Guest Teachers Visit International Exchange Class At Namiki Elementary School

Date and Time: Tuesday, February 9 1 p.m.- 3:50 p.m.

Venue: Gymnasium at Namiki Elementary School

Participants: *70 fifth graders at Namiki Elementary School *13 guests from 10 countries ( Ms. Zhang Hua and Chao Nan from China, Mr. Luigi Hiratsuka from Brazil, Ms. Insho Yamanaka from Malaysia, Ms. Naricha Ouchi from Thailand, Ms. Leticia Pajaret Ignacio and Ms. Jacqueline Teresa P. Bularin from The Philippines, Ms. Cheeping Tsuoka from New Zealand, Ms. Ayu Putri Nuradi and Ms. Liem Tjoe Lan from Indonesia, Ms. Agnieszka Sekiguchi from Poland, Mr. Manase Forau from Tonga and Mr. Nguyen Dang Duy from Vietnam) *6 AIRA Staff members (Ms. Kitajima, Mr. Hesaki, Ms. Adachi, Ms. Ikeda, Mr. Satake and Ms. Yamaguchi) *2 NEC Staff members

　AIRA sent 13 guest teachers to Namiki Elementary School to help the international exchange class, in which fifth graders learned foreign cultures through communications in English with them.

　The guests and the staff were welcomed by several fifth graders at the entrance hall of the school. The children greeted in English and showed them to the waiting room.

　The class started in the gym at 1:50 p.m. First, each guest introduced themselves showing their countries on the large world map.

　As the previous day, February 8, was the first day of the year on the Chinese Calendar, Ms. Zhang Hua from China introduced Chinese New Year celebrations, showing a paper lantern with Chinese characters 倒福 printed on it and some other paper crafts which Ms. Zhang explained they put on the entrance and windows of houses in China. She also talked about dumplings which they eat on New Year’s Day.

　In an ice-breaking activity named “passport game”, all the people in the gym, with a “passport” in each hand, moved around and made pairs. They asked and answered questions each other, exchanged signatures on their passport and said good-by to find a next partner. Not only the foreign guests but AIRA staff, the principal and all the people joined this game. The gym was filled with lively and cheerful voices of children and adults.

　Some children got as many as 10 signatures in 10 minutes.

　The next session was a group activity. The children made nine groups consisting of seven or eight members respectively. One or two guests sat with each group and they talked about various topics. With a cue by a teacher the guests moved to next groups, which was repeated three times.

　The children had their nameplate on the chest and the guests spoke to them calling their first names. They talked about their favorite food, music, people, and so on in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.

　Asked about his favorite season, Mr. Forau from Tonga answered “It’s summer because it’s cold in winter.” The group burst into laughter when he said his favorite person was “Mr. Goromaru.” (Mr. Forau is an NEC rugby player.)

　The children asked many other questions such as “What movies do you like?” “Did you go to Kusatsu Onsen?” and “Do you like octopuses?”

　Some guests introduced their countries showing images on their smart phones. Some children were shown an image of a herd of sheep. They were surprised to hear that a herd was so large it sometimes took more than an hour for all of the sheep to cross a road.

　In the closing all children thanked the guests and sang a song titled “Cosmos” for them. This time it was noteworthy that in some groups there were not only simple “questions and answers” but “conversations” between the children and the guests were exchanged.

　AIRA has been cooperating with this international exchange class since four years ago and we are very happy to help children have opportunities to learn through communications with foreigners. 　　　　　　　　　　(No.15-20 Translated by Ch. Yamaguchi)