Grocery Store Language is not a means to an end. Students have fun learning outside with their classmates. Language is a tool. Students become a part of the community. Students are learning how to interact with the local people.
Language is used in an authentic situation.
After the Great Hanshin Earthquake, students visited a temporary housing unit community center to interact with the elderly people. The elderly people taught our students how to make pencil and pen stand from milk cartons. The main purpose of this trip was to not just to interact in Japanese, but to help the elderly feel like they are an essential part in our lives. Many elderly earthquake victims lost their sense of belonging and worth, so by having opportunity to become teachers, they may have felt more ready to reenter the society. Valentine's Day Cards were delivered and handed to the elderly people living in these temporary housing units from the students personally.