IIAFOOFMTLIAIBAFTThursday, February 25, 2021The Shinro Shimbun Hawaii Edition14―Please tell us about the nature of your job.t's been five years since I started working as a Japanese teacher. Currently, I'm teaching at Pearl City High School in Hawaii. At Pearl City High School there are four levels of Japanese and I teach levels 1 and 3. have three or four classes a day. Aside from the standard Japanese language courses, this year I've been working with Hawaiian language and culture teacher to offer a class for students hoping to work in the hospitality industry in places like restaurants and tour companies. For my part of the class I focus on Japanese culture and the kind of basic words and phrases that these students might need when interacting with Japanese travelers. So in this one class students are able to acquire Japanese language ability and knowledge about Japanese culture as well as Hawaiian culture—and all of those things are necessary for anyone wanting to work in the tourism industry here.s for my students, they all have different reasons for choosing to take Japanese. Some students have Japanese heritage, some have Japanese family members, and others really enjoy Japanese food and culture and are thinking about studying abroad in Japan.―Please tell us something that you focus on in your classes.―Please share some advice for students in Hawaii planning to study abroad in Japan.or anyone wishing to become a Japanese teacher it's a given that you have to have a solid understanding of the language but you should also learn about Japanese culture and history. You have to be knowledgeable about both the language and Japan in general when you're standing in front of students as a teacher. And aside from just studying Japanese you also need to have an understanding of English grammar. By doing things like reading books and writing everyday, you're able to improve some of the skills that are necessary to learn a foreign language. So I think it's really helpful to become competent in your native language first.hrough leaving Japan and living in Hawaii I was able to gain an appreciation for Japan. Even if it's just to have a better appreciation of Hawaii, I think it's really good to study abroad in Japan or live there for an extended amount of time. In doing so you may discover many things such as realizing that certain assumptions you had aren't the case for everyone. So go out into the world when you're young and use those experiences to grow as a person.Not focusing on minor mistakes and instead trying to get students to use the language as much as possible is what Sato sensei strives for.Ms. Mio Sato is a Japanese teacher at Pearl City High School in the state of Hawaii in the United States. There she teaches students about the Japanese language and the wonder of Japan. Ms. Sato came to Hawaii to attend college there after graduating from high school in Fukuoka Prefecture. We had her share some advice for those in Hawaii wishing to study abroad in Japan.or most students in level 1, they don't have any experience with the Japanese language so I start by focusing on self introductions and hiragana. In level 3 I teach some basic kanji like what would be taught in first grade in Japan and the use of the “dictionary form” of verbs, which is one of the four basic verb forms in Japanese.utside of class, I do something called “office hours” which is a 30 minute period when students can ask me about homework or classwork. At public schools in Hawaii teachers are at school from 8 am until 3 pm but students can also communicate with teachers via email. I think that one of the good things about our school might be that it has made it so that students are able to ask teachers questions easily. Also since teachers do not have to act as guidance counselors we are able to just focus on teaching our classes [unlike in Japan].f course I prepare a curriculum for the year, but I make adjustments depending on factors such as the comprehension level of students. This means that things don't always progress according to the original plan but what I try to do is to not just cover the material blindly like a machine. Instead, I try to make what I'm teaching practical for the students by linking it to real world situations and goals they might have for their futures. I also strive to implement ways that will help students internalize what they learn so they can refer back to it when they progress to higher levels. Even if this means that sometimes I'm able to cover less material in a single class, I would rather this be the case so that they are able to better learn what we cover that day.or students beginning in level 1, if things are too difficult there's the chance that they may come to dislike Japanese. So that's why I try not to make the class overly challenging and instead focus on making the class enjoyable. I don't nitpick minor grammar errors. I would like the students to feel a sense of accomplishment at the fact that they tried to say something in Japanese.―Please tell us why you decided to become a Japanese teacher.y mother taught English so teaching was not something foreign to me. But as a high school student I was interested in studying abroad to do Dolphin Assisted Therapy. Unfortunately, I wasn't proficient enough in English at the time so I looked for a school in the U.S. that would allow me to transfer to a university later on and I found a junior college here in Hawaii. After graduating from junior college I worked in retail for a while but I realized that it wasn't for me. So I began to think about what kind of job would be enjoyable for me if I were to remain here in Hawaii.hen all of a sudden I was able to volunteer at a private high school teaching Japanese. After that experience I thought that this would be the kind of job that I would like to do. So I decided to begin studying education at the university I was attending at the time.ooking back, of course you're able to use Japanese in retail as well but ●ProfileBorn in 1982 in Fukuoka Prefecture. Graduated from Hakata Seisho High School. Attended Trans Pacific Hawaii College after graduating from high school. Afterwards, she began working in retail before eventually studying at the University of Hawaii and obtaining the teaching certification for Japanese. Since 2015 she has been a Japanese teacher at Pearl City High School.for the most part you just use English. On top of that, the Japanese you use is pretty much always the same. I realized though, that as a Japanese teacher I would be able to both be myself and take advantage of my ability to speak Japanese.―Please tell us about your time in Japan.n junior high I was a member of the marching band. It was actually a quite accomplished marching band in Kyushu and the teacher in charge told me something that ended up being a big influence on my life: “Do the thing that you want to do.” That same teacher recommended me to the high school that I would end up attending. That school focused on fostering the talents of students rather than trying to fit them into a mold. That style really worked for me.t my high school I had a number of friends who were considering studying abroad and attending university in foreign countries such as Australia and the U.S. after graduating. It was the kind of school where studying abroad was within the realm of possibilities. Teachers weren't negative. They were always supportive so it was really heartening. ―What is important to keep in mind when working as a Japanese teacher in Hawaii?efore you can be a teacher in Hawaii you have to complete the teacher certification course and then you have to pass the content exams to be certified to teach Japanese as well. In order to obtain a teaching license, you need to complete a one year teaching practicum. n my case, I spent the first half of my practicum under the tutelage of a senior teacher observing how she would do her classes and assisting her and sometimes teaching as well. The latter half of that year I did lesson plans and taught about half of the classes while under the supervision of that teacher. s a teacher you have to become used to setting deadlines for yourself and planning out your classes so that you are able to meet those deadlines. You also have to keep in mind the progress and comprehension level of your students so you have to be able to assess these things from an outsider's objective perspective. And there's many times in this job where you have to set deadlines yourself and keep up with them, so you have to be proactive.Special InterviewA Japanese teacher in Hawaii shares her views on the importance of showing Students that language is for communicating and not just memorizing Ms. Mio Sato
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