁, the concept of 旬 (Syun) and all the students came up with such a beautiful Bento ideasand sketches, reflecting 旬 perfectly. When we covered 宝塚, we had an exciting discussion
about whether it is okay or not to have a musical group that only unmarried women can join.
Sharing opinions with other classmates and trying to understand each other’s point of view is
the critical skill to have in this society. Having open dialogue with high school students is sucha great part of teaching and I am so happy that I can contribute to developing their character
through Japanese classes.
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OSHOGATSU CLASS
Before and after winter break, we had お正⽉(Oshogatsu) class and taught Japanesetraditions related to the New Year’s holiday like
紅⽩歌合戦 (Kohaku Utagassen), 初詣 (Hatsumoude) and おせち (Osechi). Students also
made 年賀状 (Nenga jyo) and experienced 書き
初め (Kakizome). For 書き初め, each student
picked one Kanji letter which describes their
New Year’s resolution. Listening to thetraditional Koto music in the background,students showed high concentration writing
their Kanji, and presented it in front of theclass afterwards. I was so impressed that every
student came up with resolutions full of hopeand positive energy. Let me introduce somestudents’ words.
和―I want world peace. 希―I want to havehope. 献―I want to devote myself to study. 愛―I want love and be loved. 新―I want to bechallenged. 富― I want to work hard and earnmore money. 政―I want to pay attention topolitics.
Their Kanji characters certainly showed the strength of our students, and they all seemed veryhappy and proud of themselves in describing their will and feelings through calligraphy. As forme, my one letter for this year is ⾁, because I want to go to gym often and get a lot of 筋⾁
muscle!

LET’S SING AND DANCE!
One of the most fun and effective ways of teaching Japanese is singing and dancing! Our level1 students practiced “ぼくはくま Boku wa kuma” by Hikaru Utada, level 2 students practiced“上を向いて歩こうUe wo muite arukou” by Kyu Sakamoto, and level 3 & 4 practiced “世界にひとつだけの花 Sekai ni hitotsu dakeno hana” by SMAP. Our students love singing, and they evenrequest singing together out of the blue during class! A lot of students want to go to Japan,and it seems like being able to sing these songs at a Karaoke in Japan motivates them topractice even harder. From next month, we are planning to practice singing AND dancing “恋ダンス Koi Dance” from the very famous Japanese drama. I am so excited to dance with mystudents because I love dancing too! Also my lead teacher, Stewart-sensei, is the greatest
composer, songwriter and singer. She has tons of songs and gestures that cover many genres –from children’s songs to rap! Thanks to her songs, our students learned a lot of important
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phrases and grammar points by heart and are able to use them. I think Stewart-sensei should
release her music DVD and I will definitely be a backup dancer with our fun and talented
students!
6 months have passed since I came here to teach in Oregon. I have had such a fulfilling lifeand teaching experiences every day. This program not only has let me contribute to developingmutual understandings between Japanese and American people, but it also has helped me togrow as a teacher and as a person learning different perspectives and having a wider point ofview. I am so thankful for this great opportunity and I will keep growing together with mystudents!

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Japanese Langauge Education Update 39

2016 J-LEAP Report: Hina

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2016 J-LEAP Report: Natsumi Uejo

Breeze #111

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