Life as a kindergarten English teacher in a country that use no English

In a blink of an eye, it is already my second month in Japan. The first month was more of a training period for me to familiarize with the kindergarten’s education system and administration. Some days there are amazing new discoveries, but there are days that I wish time would pass a little quicker.

There are altogether 5 English teachers in the kindergarten – 1 Japanese, 3 Americans and then myself. 2 of the Americans married Japanese wives and therefore they understand Japanese. Where as for the other American teacher and I, we know zero Japanese (well, maybe he knows more than I do). This is a major handicap for an English kindergarten teacher in Japan.

Basically, the children at the kindergarten are divided to 4 levels – Sainensho, Nensho, Nenchu and Nencho. Each class has English lessons in the morning once or twice in a week, except for Sesame and Sunny classes.

Sainensho (2-3 years old)
There are 2 Sainensho classes – Purin and Donuts. There are 2 teachers and less than 20 students in each class. The child’s Job Description, JD is to attend school (reluctantly, for most of them), cry, pee and pooh. For some, crying happens naturally the minute they step out of the bus. But for the rest, it is ‘induced-crying. This means ‘I do not know why but I think it is cool to cry’.
There is also Piyo Piyo, where the child comes with their mum once a week for 6 months. This duration is sort of like a trial period to see if the child (or rather the mum) likes the kindergarten or not.

Nensho (3-4 years old)
Nensho classes are named after animals – Panda, Koala, Koinu, Koneko and Racko. The number of teachers and students is like Sainensho. The JD changed as the child is promoted. If you find a child who sits still or keeps quiet in class, high chance that he is not a Nensho student.
The Head Teacher of the English Department (aka my immediate boss) loves this particular adorable boy from one of the Nensho classes. One day, the little boy ate five rice balls for lunch. When the teacher asked him if all the rice balls are in his stomach, the boy replied, ‘No, two are in my stomach, one is here and one is here.’ He pointed to his head and then to his buttock.

Nenchu (4-5 years old)
Budo, Ringo, Suika and Ichigo are name of fruits and they are the Nenchu classes. I would say the teacher’s JD is the most difficult to define in this level. At age 4-5 years old, children would start to grow horns on their skull. To make matters worst, there is only 1 teacher in a class of more than 20 monsters, I mean students. They tend to ask the most questions and instructions go through the right ear and come out from the left ear. This… is where I belong!
I teach with 2 other English teachers in the Sesame class. This is a special class because the parents pay higher for their children to have English lessons everyday. The class has 28 children.

Nencho (5-6 years old)
Nencho classes are Niji, Hoshi, Sora and Tsuki. They are named after nature. These children have full grown horns but they are able to control themselves, I think.
Sunny is the English class. Most of the students understand simple English, some tries hard to converse with me and some just refuse to use English even though they have been exposed it for 3 years.

The most interesting part of an ordinary day for me would be lunchtime. The kindergarten provides lunch everyday except for Tuesdays. I eat in Sesame class with the children everyday. Children would first set up their table with their tablecloth (sort of a handkerchief), a cup and their chopsticks, fork and spoon would be placed in a box. All their utensils are printed with various kawaii cartoon characters ie. Disney characters, Ultraman, Anpanman, Doraemon, Pikachu etc.

When most of them are ready, the teacher would pick 10 children to go to the cafeteria to get the food. 8 students would carry 2 tray of bento clumsily, 1 would carry the detergent for mouthwash and 1 would carry the teapot back to Sesame. Then food would be distributed. When all students are seated and settled,

Teacher : Hands together. (Children repeats)
: Thanks for the food. (Children repeats)

And then we will take about 20 minutes for lunch. In the process, I would try to make simple conversation with the students or make a fool out of myself to be like them. There are usually 1 or 2 girls who refuse to eat or eat very slowly. Some would spill tea here and some would ask for second helping. When it is time to clean up,

Teacher : Hands together. (Children repeats)
: Gochisoo sama deshita. (Children repeats)

After lunch, children would have to change from their tshirt and pants to their formal wear and get ready for English time. Please view the pictures I have uploaded in my homepage to see how the children get change. It is a terribly complicated process for a 4 year old because the design of the uniform is very confusing, even for the teachers.

There is a fix theme for the English lessons in Sesame and Sunny. For example, the theme for April is Easter and colours. For May is Pinata and shapes. The reason is to expose the children to other cultures of the world. Please do not ask me what Pinata is, I will only be able to answer you at the end of May. Like I said in my previous post, life as a Japanese child is always fun. There are no ABCs and 123s and no homework unlike the Malaysian children. The teachers usually prepare arts and craft or games related to the theme.

After English at 2pm, it is time to go home. Children would bow and say,

Children : Teachers goodbye. Everybody goodbye. See you tomorrow.

And that is half a day gone for me. At 3pm, the next show will begin where the Elementary School children (those who have graduated from this kindergarten) would come back for Activity Kids, Free School and Kids’ Box. Find out more in my next blog.

Mich
- from the land of little Monsters